Editing Tallulah, Louisiana (section)

===World War II to present===
After serving in World War II, African-American veterans began to challenge [[racial discrimination]] in the South more vigorously. After the Supreme Court ruled in ''[[Smith v. Allwright]]'' (1944) that the white [[Partisan primary|primary]] of the Democratic Party was unconstitutional, more blacks began to register in the South. However, in Louisiana, the number of white qualified voters in 1947 still surpassed blacks by a ratio of 100 to one.<ref name="lewis">[https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2861&context=ndlr John Lewis and Archie E. Allen, "Black Voter Registration in the South"], ''Notre Dame Law Review,'' Volume 48|Issue 1; October 1972</ref>

The population increased in Tallulah in the decades after the war, reaching a high in 1980 (see tables below). African Americans were the majority population in the city and the parish. Having faced continuing discrimination in efforts to vote, in 1962 a group of eight African-American men successfully sued the parish registrar and state to be able to register and vote. Following passage of the national [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Civil Rights Act]] in 1964, in 1965, activists conducted [[boycott]]s to end discrimination in employment; many stores would not hire blacks as workers. Seventeen businesses closed in the city rather than hire blacks.<ref name=ebony>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVP7JyMGSaEC&pg=PA57|title=Black Lawman in KKK Territory|author=Charles L. Sanders | publisher=[[Ebony Magazine]]|date=January 1970|pages=57–64|access-date=July 26, 2013}}</ref><ref name=nyt/>

That year, Congress passed the [[Voting Rights Act]], authorizing the federal government to oversee voter registration and elections in jurisdictions such as Tallulah and Madison Parish with historic under-representation of minorities. The proportion of African-American voting began to increase.

In 1969, [[Zelma Wyche]], a local veteran and activist, was elected as Police Chief of Tallulah, the first African American to hold the office. He ensured there were an equal number of white and black police officers on the force and had them patrol in mixed teams.<ref name=nyt>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19691005&id=A6tVAAAAIBAJ&pg=5636,828079|title=Black police chief finds white support not easy to obtain|author=Martin Waldron|publisher= New York Times (Eugene Register-Guard)|date= October 5, 1969|access-date=July 27, 2013}}</ref>

In 1971, black candidates were running for 21 of 27 parish seats in Madison Parish, a sign of the changing times. In other parts of Louisiana, African Americans were also running for local offices.<ref name="johnson">[https://www.nytimes.com/1971/09/29/archives/louisiana-negroes-seek-power-in-one-parish-they-run-for-22-of-27.html Thomas A. Johnson, "Louisiana Negroes Seek Power"], ''New York Times,'' 29 September 1971. Accessed March 20, 2018.</ref>

In 1974, Adell Williams was elected as mayor of Tallulah, the first African American to hold the office. He is believed to have been the first black mayor elected in Louisiana since Reconstruction.<ref name="reckdahl"/>

The city had its peak of population in 1980. The mechanization of agriculture and the decline of some former industries have reduced the number of local jobs, with population following. It used to be considered a lumber mill town, with the Chicago Mill and Lumber dominating local industry from its site on the west side of the city.<ref name="frontline">[http://thefrontlinemusic.com/tag/chicago-mill-and-lumber-company/Tag: Chicago Mill and Lumber Company/ "A Death in the Delta: Tallulah's Tragic"], ''The Frontline'' blog. January 11, 2017.</ref> After declines from the 1970s, the mill closed in 1983, adding to local economic problems.<ref name="reckdahl"/>

Unlike some other areas of the state, only four antebellum structures remain in the parish, because of destruction by General [[Ulysses S. Grant]]'s forces during the [[Vicksburg Campaign]] in the Civil War. One is a one-story 1855 plantation house, known as [[Hermione (Tallulah, Louisiana)|Hermione]], from the Kell Plantation. It was used by Grant as a [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] hospital.<ref name=nrhpdoc>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=98001422}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hermione|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|author=National Register Staff|date=August 1998|access-date=September 4, 2018}} (comprising 1988 registration form #88002652), With {{NRHP url|id=98001422|photos=y|title=seven photos from 1988 and 13 photos from 1998}}.</ref>

After being donated to the Madison Historical Society in 1997, Hermione was moved to its current site on North Mulberry Street in Tallulah. It was adapted to serve both as offices for the society and as the Hermione Museum, and is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name=nrhpdoc/> Among its exhibits is one about [[Madam C. J. Walker]], the first African-American woman to become a self-made businesswoman and millionaire.<ref name="aahist"/>

Born free soon after the war as Sarah Breedlove in nearby [[Delta, Louisiana]], she moved north as a young woman, where she developed a line of hair-care products that she manufactured and sold nationally. The museum is on the [[Louisiana African American Heritage Trail]].<ref name="aahist">[https://www.louisianatravel.com/articles/louisiana-honors-its-african-american-heritage "Louisiana Honors Its African-American Heritage], louisianatravel.com. Accessed December 21, 2022.</ref>

On April 24, 2010, an [[Enhanced Fujita scale|EF4]] tornado touched down just outside Tallulah, causing numerous injuries. The tornado damaged a tanker in a chemical plant, causing a small nitrogen leak. Significant damage to an industrial plant with associated injuries, trapped people, and destroyed homes nearby were reported in Madison Parish near the Louisiana-Mississippi state line. The tornado continued across the [[Mississippi River]]. It gained strength and struck [[Yazoo County, Mississippi|Yazoo]], [[Holmes County, Mississippi|Holmes]], and [[Choctaw County, Mississippi|Choctaw]] counties in Mississippi, causing 10 fatalities and extensive destruction.<ref>National Weather Service. (2010). ''NWS Jackson, MS - April 24, 2012 violent long track tornado.'' Retrieved from https://www.weather.gov/jan/2010_04_24_main_tor_madison_parish_oktibbeha</ref><ref>National Weather Service. (2010). ''20100424's storm report (1200 UTC - 1159 UTC)''. Retrieved from https://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/archive/event.php?date=20100424</ref>