The McDonogh Three
Encyclopedia
The McDonogh Three were three young African American
girls who integrated
McDonogh No. 19 Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960.
Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost, and Gail Etienne (all born circa 1954) were among five girls who had passed an admission test devised by the Orleans Parish School Board to find black girls worthy to attend white schools. A fourth little girl was Ruby Bridges
, who alone integrated another nearby elementary school. A fifth girl eventually did not participate in the 1960 integration. African American boys were not allowed to apply.
The 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education
, and a 1955 clarification, had required schools to be integrated with "all deliberate speed," but Orleans Parish had delayed until this point.
Tate, Prevost, and Etienne began the first grade at McDonogh No. 19, facing protests, harassment, and physical abuse by white members of the school community and community at large. They were escorted into and out of the school by federal marshals
. In the third grade, the same three girls integrated T.J. Semmes Elementary School.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
girls who integrated
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
McDonogh No. 19 Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960.
Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost, and Gail Etienne (all born circa 1954) were among five girls who had passed an admission test devised by the Orleans Parish School Board to find black girls worthy to attend white schools. A fourth little girl was Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Nell Bridges Hall moved with her parents to New Orleans, Louisiana at the age of 4. In 1960, when she was 6 years old, her parents responded to a call from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and volunteered her to participate in the integration of the New Orleans...
, who alone integrated another nearby elementary school. A fifth girl eventually did not participate in the 1960 integration. African American boys were not allowed to apply.
The 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
, and a 1955 clarification, had required schools to be integrated with "all deliberate speed," but Orleans Parish had delayed until this point.
Tate, Prevost, and Etienne began the first grade at McDonogh No. 19, facing protests, harassment, and physical abuse by white members of the school community and community at large. They were escorted into and out of the school by federal marshals
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
. In the third grade, the same three girls integrated T.J. Semmes Elementary School.