A More Noble Cause - by Rachel L Emanuel & Alexander P Tureaud (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Throughout the decades-long legal battle to end segregation, discrimination, and disfranchisement, attorney Alexander Pierre Tureaud was one of the most influential figures in Louisiana's courts. A More Noble Cause presents both the powerful story of one man's lifelong battle for racial justice and the very personal biography of a black professional and his family in the Jim Crow-era Louisiana.

During a career that spanned more than forty years, A. P. Tureaud was at times the only regularly practicing black attorney in Louisiana. From his base in New Orleans, the civil rights pioneer fought successfully to obtain equal pay for Louisiana's black teachers, to desegregate public accommodations, schools, and buses, and for voting rights of qualified black residents.

Tureaud's work, along with that of dozens of other African American lawyers, formed part of a larger legal battle that eventually overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized racial segregation. This intimate account, based on more than twenty years of research into the attorney's astounding legal and civil rights career as well as his community work, offers the first full-length study of Tureaud. An active organizer of civic and voting leagues, a leader in the NAACP, a national advocate of the Knights of Peter Claver--a fraternal order of black Catholics--and a respected political power broker and social force as a Democrat and member of the Autocrat Club and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, Tureaud worked tirelessly within the state and for all those without equal rights.

Both an engrossing story of a key legal, political, and community figure during Jim Crow-era Louisiana and a revealing look at his personal life during a tumultuous time in American history, A More Noble Cause provides insight into Tureaud's public struggles and personal triumphs, offering readers a candid account of a remarkable champion of racial equality.

Review Quotes

"This biography deftly balances a local history--centered in New Orleans--with a national one. . . . Emanuel and Tureaud Jr.'s narrative is engaging and clear, illuminating a little-known but critical advocate for civil rights and social justice. A More Noble Cause deserves a wide audience interested in family history, African American history, Creole New Orleans, NAACP history, or legal history."--Journal of Southern History

"Tureaud's decades-long and sometimes dangerous commitment to change Louisiana law and society is an important lesson to offer to young people. All readers can learn a great deal from the lifetime of courage and effort it took to bring about racial and social change."--Journal of Southern Religion

About the Author

Rachel L. Emanuel, Director of Communications and Development Support at Southern University Law Center, is the writer and producer of the documentaries Journey for Justice: The A. P. Tureaud Story and Taking a Seat for Justice: The 1960 Baton Rouge Sit-Ins.

Alexander P. Tureaud, Jr. is an educational consultant, retired school administrator, artist, and public speaker.