Tessie Prevost, center, and 7-year-old Ellen Julie Hebert are escorted up the steps of McDonough 19 Elementary School by U.S. Marshal Michael Atkins, just like in 1960 Same as Ray Worst’s escort at the 2021 61st Anniversary Ceremony in New Orleans.
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NEW ORLEANS – Tessie Prevost, a pioneer in school desegregation in the Deep South, has died.
She was one of the first young black girls to be integrated into New Orleans public schools after a federal court forced them to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which declared segregated schools unconstitutional.
On November 14, 1960, Prevost, along with Gail Etienne and Leona Tate, made history as they became known as the MacDonald 3., federal marshals escorted them through a hostile white crowd into McDonald Elementary School in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans.th Ward. They were ostracized but formed a close bond.
“The way we prepared was not to do anything alone,” Tate recalled in an interview with NPR on Tuesday.
White parents pulled their children out of school, so the three African-American girls were alone throughout first grade. They were not allowed to eat in the school cafeteria or use the playground, so they played under the internal stairwell.
The historic school now remains as the Tate Etienne and Prevost Center, an interpretive space that teaches New Orleans’ civil rights history.
That same year, Ruby Bridges, a fourth black student in New Orleans, was integrated into the all-white William Frantz Elementary School.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell called Prevost’s death a huge loss and said her courage paved the way for greater educational equality in the United States
“Her bravery and determination helped remove the barriers of segregation and inspired countless others to fight for justice and equality,” Cantrell said in a statement. “Her legacy is a testament to the power of resilience and what one person can do impact on the course of history.”
Prevost died on Saturday at the age of 69.
The New Orleans quartet of honorees Tessie Prevost (left), Gail Atten and Leona Attenham during the 2022 Crown Awards on July 3, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana Tate posed for a photo before leaving the stage.
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