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 McDonogh 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 14 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. McDonogh 19 will become Tate Etienne & Prevost Center, a safe space built on Anti-racist principles.