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A Historical Play With Modern Significance
by Fatima Shaik
A History of Mc Donogh 19 and Frantz New Orleans Schools with Legacy
by Dee Shedrick
Preserving Community Memory and New Orleans Sacred Spaces
by Brenda Square
The Road to November 14th 1960
by Keith Weldon Medley
A Crusader
by Jari Honora
The United States Marshals Service
Al ButlerColumns & Departments
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The Road to November 14th 1960
On November 14th, 2010, with generous donations from the community, the Plessy and Ferguson Foundation and the Crescent City Peace Alliance installed an historic maker on the neutral ground across the street from the now shuttered McDonogh #19 school building to commemorate the sacrifices of the four girls, their families, and white families who defied segregationists. In the shadow of the school where they made history, Leona Tate, Gail Etienne Stripling and Tessie Prevost reunited with the federal marshals who escorted them on that fateful day 50 years ago.
Speaking before the gathering were A. P. Tureaud Jr., Louisiana State Supreme Court Justice Bernette Johnson, Dr. Raphael Cassimere and Damon T. Hewitt of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Karen Favorite provided musical accompaniment as the three ladies laid a wreath for their parents and those who gave them strength. Then, Civil Rights movement pioneers Leona Tate, Gail Etienne Stripling and Tessie Prevost unveiled the historic marker in the presence of family, friends and community.
The timeline below recounts the long legal journey.
1949
“We are determined to secure absolute equality and nothing less than complete equality is acceptable to our community” — NAACP representative Daniel Byrd in 1949
1950 - The Supreme Court ruled that public schools were forbidden from discriminating against students because of race in McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents.
1951 - The Army decrees that it will desegregate its troops. 1
1952 - New Orleans Attorney A. P. Tureaud filed suit on behalf of black parents to end the segregation of New Orleans schools by race. Assisted by Thurgood Marshall and Robert Carter who represented the Legal Defense and Educational Fund of the NAACP, Tureaud’s suit charged that New Orleans segregated school system violated the 14th amendment of the constitution.1953 - The Baton Rouge bus boycott began in Louisiana. This action was an example for similar actions in other southern protests.2
1954 - APRIL - Civic leaders stage boycott of McDonogh Day activities because of discriminatory practices. Veronica Hill, Iona Bertaux and Ethel Young stated “The parade only serves to condition [the students], before they are old enough to think, to second class citizenship.” Mrs. Margot Farrell of the Cohen high school PTA prophesied, “This is just the beginning. It shows that we mean to fight segregation.”
1954 – MAY – The United States Supreme Court declared segregation in schools was unconstitutional and should be desegregated with “all deliberate speed.”1954 was the birth year for Gail Etienne, Tessie Prevost, and Leona Tate.
1955 - NAACP member Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to relinquish her seat to a White man on a Montgomery bus.34
1956 – FEBRUARY - A three judge panel ruled that all Louisiana statutes that enforced segregation were unconstitutional. Judge J. Skelly Wright issued an order for the Orleans Parish School Board to desegregate its schools. Louisiana legislature passed a law to dismiss any teacher who advocated integration.
1956 – MAY - The Tallahassee Bus Boycott began when two Florida A&M University students, Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Paterson, were arrested for refusing to relinquish their seats to White bus riders.5
1957 – FEBRUARY - Leaders of the Montgomery Improvement Association and other protest groups met in Atlanta to lay the foundation for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). On February 14, 1957, the group met in New Orleans, formalized its purpose, and elected its first officers: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President; Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, Financial Secretary-Treasurer; Rev. C. K. Steele, Vice President; Rev. T. J. Jemison, Secretary; Attorney Israel M. Augustine, General Counsel 6Throughout its illustrious history, SCLC organized numerous large scale Civil Rights demonstrations in Selma, Birmingham, and Atlanta.
1957 – MARCH - The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed Judge J. Skelly Wright’s order to desegregateNew Orleans public schools.
1957 – MAY - A. P. Tureaud, Sr. initiated the Martinet Society. It was composed of a group of young Black lawyers who gathered in the law offices on Orleans Ave. Among its stated objectives were the interchange of ideas, legal scholarship, and promoting the administration of justice. Its early members included Ernest Morial, Robert Collins, Lionel Collins, Freddie Warren, and Israel Augustine. Benjamin Johnson was recording secretary and Earl Amedee was treasurer.
1957 - On September 25, 1957, a group of high school students that became known as the Little Rock Nine became the first Black students to integrate a previous white high school since the Reconstruction period of the 19th century.
1959 –JULY - Judge J. Skelly Wright established a deadline of March 1, 1960 for the Orleans parish School Board to issue a plan for desegregating schools.
1960 - A group of white women organized by Rosa Keller, Gladys Kahn, and others formed a group called Save Our Schools (SOS) to keep schools open under desegregation. They produced newsletters, reached out to civic leaders and interracial groups, and advertised in newspapers with the goal of keeping the integrated schools. They grew to 1500 members and coordinated efforts with African-American leaders.7
1960– Judge J Skelly Wright approved a plan by the Orleans Parish School Board to integrate the schools. He ordered integration to proceed on the third Monday in November, 1960.
NOVEMBER 13, 1960 - After the legislature passed a bevy of laws in a last ditch effort to stop the desegregation of schools, Judge Wright enjoined the entire legislature and other state officials from interfering with school desegregation.
NOVEMBER 14, 1960 - Escorted by federal marshals, Leona Tate, Gail Etienne and Tessie Prevost became the first African Americans to attend all white schools since the Reconstruction period.
