Dr. Leona Tate, NPS Grants Recipient and Civil Rights Leader

In 1960, when Leona Tate was only six years old, she became a civil rights leader in her community as she and two other Black girls desegregated New Orleans’ McDonogh Public School. Decades later, Dr. Tate reopened the closed McDonogh school building using National Park Service grants totaling in $1.5 million dollars in funding. The building, now known as the TEP Center, operates as a community and education center as well as affordable housing for seniors.

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MPS Episode 6: Dr. Leona Tate Transcript

[intro music] Dave: Welcome to My Park Story, presented by the National Park Service. People form connections with their favorite national parks and programs, and this park-cast is a place to come together and share those stories. I’m your host, Dave Barak. Today's guest is NPS grants recipient, Dr. Leona Tate.

[intro music fades out]  Dave (voiceover): In 1960, when Leona Tate was only six years old, she became a civil rights leader in her community as she and two other Black girls desegregated New Orleans McDonogh Public School. Decades later, Doctor Tate reopened the closed McDonogh School Building using National Park Service, Save America's Treasures, and African American Civil Rights Grants totaling $1.5 million in funding. The building, now known as the TEP Center, operates as a community and Education Center as well as affordable housing for seniors. This week marks the desegregation anniversary, which took place 63 years ago. Here is Doctor Tate's story.

Dave: It is my great honor today to be speaking with Dr. Leona Tate of the Leona Tate Foundation. Her story is an inspiration and the work that she has done with her foundation and with help from the Park Service is truly community, community-building and we're really excited to have her. Let's start from the beginning. You attended the McDonogh school when you were a girl, is that correct?

Dr. Tate: Yes. Yeah. Six years old. Yes.

Dave: Six years old. What was this event that you needed to prepare yourself for as a six year old girl?

Dr. Tate: New Orleans had selected two elementary schools that had formerly been an all white school to be desegregated, and it was three at McDonogh 19 where I attended- myself, Gail Etienne and Tessie Prevost and it was Ruby Bridges at William Frantz [Elementary School] and I was one of the little girls that was selected for that process. We had to be prepared a special way. We had to be rigorously psychologically tested. It was strange for a 5-year-old girl, you know, we didn't understand what was happening, but we knew something different was about to happen. And, but I knew I was going to a new school. Very excited about going to a new school because I was not happy with my old school. We were selected from an application that was placed in the newspaper for children in the 9th Ward area of New Orleans. There were, like, 140 families that turned these applications in. The criteria was very high. There was five families that were selected. We had to be psychologically tested and just doing, you know, different things to make sure we could endure what we were about to face. Out of the 140, I said five was selected but only four participated, because the criteria asked you to be a whole family, you could not be without a dad in the household, and one of the girls was without a dad, so she couldn't participate.

Dave: Do you know what your parents’ reasons were to want their girl to go to a newly desegregated school?

Dr. Tate: The only thing I could remember my mother ever saying was that she paid her taxes and she felt like I could go to get an education at a better school. But she had so much support, you know. So I think, you know, even though she was stron- willed, you know, I know she needed that backup to to go through this, and you know, both parents, and I really think that's really what got us