News

Leona Tate, Civil Rights Icon, Talks Modern Protest Movement

It was Nov. 14, 1960 in New Orleans, Louisiana. As a 6-year-old girl, Leona Tate walked past a crowd being held back by police on...

‘We Shouldn’t Be Going Through This After 60 Years’: Civil Rights Pioneers React to Continued Fight

The fight for equality has been going on for years, but the death of George Floyd seemed to be the tip of the iceberg. Now, all around...

Civil Rights Pioneer Leona Tate Is Turning School She Helped Desegregate Into Center for Equality

One November morning in 1960, four first-grade girls broke ground when they set foot in their new schools. Flanked by U.S. Marshals and...

The Leona Tate Foundation Purchases McDonogh 19 School

The Leona Tate Foundation for Change, Inc. (LTFC) and its partner Alembic Community Development recently announced the purchase of the...

Leona Tate, Developers Break Ground on New Civil Rights Center in Old McDonogh 19 Building

From left to right: Leona Tate, Gail Etienne and Tessie Prevost climb the stairs of the former McDonogh 19 School, the same steps they...

McDonogh 19 Among the Civil Rights Sites Receiving Federal Monies

The cafeteria at McDonogh 19 school on St. Claude in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward is receiving $500,000 from the National Park Service....

NOLA Beings: Leona Tate

I'm a 65 year old grandmother, great grandmother and one of the first four to desegregate public schools here in New Orleans in 1960....

Louisiana: Leona Tate Foundation for Change

Leona Tate was only six years old when she became a civil rights activist and leader. On November 14, 1960, Ms. Tate, alongside Gail...

New Orleans’ Youngest Civil Rights Activists: The Story of the McDonogh Three

Back in 2017, when New Orleans was a flashpoint for the controversial removal of Confederate monuments, I remember walking by a school...

Leona Tate Fought Jim Crow at McDonogh 19 School in New Orleans

Leona Tate is still alive. Gail Etienne is still alive. Tessie Prevost is still alive. The three little girls who walked past jeering,...

As a Six-Year-Old, Leona Tate Helped Desegregate Schools. Now She Wants Others To Learn That History

Tate plans to open an educational center in the New Orleans school she attended as one of only three black students in 1960. Clutching a...