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Denver Smith

Case from Baton-rouge, LA dated Nov 16, 1972

Victim Details

Denver Smith

Male

Black / African American

Baton-rouge

LA

1972-11-16

20

Denver

Smith

06/29/2026

Case Description

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In the fall of 1972, a palpable tension hung over the campus of Southern University, a historically Black university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Students, growing increasingly frustrated with inadequate funding and substandard facilities compared to the nearby predominantly white Louisiana State University, had been organizing protests and class boycotts. Among the student body was Denver Smith, a 20-year-old male, who, on the morning of November 16, 1972, would find himself in the midst of a tra ...
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Links to Additional Sources (12)

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  • A New Documentary Casts a Light on the 1972 Tragedy at Southern University
  • NOLA.com: Southern injustice: 30 years later, Smith-Brown deaths remain unsolved
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    Forum Posts (2)

    I recently came across Denver Smith's case again and can't stop thinking about the role of protests ... ...Read More
    04/03/2023
    It's truly disheartening to think about the struggles Denver Smith and Leonard "Douglas" Brown had t... ...Read More
    02/09/2023
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