Robert Hicks, Bogalusa civil rights activist, dies at age 81
Times Picayune 04-15-2010
Submitted By NOVA

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Robert Hicks, a lion in the Louisiana civil rights movement whose legal victories helped topple
segregation in Bogalusa and change discriminatory employment practices throughout the South,
died Tuesday in his home. He was 81.

Mr. Hicks, who was born in Mississippi and moved to Bogalusa at a young age, was a member of the
local NAACP and the Bogalusa Voter and Civic League. His lawsuits resulted in the desegregation
of Bogalusa's public schools and the prohibition of unfair hiring tests and seniority systems at
the local paper mill, owned by Crown Zellerbach Corp.

The latter case, which led to Mr. Hicks becoming the company's first black supervisor and which
opened doors for black women, served as a model for similar discrimination cases in Louisiana
and throughout the South.

Mr. Hicks was the youngest of three children born to Quitman and Maybell Hicks in 1929. He
graduated from Central Memorial High School, where he played on the school's state champion
football team. He later played offensive guard on The Bushmen, an all-black semi-pro team.

Mr. Hicks and his wife, Valeria, had six children during their 62-year union. With his wife, Mr.
Hicks traveled the country, spreading the word about the conditions for black people in the
South and encouraging people to travel to Bogalusa and other Southern cities to campaign for
civil rights.

One of those civil rights workers, Peter Jan Honigsberg, said the bravery of men like Mr. Hicks
most impressed him about the movement. Honigsberg wrote his memoir, "Crossing Border Street,"
about his experience volunteering in Bogalusa in the summers of 1966 and 1967.

"Even today I still think of him," he said. "He was determined to do what he had to do to change
the South."

Mr. Hicks began his civil rights work as a member of the local chapter of the NAACP before
working with the Voter and Civic League. He helped conduct daily marches to protest racial
discrimination by merchants and city government in a crusade that thrust Bogalusa into the
national spotlight.

The Hicks family opened their home to white civil rights workers and national figures such as
entertainer Dick Gregory and Congress of Racial Equality head James Farmer. Because of that, the
family was targeted by the Ku Klux Klan, which in turn motivated the formation of the Deacons
for Defense and Justice, an armed band of African-American men who stood guard at the Hicks'
home and protected civil rights workers in the city. The 2003 Showtime movie "Deacons for
Defense" was loosely based on the group.

Mr. Hicks filed a landmark lawsuit against the city and police department of Bogalusa, obtaining
a federal court order requiring the police to protect protest marchers, and a lawsuit that
overturned officials' refusals to allow protest marches.

In 1967, Mr. Hicks filed a suit against the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing, which
resulted in the prohibition of the construction of public housing in segregated neighborhoods in
Bogalusa.

Mr. Hicks began working at Crown Zellerbach at a time when few black people were employed there
and eventually he served as president of the Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill
Workers. After fighting Crown Zellerbach for years in federal court, Mr. Hicks became the
company's first African-American supervisor, a position he held until his retirement.

Besides his wife, survivors include a daughter, Barbara Maria Hicks; three sons, Robert
Lawrence, Gregory Vince and Darryl Hicks; a sister, Grace Berry; 17 grandchildren; and 14 great-
grandchildren.

A wake will be held Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Crain & Sons Funeral Home, 809 East 3rd St.,
Bogalusa. A funeral will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at Bethlehem Baptist Church, 837 East 7th St.