In 1960, Leona Tate was one of “The McDonogh Three” who integrated New Orleans public schools. More than 60 years later, Tate, along with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, returned to McDonogh 19 to open an anti-racism community center to heal their community.
Dr. Leona Tate and Molly Baker, HOPE Crew, in conversation.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
On November 14, 1960, six years after separate black and white schools were ruled unconstitutional in the *Brown v. Board of Education* ruling, Leona Tate became one of four 6-year-old girls in New Orleans to integrate white-only public schools in the Deep South. On that day, she, Gail Etienne, and Tessie Prevost enrolled in McDonogh No. 19 School in the Historic Ninth Ward. A fourth girl began classes minutes later at William Frantz School. The Integration of New Orleans public elementary schools marked a major focal point in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement. With worldwide attention focused on New Orleans, federal marshals wearing yellow armbands escorted The New Orleans Four to the schools at 9 a.m. By 9:25 a.m., the two former all-white public elementary schools in the Deep South were desegregated.
In 2009, Leona Tate established the Leona Tate Foundation for Change, Inc. (LTFC) to purchase McDonogh 19, the school she, Tessie Prevost, and Gail Etienne integrated. As the volunteer Executive Director from 2009-2021, Dr. Tate led teh organization to provide free summer camps, after-school tutoring, adult literacy, Christmas toy drives, and a monthly food pantry. Under her leadership, LTFC also staffed the Lower Ninth Ward Living Museum, a free community museum dedicated to the history of the historic Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood.
In 2020, LFTC and development partners, Alembic Community Developers, bought and renovated the historic McDonogh 19 campus, which reopened as the Tate, Etienne, and Prevost (TEP) Center in 2022. It is a mixed-use development dedicated to the history of New Orleans Public School Desegregation, Civil Rights, and Black Life. Dr. Tate's mission for the TEP Center is to create a safe space and community anchor where the public can learn, support, and train for anti-racism activism and social restorative justice.
In 2023, Tate was honored with an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from St. Thomas Christian University and Macalaster College in recognition of her service to the New Orleans community and beyond.
Although operating the TEP Center demands much of her time and attention, Leona values quality time with her family. She is a mother of 3, a grandmother of 12, and a great-grandmother of 8. Leona's love for community anchors the mission of the Leona Tate Foundation for Change, Inc. and the TEP Center.
Molly Baker serves as HOPE Crew Manager in the Preservation Services and Outreach department at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Her focus is growing interest in the building preservation trades by engaging a younger, more diverse audience in hands-on preservation opportunities. Additionally, she has partnered with HOPE Crew Director Milan Jordan to expand the program, finding the place where architecture education and preservation experience intersect by working with architecture students on campus stewardship, community engagement, and documentation techniques. Molly was drawn to building preservation by her belief in the value of learning about history through the structures that hold stories of our past. She holds an A.S. in historic building preservation from Belmont College, a B.A. in history from Northwestern State University, and was honored to serve as the 2023-24 NPS Harrison Goodall Preservation Fellow.
This program is funded under a grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
