BATON ROUGE - On Wednesday, Dufrocq Elementary held an event titled "A Snapshot of America," where they celebrated and reflected on the significance of African American history at the Dufrocq school.

In attendance were Father Dale Flowers, Mrs. Lois Johnson, Mrs. Diane Leduff, Mr. Alex McFadden, and Mr. Arnold Robertson. All were among the first students to start integrating the school in 1964.

"The National Guard was in front of the school, and my parents had to walk us to school everyday, so I knew it was something that was dangerous where you have to be somewhere that other people don't want you to be," Lois Johnson said.

The hardships Johnson faced are not lost on the school's current students.

"She recalls the mean racial slurs, the feeling of fear, not wanting to go back to the school, but she was brave and committed to her education," current student Bryan Gosa said.

According to the former students, they didn't have a say in the integration, but rather it was their parents' decision.

Alex McFadden says he was so young, that decision didn't really affect him.

"I was eight or nine years old, it didn't make any difference to me. We didn't feel a way about that," McFadden said.

Dufrocq integrated 10 years after the historic Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling which made racial segregation unconstitutional.

Organizers say Dufrocq's integration was not properly documented, but Wednesday's event helps make sure history will not be forgotten.

"History in Baton Rouge is somehow not documented. Even in 2024, it seems we are still not documenting the history that is so rich in Baton Rouge," Eugene Collins, the head of Baton Rouge's NAACP, said.