[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 1, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E169-E170]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CELEBRATING THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY AND BUILDING REDEDICATION OF BOOKER 
                TALIAFERRO WASHINGTON SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. TROY A. CARTER

                              of louisiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 1, 2023

  Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
an Orleans Parish Public School named in honor of an American educator, 
author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States 
including Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Between 1890 and 1915, 
Washington was the dominant leader in the African American community 
and of the contemporary black elite,
  In 1881, the New Orleans School Board barred the city's black 
students from attending public school beyond the sixth grade. However, 
in 1917, due to pressure from the black community, the school board 
relented and converted the McDonogh No. 13 campus, then located at 655 
South Rampart Street, from a white boy's elementary school to a public 
high school for black students and renamed the facility McDonogh No. 
35. Through decades of sustained activism from Black leaders and a 
bailout from the federal government. Lacking political power, Black 
leaders worked through civic, religious and educational organizations 
to press their concerns before the school board, beginning first with 
the total lack of public education beyond the fifth grade, as mandated 
by school board policy in 1900. The sixth was restored in 1909, the 
seventh in 1913, and the eighth in 1914. With these milestones under 
their belts, Black leaders began the campaign for a high school. The 
much sought after school opened in 1917 as McDonogh 35 in a recycled 
former school for whites. The next item on the activist agenda was a 
sorely needed vocational school. But where to find the money? The 
Rosenwald Fund had expressed an interest but only if the school board 
shared the cost.
  During much of the 1920s and early 1930s, the Orleans Public School 
Board was further pressed into initiating discussions to consider the 
construction of a new high school for New Orleans' black children as 
McDonogh 35's campus had proved woefully inadequate to accommodate the 
city's growing black community.
  Census records indicated that 8,709 high school age black children 
resided in Orleans Parish in 1930. Of these children, 2,580 were 
enrolled in McDonogh No. 35, the city's black high school age 
population, it significantly taxed the McDonogh No. 35's physical plant 
and led to overcrowded conditions.
  In 1930 the school board sold bonds for school construction and 
allocated $275,000 toward construction of a Black trade school. The 
Rosenwald Fund pledged $125,000. In response to concerns that a Black 
trade school might threaten white jobs, a public statement was issued, 
assuring everyone ``that the trades to be taught at the school would be 
exclusively those which are largely occupied by colored labor at this 
time.'' But it would still be another dozen years before Booker T. 
Washington High School became a reality.
  After purchasing a parcel of land for the purpose, the school board 
announced that it did

[[Page E170]]

not have the money to match the Rosenwald offer. Instead, in 1934 they 
built on the site a wood frame elementary school for Blacks for 
$21,000. Although disheartened by this broken promise, black leaders 
continued to champion their goal throughout the 1930s. But it was 
federal, not local funds, that made Booker T. possible. In the twilight 
of its existence, the New Deal's Works Progress Administration funded 
the project to the tune of some quarter of a million dollars. Like 
other similar schools across the South, it was named for Booker T. 
Washington, the famous black educator.
  (In regard to making it a vocational school) Many felt that such an 
education would prepare the city's Black students for employment in 
relatively high-paying emergent technical/trade careers, thus providing 
them with better opportunities in life.
  At the same time, many within the city's Black community objected to 
this type of curriculum, as they felt that a college-preparatory 
education strongly based in classical academics of the same caliber 
offered to white students should be made available for their children.
  In 1942, the Booker T. Washington campus was the first new high 
school built specifically for Black students in New Orleans. According 
to census records, the number of black high school age children in the 
city had increased from 8,709 to 11,238. Only 2,580 of those children 
had a place to attend school prior to the opening of Booker T. 
Washington.
  It was named ``Booker T Washington Senior High School'' as a tribute 
to a celebrated Black educator and activist during the late 19th and 
early 20th centuries who passionately argued the benefits of a 
vocational education. He saw it as a benefit not only to the Black 
community but to uplift the Southern economy. New Orleans saw notable 
industrial developments in the 30s and 40s.
  The school's curriculum was comprehensive. It offered both an 
impressive range of traditional academic courses in addition to 
vocational classes and training in the trades. Classes offered included 
shoe repair, biology, social science, physical education, graphic arts, 
home economics, vocal/music, masonry, woodworking, math, English, and 
instrumental music (OSPB, 1942-43: 110). The school boasted an 
enrollment of 1,600 children in its 1942-1943 school year. Students 
came from all corners of the city because of the promise to invest in 
the next generation of leaders, thinkers, and doers. The teachers were 
all Black, educated, and inspired by the pivotal role the high school 
played in the sojourn to racial equality. It was a unique snapshot of 
the richness of New Orleans.
  During WWII, New Orleans was home to Higgins Industries which is 
credited for building a special boat that helped the U.S. win the war. 
The Higgins workforce was the first in New Orleans to be racially 
integrated. Employees included whites and Black people, men, women, 
seniors, and people with disabilities. All were paid equal wages 
according to their job functions. The significant industrial 
developments were the main reason educators and business owners were 
pushing for a vocational school that would prepare students to 
immediately join the workforce and provide for their families. These 
environmental influences aided in the popularity of Booker T. 
Washington High School, cementing it as a destination for New Orleans 
youth.
  In 1945, following the close of World War II, BTW High School opened 
its doors to the community's returning Black war veterans with the 
establishment of the BTW Afternoon Center, which provided vocational 
training to veterans on a 12-month basis. The National Association for 
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held its local chapter's 
annual meeting at the BTW auditorium in March 1945.
  In 1946, the BTW Summer School for Vets was established to teach 
automotive, shoe repair, woodworking, painting and decorating, and 
masonry to the community's former servicemen (OPSB, 1946: 538, 539).
  In 1948, construction of an ``Auto Mechanics Shop and Greenhouse'' 
was complete.
  Responding to a clear job training need during the 1948-49 school 
year, Cosmetology classes were first offered at BTW High School.
  In 1949, OPSB authorized the expansion of the school's curriculum 
with the addition of ``short unit courses'' for the training of 
practical nurses (these classes would not actually be offered until 
1959).
  BTW emerged as a local sports powerhouse as its football team, the 
Lions, won both the city championship and the state title in 1949 and 
1950.
  In 1957, Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks at the National Beauty 
Culturalist League, Inc., 38th Annual Convention. The Convention was 
held at Booker T. Washington Senior High School auditorium. The school 
graduated cosmetologists, carpenters, auto repair experts, and other 
vo-tech specialists.
  Dr. King spoke on ``The Role of Beauticians in the Struggle for 
Freedom.'' King said: ``I am not too optimistic to believe that 
integration is `just around the corner.' We have come a long, long way 
and we still have a long way to go, but we must keep moving despite the 
delay tactics used by segregationists.'' King received the 
organization's Civil Rights Award at the event.
  War bond rallies held at the auditorium between 1942 and 1945 raised 
thousands of dollars and enabled the city's black residents to 
contribute to the war effort.
  In 1962, Orleans Parish School Board announced the launch of a 
building program to include the construction of the ``Booker T. 
Washington Addition and Gymnasium Annex.'' The annex was a 
freestanding, three-story edifice that was sited to the west of the 
campus's main school building. The annex housed a gymnasium, 16 
classrooms, and laboratories. Dubbed ``The Lion's Den''. The City of 
New Orleans was still dealing with the desegregation of public schools 
that was initiated in 1960. In September 1962, the Catholic schools of 
Orleans Parish were also integrated, without much protest or 
disruption.
  In the early 1970s this ``dual track'' curriculum was shelved for one 
that was primarily academic due largely to ``education reformers and 
civil rights activists who lobbied against vocational education for 
black students and for integrated college preparatory high schools.'' 
This sentiment was rooted in the belief that a vocational education 
would guarantee that Black people were trapped in low-wage jobs 
(Thevenot, 2004:1). Many firsts were happening at the same time 
throughout the city. In 1970, city organizers expanded on an idea that 
started at Dillard University and started the first Jazz & Heritage 
Festival. The Superdome opened on August 3, 1975. The city elected its 
first Black Mayor, Ernest N. Morial, who was a product of New Orleans 
Public Schools.
  During the 1980s, it is noted that the high-quality curriculum that 
formerly distinguished the school also began to erode by the 1980s. The 
larger area of Central City continues to see a steady decline as the 
crack epidemic took over in New Orleans as well as other major cities 
and the homicide rates continued to increase. The city even took to 
imposing a curfew for those 16 and under in an attempt to reduce crime. 
Oil production was cut nearly in half in the late 1980s, creating a 
ripple effect in New Orleans that changed the landscape and economy of 
the city forever. It caused the state to reduce its support of local 
schools. The deteriorating environment began to negatively impact 
Booker T. Washington along with many New Orleans Public Schools that 
once were sources of tremendous pride.
  By 1981, BTW reached back into its past and initiated an award-
winning vocational program that endeavored to train students for 
agricultural-based employment opportunities. The course was classified 
as a ``Cooperative Agriculture and Education Program,'' with students 
receiving both course credit and a salary whilst receiving practical 
experience in an agribusiness occupation.
  The course was classified as a ``Cooperative Agriculture and 
Education Program,'' with students receiving both course credit and a 
salary whilst receiving practical experience in an agribusiness 
occupation.
  Booker T. Washington High School is added to the National Register of 
Historical Places in 2002 because of its architectural and historical 
significance.
  By 2004, BTW is forced to suspend its curriculum due to extremely low 
enrollment and switches to a vocational/technical school for the 05/06 
school year.
  BTW building suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Katrina in 
2005.
  BTW High School is officially demolished in 2012, sparing only the 
auditorium and entrance due to their historical significance.
  In 2019, fifteen years after the historic Booker T. Washington High 
School building in Central City closed its doors, hundreds gathered in 
the school's gymnasium to celebrate its $52.5 million renovation.
  I am humbled to have personally known so many great New Orleans 
legends, leaders and alumni of this great Institution. Each of them has 
done so much to improve the lives of countless residents across 
Louisiana's Second Congressional District, the State of Louisiana and 
the entire Country. So many people's lives are enriched because of the 
passion expressed in touching people along the way. New Orleans is rich 
in culture because of many Booker T. Washington Alumni that makes a 
difference. I look forward to what will develop out of the walls of 
this great institution into our future. Congratulations on its 
reopening and the future it holds.

                          ____________________