Before the School Doors Closed: Black Teachers and the Culture They Created in New Orleans, 1958–2005

• In Event: For the Culture: Black Self-Determination and Schooling

Abstract

New Orleans’ all-Black George Washington Carver Senior High School opened in 1958 not long after Brown, as white policymakers funded new schools to curtail integrationist demands. Located near the Desire Housing Project on the city’s geographic margin and poorly resourced over subsequent decades, Carver was nonetheless a place where teachers fostered a culture of self-determination, high achievement, and consciousness of endemic racism. Drawing on student and teacher oral histories and archival materials that span a half century, Buras examines each aspect of this culture, demonstrating Black teachers’ invaluable contributions. Remembering Carver’s legacy is critical as it was one of many schools to close after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when Black teachers were terminated, and charter schools replaced historic public schools.

Author

• Kristen L. Buras, Urban South Grassroots Research Collective