Black Catholic heroes: A.P. Tureaud Sr.

When Alexander Pierre Tureaud Sr. died on Jan. 22, 1972, at the age of 72, Archbishop Philip Hannan described him as “a Christian champion of the rights of man.”

“He knew that to defend the rights of his Black fellow man was to defend the rights of every man,” Archbishop Hannan said. “Furthermore, he realized that as all rights come from God, they must be defended as gifts of God, demanding that we vindicate them in a manner worthy of their dignity and their Divine Source, our Creator and Redeemer.” 

Archbishop Hannan and Auxiliary Bishops L. Abel Caillouet and Harold R. Perry concelebrated the civil rights leader’s Funeral Mass at Corpus Christi Church in New Orleans, Tureaud’s home parish.

Archbishop Hannan felt presiding at Tureaud’s Funeral Mass was so important that he delayed his trip to Ireland, where he was scheduled to ordain two priests for the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, a long-time friend of Tureaud’s, offered a tribute at the Mass. Tureaud was buried in St. Louis Cemetery No. 3.

“A.P. Tureaud, by his Christian manner in argumentation, could win his opponent as well as his point,” Archbishop Hannan said. “He knew that in civil rights it was as important to convince his opponents of his viewpoint as it was to defeat them in court. By his presentation of arguments and Christian demeanor, he made his legal triumphs a victory for all society. As a result of his efforts, there were no vanquished – all were victors in the cause of human rights.”

A native of New Orleans, Tureaud received his law degree in 1925 from Howard University School of Law and was admitted to the bar in Washington, D.C. After returning to New Orleans, he was admitted as counsel before the U.S. district court in 1926 and admitted as counsel before the Louisiana Supreme Court in 1927.

He began his work with the NAACP in 1927, prosecuting damage suits involving police brutality. He was the only Black lawyer in Louisiana in 1947.

Tureaud instituted suits for equal pay for Black teachers in 1940, which resulted in 1948 in a minimum salary schedule adopted by the state Legislature in 1948.

Prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Tureaud filed suits for school integration, equal voting rights, integration of all departments at LSU and desegregation of buses, parks, playgrounds and public facilities.

He was a fourth degree Knight of Peter Claver, and he was granted an audience with Pope Paul VI in 1964. He was the first Black person named to the board of trustees of The Catholic University of America.

In 1997, Tureaud was honored with a park dedicated in his honor at North Broad and A.P. Tureaud avenues. The park features a statue of Tureaud opening the gates that separated people, with memorial benches for viewing. Fifteen other civil rights leaders are honored. One of the benches was donated by the Josephites, whose school for African-American boys is located a few blocks away on A.P. Tureaud Avenue.

Tureaud’s papers have been compiled in the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University.