N.C. Highway Historical Marker Recognizes Journalist Louis Austin

N.C. Highway Historical Marker Recognizes Journalist Louis Austin

by 06/12/2019

For more on Louis Austin, make sure to stop by the Regulator Bookshop on Thursday April 26th at 7:00PM to hear Dr. Gershenhorn read from his new book Louis Austin and the Carolina Times: A Life in the Long Black Freedom Struggle.

RALEIGH, N.C. – An example that the pen is mightier than the sword is journalist Louis Austin, who advocated for and advanced social justice and civil rights as publisher of the “Carolina Times” newspaper in Durham. The Halifax County native will be recognized with a N.C. Highway Historical marker to be dedicated Friday, June 14, 9 a.m. at 122 SE Railroad St., Enfield.

The African American newspaper editor adopted positions on civil rights that countered those of Durham’s black middle-class leadership. Austin identified with the philosophy of W.E. B. DuBois and Frederick Douglas, advocates of protest. C. C. Spaulding along with the leaders of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, and other leaders, were accommodationists aligned with the philosophy of Booker T. Washington.

Austin began working for the “Standard Advertiser” while a student at the National Training School in Durham (present-day N.C. Central University), a publication founded by Charles Arrant in 1921. He graduated in 1922 and in 1927 got a loan from Mechanics and Farmers Bank, bought the paper and changed the name to “Carolina Times.”

Along with C.C. Spaulding and James Shepard, Austin organized the Durham Committee on Negro Affairs, and among other things it led to increased voter registration among blacks from 50 in 1929 to 3,000 in 1939.

Austin and others went on to challenge discriminatory admissions policies at UNC in 1933, encouraged black veterans returning home from WWII to fight white supremacy, and called for direct action against discrimination just one week before the 1957 sit-in at Royal Ice Cream in Durham. He was a model for civil rights activist leaders but did not endorse calls for black nationalism.

In 1971, Austin died in Durham and is buried there. He has been recognized by historians as a key leader in the civil rights movement in Durham and across the state.

For information on the highway marker dedication call (252) 673-0646. For information on the Highway Historical Marker Program, call (919) 814-6625. The Highway Historical Marker Program is a collaboration between the N.C. Departments of Natural and Cultural Resources and Transportation.

About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) is the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state’s natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational and economic future of North Carolina. NCDNCR’s mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state’s history, conserving the state’s natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development.

NCDNCR includes 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, two science museums, three aquariums and Jennette’s Pier, 39 state parks and recreation areas, the N.C. Zoo, the nation’s first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, State Preservation Office and the Office of State Archaeology, along with the Division of Land and Water Stewardship. For more information, please visit www.ncdcr.gov.

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