In the lower ninth ward, on St Claude Highway, sits an average-looking New Orleans school building. It would be easy to drive past without noticing it, like many other school buildings on the same street. But this particular building is not just a school, it is a piece of history that has also been overlooked for decades.
Pulling over to the side of the road, you’ll notice a few signs detailing the site’s significance. Pictures of three little girls walking up the steps of the school escorted by US Marshalls. The same school building surrounded by protestors. McDonogh 19 wasn’t just any elementary school, it was the first school to be desegregated in Louisiana.
When Leona Tate, Gail Etienne, and Tessie Prevost walked up those steps, they were not aware of how significant their entry would be. Nor that they would do the same walk into new schools several times over the course of their education. Even after graduation, they didn’t have an idea of what McDonogh 19 would become.
The school closed in 2004, and a year later was flooded during Hurricane Katrina. Afterwards it sat empty for years, its first floor flood damaged, windows boarded up, and its history hidden. Leona Tate couldn’t let such an important landmark stay empty or be demolished. “I was told it could never be a school again,” she has remarked on many occasions, “but I knew it had to be something educational.”
The Leona Tate Foundation for Change began as a fundraising effort to purchase McDonogh 19, but it also hosted community events like a summer kids camp. Our CrossRoads team in New Orleans at the time partnered with this camp. As volunteer Lori Mason remembers, “Everyone loved Mrs. Leona! I always heard her name from all the kids with such excitement. Coming back years later to find out her full story is so moving.”
Before finally buying the building in 2020, Leona didn’t talk about her experience often. The newly named TEP Center (named after the three girls’ last names) gave her, Gail, and Tessie the opportunity to share their story from their perspective. The living museum is constantly evolving with rotating exhibits, growing permanent installations, and a host of community events.
The building is not just a museum. Leona wanted to give back to her community in addition to telling the school’s story. The top two floors of the school have been converted to affordable apartments for 55+ individuals. Downstairs in extra classrooms are office spaces for other local non-profits. The center also regularly hosts events, trainings, and other community engagement opportunities in addition to their museum tours.
Since shortly after the museum’s opening, CrossRoads Missions New Orleans has been bringing groups to tour the museum, ask Leona questions, and help around the facility where we can. It has been a joy to highlight such an important part of New Orleans, and American, history as well as give back to a partner that has worked tirelessly her entire life for her community.
There is much, much more to this story and the impact of the TEP Center. It is a narrative to be experienced, shared, and dwelled upon. Whenever you are in New Orleans, make a visit to this piece of history that continues to make an impact.
Find out more at https://www.tepcenter.org/
