Ulas Hayes
Ulas Hayes (December 3, 1912, Zachary, Louisiana - March 7, 1990) was a minister and prominent civil rights leader from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Hayes was instrumental in organizing bus boycotts, student sit-ins, justice for equal education and health care.
Early life
Hayes was born in Zachary, Louisiana to Bennie and Elizabeth Williams Hayes. He married Elizabeth Anderson of Deerford, Louisiana and had three children: Eddie Lee (Joyce) Hayes, Joyce Hayes (Robert) Carey and Donald Ray (Brenda Joyce) Hayes, Sr.
Education
Bachelors of Science Degree in Secondary Education Southern University A & M College
Master of Education Degree in Secondary Education Southern University A & M College
Doctor of Divinity Degree Interdenominational Theological Center
Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree Inter-Baptist Theological Center
Ministering, Counseling & Teaching Degree Leland College, Baker, La
Southern University Law Center, attended
Board of Directors, Louisiana University Medical Science
Member, Southern University A & M Alumni Federation
Member, National Council for the Social Studied
Fraternity
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans
Chaplain, Xi Nu Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Board of Directors, Xi Nu Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
ACTIVE Member, Xi Nu Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Baton Rouge, LA
Ministries
Senior Pastor, Winding Chapel Baptist Church Chaneyville, Louisiana
Senior Pastor Antioch Baptist Church Norwood, Louisiana
Co-Pastor, Greater Mount Zion Baptist Church Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Senior Chaplain, Earl K. Long Hospital Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Senior Chaplain, Alpha Phi Alpha Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Senior Chaplain, Baton Rouge Metropolitan Lions Club Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Senior Chaplain, LSU Medical Science, Inc. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Senior Chaplain, Institutes of All Nations Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Vice President, National Baptist Convention
Adhoc Judge over all African American Church disputes Baton Rouge, Louisiana
President the Evangelist Board, an Auxiliary of the Association Baton Rouge, Louisiana
President Independent Benevolent Society Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Vice President, Emmanuel Baptist Church Aid Association Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Member, New Light Baptist Church Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Civil rights leader
Hayes was an active leader of the American Civil Rights Movement. He was a Political Activist and Baptist Minister and is regarded as one of Baton Rouge's greatest speakers. Dr. Hayes was most influential and well-known for Preaching, Teaching, Leading and assisting others according to the will of God.
Born in the days of the Jim Crow era, Dr. Hayes who fought for Integration and equal justice for all received many threats and attempts on his life. As a young man Rev. Dr. Hayes campaigned against Jim Crow laws in Louisiana, he had a strong inner spirit for "Justice". Rev. Dr. Hayes not fearing any man continued one of his many callings as a strong Civil Rights pioneer in the Eden Park area and throughout the East Baton Rouge Parish. "
First Ward Voters League
In 1938, Hayes and Gus Young led the first voters registration drive in the city of Baton Rouge. Hayes was the President of First Ward Voters League, the pioneer of the voice of the black voters in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, founded by Gus Young.
Hayes and Young worked vigorously on North Acadian Thruway where the First Ward Voters League was relocated as they fought for street and sanitation improvements for black sections of Baton Rouge. In those days black communities did not have side walks which lead to a young boy getting hit by a car. Hayes and others felt that it was their duties to continue to fight against the segregated laws and they eventually won. For this cause there are now sidewalks in the Eden Park Community as well as various other black communities in the city of Baton Rouge.
Baton Rouge bus boycott
In 1953 the Baton Rouge city council passed a new seating law, Ordinance 222, ending segregation on buses but it was not enforced. The laws of Jim Crow continued, as the front ten seats of the Baton Rouge buses remained reserved for white passengers.
In response, Hayes, Theodore "T.J." Jemison, Willis Reed, Columbus Dunn and other civil rights leaders planned the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott. Very few blacks rode the buses that day. Instead of riding buses, boycotters organized a system of carpools, with car owners volunteering their vehicles or themselves driving people to various destinations. Meetings were held to determine if the protest would continue, and attendees enthusiastically agreed. However, the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott only lasted for approximately lasted for two weeks.
In Louisiana, freedom marchers crossed the Amite River on their way from Bogalusa to the state capitol in Baton Rouge. After repeated attacks by the Ku Klux Klan, the Governor was forced to provide National Guard and state troopers to protect the demonstrators on their 10-day march.
Other affiliations
Foundation Member, Louisiana University of Medical Sciences
Board of Directors, Baton Rouge Metro Lions
Board of Directors, Baranco Clark YMCA
Member, Progressive Association
Member, Pre-Trial Intervention Program for First Time Offenders
Board Member of the James A. Taylor Masonic Lodge No. 78.
Death
Hayes died on March 7, 1990, and is interred in the Gilbert Cemetery in Baton Rouge.
References
- Rev. Dr. Ulas Hayes, A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. 2 (1988), p. 865
- Rev. Dr. Ulas Hayes Obituary, Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, March 11, 1990.