The Griffins worked on school desegregation, voting rights in Plaquemines Parish - Verite News New Orleans

The Griffins worked on school desegregation, voting rights in Plaquemines Parish - Verite News New Orleans

Irene Williams Griffin and her husband, the Rev. Percy Murphy Griffin, were a dynamic civil rights duo in Plaquemines Parish. In 1954, Irene became the first Black woman to register to vote in the parish.  Like the Bible’s shepherd boy, David, the Griffins faced a seemingly unbeatable giant.  Under the rule of segregationist Parish President Leander Perez Sr., Plaquemines Parish instituted poll taxes and literacy tests to prevent Black people fr…