Career
In 1932, Young was one of only three blacks in East Baton Rouge Parish to have been allowed to register to vote. Young was born in Zachary in East Baton Rouge Parish and educated in the segregated black schools. He earned his high school equivalency by attending classes at Humble Oil and Refining Company.
He led the first voter registration drives in the Baton Rouge black community.
In 1938, he founded the First Ward Voters League. He also worked to obtain street and sanitation improvements for black sections of Baton Rouge.
78.
Gus Young Avenue (formally Capitol Avenue) in Baton Rouge is named for him. He is interred at the Gilbert Cemetery in Baton Rouge.
