The McDonogh 19 Project
The Vision
Although the name of McDonogh 19 was changed to Louis Armstrong in the early 1990’s, our legacy was still an honored part of the school’s history. Just one year after closing to students, the school sustained damage by Hurricane Katrina. After Katrina, the Orleans Parish School Board opened only one of the schools in the Lower Ninth Ward community: McDonogh 19 remained dormant for the next 15 years.
In 2009, I founded the Leona Tate Foundation for Change, Inc. (LTFC) with the primary goal of restoring the historic property while educating the community about New Orleans Civil Rights history. LTFC-Alembic, a development partnership created for this project, purchased the property in January of 2020. On May 4, 2022, the community celebrated as McDonogh 19 reopened as the Tate, Etienne, and Prevost Center, a safe space built on Anti-racist principles.
Tate Etienne & Prevost Center
McDonogh 19 reopened as the Tate Etienne & Prevost Center in on May 4, 2022. The renovated mixed-use facility features education and exhibition space dedicated to the history of New Orleans Public School Desegregation, Civil Rights, and restorative justice.
Our partner organizations, the People’s Institute for Survival & Beyond (PISAB) and Beloved Community, have relocated their headquarters to the renovated campus. PISAB’s work is rooted in community organizing and facilitating Undoing Racism® workshops.
The second and third floors of the historic building will house 25 deeply affordable residential units for seniors 55 and older.