Bogalusa in Washington Parish, Louisiana — The American South (West South Central)

A Civil Rights Haven
⎯⎯⎯
1906 Mill House

A Civil Rights Haven side of marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, May 26, 2025

1. A Civil Rights Haven side of marker

Inscription.

A Civil Rights Haven, also, 1906 Mill House. . A Civil Rights Haven. In 1965, the Mill House became a base for the Bogalusa Civil Rights Movement. When the paper mill began selling mill houses in the 1950s, union worker Robert Hicks purchased this house and moved it to its current location on East 9th St. (now Robert "Bob" Hicks St.) Mr. Hicks, his wife, Valeira, and their five children, Charles, Barbara, Robert, Gregory and Valeria, crowded into the three-room house with no indoor plumbing, just an outhouse and a water faucet by the back porch. After the family moved to the home next door, Mrs. Hicks' Aunt Fannie Payton moved into the Mill House. Born in 1886, Aunt Fannie worked as a domestic for white families who called her 'Mammie'. But when her family was threatened with violence, though afraid, she courageously took a stand and opened her home as a safe haven for civil rights workers, the Hicks children and the children of the Bogalusa Deacons for Defense and Justice (who protected it day and night). It also served as a backup communications center when phone lines at the Hicks home were shut off by white phone operators. For providing a safe place during dangerous times, this house and the Hicks House were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2015., The 1906 Mill House. The 1906 Mill House was built by the Great Southern Lumber Company on land that had been home to the Choctaw people for centuries. From its beginnings. Bogalusa was a brutally segregated company town. The lumber company owned everything - houses, schools, parks, a hospital, churches, even a large private army. Black mill workers lived in the "colored quarters” where houses were smaller, lacking the indoor plumbing and electricity provided to white workers. Black women were permitted to give birth at the hospital, but white nurses refused to bathe their infants. By 1919, black and white mill workers joined together in a biracial union alliance. On the night of Nov. 21, 1919, a white mob shot up the home of black labor leader Sol Dacus, killing his dog and narrowly missing his wife and children. The next day Dacus marched to union headquarters flanked by two white union members. They were met by a posse of company gunmen and white supremacists, who murdered four white union members while Dacus escaped. The killings marked the end of integrated labor activism in Bogalusa, but the experience would pave the way for black union workers at the Crown Zellerbach paper mill to lead the fight for equality and justice in the 1960s and '70s.

A Civil Rights Haven
In 1965, the Mill House became a base for the Bogalusa Civil Rights Movement. When the paper mill began selling mill houses in the 1950s, union worker Robert Hicks purchased this house & moved it to its current location on East 9th St. (now Robert "Bob" Hicks St.) Mr. Hicks, his wife, Valeira, and their five children, Charles, Barbara, Robert, Gregory and Valeria, crowded into the three-room house with no indoor plumbing, just an outhouse and a water faucet by the back porch. After the family moved to the home next door, Mrs. Hicks' Aunt Fannie Payton moved into the Mill House. Born in 1886, Aunt Fannie worked as a domestic for white families who called her 'Mammie'.
But when her family was threatened with violence, though afraid, she courageously took a stand & opened her home as a safe haven for civil rights workers, the Hicks children & the children of the Bogalusa Deacons for Defense and Justice (who protected it day & night). It also served as a backup communications center when phone lines at the Hicks home were shut off by white phone operators. For providing a safe place during

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dangerous times, this house & the Hicks House were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

The 1906 Mill House
The 1906 Mill House was built by the Great Southern Lumber Company on land that had been home to the Choctaw people for centuries. From its beginnings. Bogalusa was a brutally segregated company town. The lumber company owned everything - houses, schools, parks, a hospital, churches, even a large private army. Black mill workers lived in the "colored quarters” where houses were smaller, lacking the indoor plumbing and electricity provided to white workers. Black women were permitted to give birth at the hospital, but white nurses refused to bathe their infants. By 1919, black & white mill workers joined together in a biracial union alliance. On the night of Nov. 21, 1919, a white mob shot up the home of black labor leader Sol Dacus, killing his dog and narrowly missing his wife and children. The next day Dacus marched to union headquarters flanked by two white union members. They were met by a posse of company gunmen and white supremacists, who murdered four white union members while Dacus

1906 Mill House side of marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, May 26, 2025

2. 1906 Mill House side of marker

escaped. The killings marked the end of integrated labor activism in Bogalusa, but the experience would pave the way for black union workers at the Crown Zellerbach paper mill to lead the fight for equality and justice in the 1960s & '70s.

Erected by The Robert "Bob" Hicks Foundation. The Zellerbach Foundation & Internationl Paper (Bogalusa Mill).

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Civil Rights.

Location. 30° 46.26′ N, 89° 50.746′ W. Marker is in Bogalusa, Louisiana, in Washington Parish. It is on Robert "Bob" Hicks Street near River Terrace Avenue, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 930 Robert "Bob" Hicks Street, Bogalusa LA 70427, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Florida Parishes

and in Greater New Orleans.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and on the Gulf Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically,

A Civil Rights Haven / 1906 Mill House Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, May 26, 2025

3. A Civil Rights Haven / 1906 Mill House Marker

it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

the Louisiana Purchase,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Robert "Bob" Hicks/ Robert "Bob" Hicks Street (within shouting distance of this marker); Robert "Bob" Hicks House (within shouting distance of this marker); A. Z. Young's Home (approx. 0.2 miles away); Bogalusa's Birthplace (approx. 1.4 miles away); At This Very Site (approx. 1½ miles away); The Greater Ebenezer Baptist Church (approx. 1.9 miles away); Old Wheat Cemetery (approx. 4.6 miles away in Mississippi); Deputy O'Neal Moore (approx. 8.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Bogalusa.

Credits. This page was last revised on May 27, 2025. It was originally submitted on May 27, 2025, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 220 times since then and 51 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on May 27, 2025, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana.

A Civil Rights Haven⎯⎯⎯1906 Mill House

A Civil Rights Haven
⎯⎯⎯
1906 Mill House