Louis Pendleton

Louis Christopher Pendleton
Born	October 13, 1931​ Monroe, Ouachita Parish Louisiana, USA​
Died	January 14, 2007 (aged 75)​ Shreveport Caddo Parish, Louisiana​
Political party	Democrat Children: Dr. Karen M'Liss Pendleton ​ Dr. Scott Edward Pendleton Parents: Joseph Anthony Velda Leola Long Pendleton​ Education: Dillard University ​ Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry

​ Louis Christopher Pendleton (October 13, 1931 – January 14, 2007) was an African-American dentist, businessman, and civic leader in Shreveport, Louisiana, who organized the civil rights movement in his city through the formation of the group "Blacks United for Lasting Leadership," (BULL) which lobbied on behalf of what it considered racial justice.​ ​

Background

​ Pendleton was born in Monroe in Ouachita Parish, to Joseph Anthony Pendleton, Sr., and the former Velda Leola Long. He was educated in the segregated public schools in Monroe. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the predominantly black Dillard University in New Orleans. Thereafter, he entered the school of dentistry at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, which most black dentists in the American South then attended. He received the Doctor of Dental Surgery degree.​

In November 1956, Pendleton entered the U.S. Air Force with the rank of captain. He served for six years. He resigned his commission as a dental officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He and his wife, the former Barbara Chocolate (also born 1931), a Shreveport native, then took over the former dental practice of the civil rights activist, Cuthbert Ormond "C. O." Simpkins, Sr., who left Shreveport when his life was threatened. Pendleton maintained the dental practice for forty-seven years. The Pendletons were married for fifty-two years and had two children, both doctors. Dr. Simpkins returned to Shreveport in 1988 and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1990. He was defeated in the general election by the white Republican Hazel Fain Beard, a city council member and businesswoman from southwestern Shreveport. Thereafter, Simpkins served a term from 1992 to 1996 in the Louisiana House of Representatives.

Civil Rights Activism

In the early 1970s, Pendleton and other black leaders in Shreveport filed suits to establish single-member districts on the Caddo Parish School Board and the Caddo Parish Police Jury (the parish governing body, renamed the Caddo Parish Commission in 1984). As a result, blacks soon gained representation on both public bodies.​

With the late attorney Hilary Huckaby, III, Pendleton worked to establish BULL, which sued in federal court to abolish the former city commission form of municipal government. Under the five-member commission system, the council members were elected at-large. At the time, Shreveport was majority white—it became majority black in the 2000 census -- and no blacks won any of the commission positions. When an executive mayor and legislative council system was adopted in 1978, blacks began to win seats on the seven-member single-member-district council and later dominated the mayor's office as well.​

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Pendleton to the Louisiana State Advisory Committee, an entity of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, an investigative body formed through the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which had been signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower, and guided to Senate passage by then Majority Leader Johnson. Pendleton served on the committee for more than a decade. Pendleton was also active in the Shreveport branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and organized the NAACP Youth Council.​

Pendleton was the founder of a Shreveport-area committee which lobbied for the employment of African Americans in the broadcasting industry. Pendleton was the first president of the Caddo Community Action Agency, the anti-poverty program created through the Johnson administration's Great Society. Pendleton worked with such black leaders as Alphonse J. Jackson (1927-2014), a Democratic former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, and the educator Dr. Jesse Nealand Stone, Jr. (1924-2001), to promote civil rights activities.

The Pendleton-Jackson alliance did not happen without effort, for Jackson had defeated Pendleton for the Democratic nomination for the House District 2 seat in the Louisiana legislature in a hotly contested runoff primary held on December 18, 1971. Pendleton had filed suit in a failed attempt either to reverse the results or to gain a new election.

In 2004, Pendleton supported the presidential primary campaign of U.S. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and the Democratic National Committee in an effort to halt a second term for U.S. President George W. Bush.​ Although a life long Democrat, Pendleton was well respect by members of all major political parties including Republicans at the Local, State and Federal levels. He was known for reaching across political barriers to effect change regardless or party.

Civic Leadership

Dr. Pendleton did not confine his activities to civil rights but also education, health, business, culture, and housing in his community. His civic work also had the effect of expanding the opportunities for African Americans in northwest Louisiana.​

Pendleton received a plethora of awards: foremost among his accolades were the Liberty Bell award by the Shreveport Bar Association in 1988 and the Business Leader of the Year award from the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce in 1990. In 1991, Dr. and Mrs. Pendleton jointly received the Brotherhood, Sisterhood Humanitarian award presented from the National Conference of Christians and Jews (renamed the National Conference for Community and Justice). That same year, he was inducted into the Junior Achievement of the North Louisiana Business Hall of Fame.​

Pendleton's affiliations included the Pelican State Dental Association, the Northwest Louisiana Dental Society, the National Dental Association, and American Dental Association. He also served on the board of supervisors of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, the Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana, the Shreveport Housing Authority, and the Loyola University Foundation of Shreveport. He was also a member of the board of directors of Louisiana State University at Shreveport Foundation, the Louisiana State Fair (held each autumn in Shreveport), and the Louisiana State Tourism Commission.

A Roman Catholic, Pendleton was a member of the Cathedral of Cathedral of St. John Berchmans, at which he served in a variety of positions. He was also a lifetime member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.​

Death

Pendleton died at Schumpert Medical Center in Shreveport. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Joseph Edward Pendleton, Jr.; his in-laws, Leroy Chocolate (1908–1993) and Gennie V. Chocolate. Survivors included his wife; his daughter, Dr. Karen M'Liss Pendleton (partner Jack) (born 1958); his son, Dr. Scott Edward Pendleton (wife Mona) (born 1961); a sister, Harriet Pendleton Scott of New York City, who is married to New York State Supreme Court Justice Clifford Scott; two grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.​

At Pendleton's request and in his memory his dental office located in the heart of the predominantly black Lakeside-Allendale section of Shreveport would remain open to service the community he fought for and loved so much. A foundation was established in Pendleton's honor at J. P. Morgan Chase Bank to assist aspiring science students.​

Services were held at Pendleton's church on January 20, 2007 and Interment at Forest Park West Cemetery in Shreveport, Louisiana.

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