Baton Rouge honors 1960 Southern University sit‑ins on 65th anniversary; descendants call for preservation and teaching of history

The East Baton Rouge Parish Metropolitan Council on March 26, 2025 commemorated the Southern University student sit‑ins of March 1960 and recognized descendants of participants and local historians on the 65th anniversary of the protests.

Council members invited Joan Garner (daughter of Henry Garner), Deshawn Jordan (daughter of Vernon Jordan) and Southern University faculty to the podium to honor the students who peacefully staged sit‑ins at segregated lunch counters and other public accommodations. The council read names of the 16 students who participated in the various actions in Baton Rouge and reflected on the risks the students accepted at the time.

Joan Garner told the council she remains grateful the city is remembering the sit‑ins and that preserving the history is important to descendants. "On the 65th anniversary, it is important that we remember and honor this history," Garner said. She described the personal and collective sacrifices that followed arrests and convictions that were later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. The meeting record notes the case reached the Supreme Court in 1961 (Garner v. Louisiana), which the speaker said unanimously held that convictions under the disturbing‑the‑peace laws violated the students' First Amendment rights.

Deshawn Jordan, daughter of Vernon Jordan, spoke about her father's experience and the personal cost carried for decades. "He didn't tell us about this history much until it started to come out ... I have never seen my father cry a day in my life. And that was the pain that my father carried from having to endure and be in these situations," she said.

Speakers at the council framed the sit‑ins as a turning point that helped broaden constitutional protections for peaceful protest and contributed to the momentum of the civil rights movement in Louisiana and nationally. Council remarks emphasized racial healing, preservation of records and opportunities for descendants to continue community work tied to entrepreneurship, education and social determinants of health.

Why it matters: the 1960 sit‑ins in Baton Rouge predated or paralleled sit‑in actions at other Southern campuses and municipal locations and culminated in a U.S. Supreme Court decision that limited prosecutions for peaceful protest. City recognition highlights local civil‑rights history and the council's stated interest in preserving and teaching that history to future generations.

Records and requests: the council accepted the presentations and asked the mayor and council staff to continue commemorative and preservation efforts; descendants requested support for historical preservation, teaching and continued legacy work.

Speakers quoted: Joan Garner (daughter of Henry Garner) and Deshawn Jordan (daughter of Vernon Jordan) made on‑record statements to the council. Southern University faculty and local historians were also invited to speak and read the names of participants aloud.