St. Rest Baptist Church

A historic site in Shreveport occupies a sad and unique place in our city’s Civil Rights history and serves as a reminder of how faith in God and faith in human potential, even during dark times, can spark societal change. But to understand the circumstances surrounding the firebombing of St. Rest Baptist Church, Shreveport, in 1961, we must first understand the events that led up to it.

The history of St. Rest Baptist Church

Founded in the 19th century (1885) in a valley located between ridgelines, St. Rest Baptist Church was built in a place once called Crosstown. Today (2024), the Allendale neighborhood is located to the north and Highland to the south of where St. Rest Baptist Church originally stood before plans for I-20 caused them to move to 1664 Garden Street in 1961. St. Rest was a common name among Black churches in the American South in the late 1800s. The name means “Saints’ Rest,” which signifies a place where pilgrims stop to rest during a pilgrimage.

St. Rest Baptist Church in Crosstown (now Shreveport) was aptly named in the late 1800s. By the early 1960s the church was a gathering place for Saints who wanted to live by the teachings of Jesus during the Civil Rights movement, and though many churches in the Allendale neighborhood became involved in Shreveport’s Civil Rights movement, St. Rest is remembered as one of the first to join the movement. But that’s not all the church is known for; St. Rest Baptist Church was also bombed in 1961,

Here’s what happened.

On Oct. 19, 1961, Reverend John Simmons and Shreveport attorney Jessie N. Stone were speaking at a CORE Freedom Banquet at St. Rest Baptist Church in Shreveport. It was eveningtime, and Stone had just delivered a stirring speech. The meeting was in progress when out of nowhere, the church was filled with the sounds of exploding Molotov cocktails and the bitter scent of burning chemicals, which deeply shocked the +/- 65 people who were in attendance.

But what came next was as bad as the firebombing.

News coverage didn’t tell the full story

The Shreveport Times and the Shreveport Journal struggled to cover the story as they found themselves torn between honestly reporting major news and continuing to perpetuate the public relations tactics of Shreveport authorities.

Initially, the Shreveport Times reported no injuries and an estimated $300 in damage was done to a Sunday School room. Witnesses, according to the Times, told police that two white men riding in a black car and a white pickup truck were seen throwing the bombs.

A young man (Joseph Russell) was one of those witnesses. He saw the incident and described the vehicles and the license number of the car. Police said they were searching for a black 1960 Ford sedan and a 1953 or 54 Ford pickup that had been used in the 9:50 p.m. explosion.

According to the Shreveport Times, firemen described the bombs as bottles of gasoline with railroad flares. One of the bombs hit a column and another burst a window.

The perpetrators watched from their vehicles in a nearby parking spot.

Police initially said that five white men, with two in the car, two in the cab of the truck, and one lying down in the truck bed, were responsible for the bombing.

The man in the truck bed supposedly did the throwing.

The next mention of the bombing in the Shreveport Times found the story buried at the end of an article about CORE protests being planned for the Louisiana State Fair. Threats of pickets and boycotts were emphasized instead of the St. Rest Baptist Church bombing.

Then the story took a dizzying spin. The next mention of the bombing that was made in the Shreveport Times had no mention of whites being involved in the bombing. Instead, police inferred that CORE bombed the church to get attention.

Yes, you read that correctly: to get attention.

Suddenly, Chief of Police Harvey Teasley said he had “received information that the firebombing of the church last Thursday was an inside job by some members of the group who were seeking publicity in sympathy.”

Eight men and eight women, including the local leader of CORE in Shreveport (David Dennis) were taken into police custody. The group went silent at the police station.

A list of those who were arrested was published by local media.

The Shreveport Journal reported that the women were released after they denied members of the group had anything to do with the bombing. But police weren’t finished questioning the men.

Chief Teasley said vagrancy charges would probably be added to other possible charges.

The 16 young activists were arrested by police around 10:00 p.m. after a CORE meeting at Saint Mary’s Baptist Church ended. The Shreveport Journal stated that the CORE chapter was planning to demonstrate at the bus terminal in Shreveport, at the airport, and at the train depots.

Many freedom riders were among the 16 people taken into custody by police, and the Journal stated that Major Coles Thomas would confer with the DA’s office about the case. Those arrested were young: Ernestine Brooks, 18, Mary E Bell, 18, Rosie Marie Lowe, 17, Glenda Jackson, 22, Betty Reliford, 17, Dolores McGinnie, 19, Marie Howard, 18, Marie McGinnie, 17, Joe Jernigan, 20, W.D. Cutwright 20, Reginald Nichols, 20, Amos Gage, 22, James Presley, 17, Levert Taylor, 20, David Dennis, 21, and Joe Russell, 20.

The next day, Shreveport Police began legal proceedings. Six CORE leaders were charged with vagrancy and loitering. The hearing was set for City Court and their bonds were set at $600.

Teasley described the young adults as “parasites who don’t have regular jobs and obtain money to live on through contributions to CORE.” Teasley also said he was “far from satisfied” with the statements given by those who were arrested and that the investigation would continue.

CORE posted a bond for the six detainees. 

N.C. Cox, who was involved in the first Freedom Ride in Shreveport in July, was one of the CORE members who posted a bond.

The Shreveport Times later reported that the charges against Dennis (regional officer of the Congress of Racial Equality) and Amos Gage (CORE member) were amended.

Judge Eugene B Middleton set the cases for trial on December 6. The Shreveport Times later reported the trial date was continued to January 1962. 

Judge Eugene B Middleton heard testimony on the loitering charges.

After court

Dennis was jailed in Baton Rouge in January for activities related to CORE, where jailers supposedly beat him and others. The incident prompted an investigation by the FBI at the orders from U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, but the FBI found “no violation of the federal law reflected by our investigation.”

The bombing of St. Rest faded from news reports and the real perpetrators were never caught. David Dennis and the other CORE members were never adequately exonerated.

John R. Downes, Jr., a former Shreveport resident who moved to Austin, Texas, offered a reward for the conviction of persons responsible for the St. Rest bombing and other actions.

Dr. James Dombrowski, another man who once lived in Shreveport, backed up Downes by offering a $5,000 reward leading to a conviction concerning the bombing.

Caddo Parish Sheriff J. Howell Flournoy called The Southern Conference Education Fund, Dombrowski’s organization, a Communist front. So did others, including a U.S. Senate Subcommittee.

No one ever came forward to collect the reward.

More than 60 years later, the St. Rest bombing case remains unsolved.

Asriel Gamaliel McClain, Coming Forth As Pure Gold: A Look At Civil Rights Activities In Shreveport 1959-1968 (Shreveport, LA: Published by the Author, N.D.)

State of Louisiana historic marker at St. Rest Baptist Church

Bernadette J. Palombo, Gary D. Joiner, W. Chris Hale, and Cheryl H. White, Wicked Shreveport (Charleston, S.C.: The History Press, 2012)

Willie Burton, On the Black Side of Shreveport: A History (Shreveport, LA: Published by the Author, 1994)

The Shreveport Times, October 14, 1960

The Shreveport Times, October 20, 1961

The Shreveport Times, October 21, 1961

The Shreveport Times, October 25, 1961

Shreveport Journal, October 25, 1961

Shreveport Journal, October 26, 1961

The Shreveport Times, October 28, 1961

The Shreveport Times, December 7, 1962

Shreveport Journal, January 6, 1962

Shreveport Journal, February 2, 1962

Shreveport Journal, August 16, 1962

Shreveport Journal, August 30, 1962

Shreveport Journal, February 22, 1984

State of Louisiana historic marker at St. Rest Baptist Church

Palombo, Bernadette J., Gary D. Joiner, W. Chris Hale, and Cheryl H. White. Wicked Shreveport. Charleston, S.C. The History Press, 2012.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection