Raise public awareness to local Civil Rights history and issues and continue educating young people on the lessons of Civil Rights and minorities’ struggle for equality. That was the year Leona Tate was born. It took the Orleans Parish School Board six years to act upon the law of the land. By that time, Leona Tate was ready for the first grade. On November 14, 1960, four 6-year old girls (Leona Tate, Ruby Bridges, Tessie Prevost and Gail Etienne became the first black pupils to desegregate two formerly white only elementary schools. On that day, three of the girls Leona, Gail and Tessie enrolled at McDonogh #19 Elementary School in the Lower Ninth Ward, and the fourth girl Ruby started classes at William Frantz Elementary School in the upper 9th ward. Together they were known as The New Orleans Four synonymous to The Little Rock Nine. When McDonogh #19 became predominantly black, Leona, Gail and Tessie had another mission to desegregate a 2nd Elementary School in the Lower Ninth Ward, T.J. Semmes Elementary School. The white flight from McDonogh #19 Elementary School to T.J. Semmes Elementary School created an even stronger resistance to integration. In third grade Leona, Gail and Tessie faced a wall of resistance, vile bigotry, threats, bullying including physical abuse at T.J. Semmes. This time they had no protection of U.S. Federal Marshals, no protection of the Louisiana National Guards and no protection of the New Orleans Police Department. There they faced an unfathomable hatred that no children should have ever experienced. Their experience at T.J. Semmes has been hidden from history and to date they have not been EQUALLY recognized, celebrated or honored by the State of Louisiana and the United States of America. In January 2009, the United States inaugurated its first African American president, creating a powerful symbol of progress in the long struggle for African American equality. A few months after this event, on March 25, 2009, Leona Tate and a group of dedicated community workers formed the Leona Tate Foundation for Change, Inc. to preserve and teach accurate accounts of New Orleans Civil Rights History, promote and enhance racial equality through various avenues of education, to empower and enrich our communities from a spiritual, multicultural, economical, historical and social perspective. Since 2009, the organization has delivered several programs for underserved youth and families, including a multicultural summer camp, after-school program, SNAP Enrollment Center, Legal Health Fair, Food Pantry and events and is planning to provide an adult literacy program and a community assistance program in January 2018. As a Civil Rights activist, Leona Tate is frequently invited to schools and universities to share her story. She devotes her time to inspire and encourage new generations to pursue social justice efforts. Leona Tate has worked for many years to re-open McDonogh #19 public school as a monument to the vital history it represents. In 2015, the Orleans Parish School Board put several former public schools on the market, including the McDonogh #19 building and grounds. In 2016, the Foundation entered into partnership with Alembic Community Development, a community development firm with extensive experience rehabilitating historic buildings in partnerships with community nonprofits to redevelop McDonogh #19 into New Orleans' first Civil Rights Interpretive Center. The construction is near completion and will include the Civil Rights Exhibit, 25 deeply affordable apartments for Seniors on the top to floors and a new home for the community organization People’s Institute For Survival and Beyond. The center will be named after the 3 girls who integrated the school Tate, Etienne and Prevost (TEP) Interpretive Center www.TepCenter.org
