Tangipahoa Parish Earlier Black Schools

Westside Marching Band

The historical context of education for Black children in the United States is rooted in systemic exclusion and resilience. During slavery, education was denied to Black children, and those who sought to learn often faced severe punishment. In the southern states, laws and social customs actively barred Black children from formal education, whether enslaved or freed. Despite these barriers, many Black churches became crucial spaces for education, serving as makeshift classrooms and providing a safe haven for learning. This period also saw the establishment of a segregated education system, which persisted until the push for integration. During my research on Black churches in Tangipahoa Parish, I discovered the names of several churches and schools. Reconstructing lost records is a complex task, hindered by the absence of primary sources and firsthand accounts. This lack of documentation makes it difficult to verify historical details and develop a comprehensive understanding of past events. While some older individuals possess records, their willingness to share and preserve them for future study remains crucial to this effort. If you know of others schools, please contact me at nurturingourroots@gmail.com.

Ponchatoula Color School
Photo Courtesy: Ella Mae Badon

1897 Lea's High School, Amite, Louisiana, Kind of Instrument D, Book 29,  Page 8

1903 Oak Grove School,  Book D1, Page 204

1908, Blades Reid School,  D1, Page 338

1911, School, Independence, Kind of Instrument D, Book 63, Page 478

1911, Tangipahoa Parish Negro Training School

1942, Amite Color School, Amite, Louisiana

1917, Color Citizens, Kind of Instrument D, Book 81, Page 470

1920, Tangipahoa Color School,  Kind of Instrument D, Book 88, Page 608

Gordon Chapel Church of God in Christ School, Amite, Louisiana 

Tasker AME Zion Church School, Ponchatoula, Louisiana 

Perrin High School, Ponchatoula, Louisiana

Ponchatoula Color School, Ponchatoula, Louisiana 

Greenville Park High School, Hammond, Louisiana 

1915, Hammond Color School, Hammond, Louisiana, Kind of Instrument D, Book 75, 187

1912,  Big Zion School, Roseland, Louisiana, Kind of Instrument, D, Book 64, Page 227, 350

1958, Westside High School, Amite, Louisiana 

1920, Tangipahoa Colored School, Instrument D, Book 88, 607

1896,  St. James African Methodist Episcopal, Kind of Instrument D, Book D1, Page 136

1926, St. James Mission, Kind of Instrument D, Book 109, Page 27

Educational Family Field Trips for Kids

Infinity Science Musem, Mississippi

My grandkids had one week off from school for the Mardi Gras holiday. They just came off a two- week long break for the Christmas holidays. They'll soon be approaching a spring break. I didn't want them to be home for one week without anything to do at all. Although my schedule was busy with doctors appointments and everything else I could think of. I cleared my schedule to give them my undivided attention. 

We talked our plan over and made plans to visit NASA science museums in Mississippi. They were so excited to visit the museum and go to the beach in Waveland as a treat. We packed our lunch after breakfast and headed out the door for our field trip.

They also toured the Sweet Home Baptist Church Museum Black History display in the Kentwood Community center. Our last field trip for the week was soon approaching. I wanted them to visit the gravesite of a little boy known only as "slave boy" in Hammond, La. He belonged to a man named Peter Hammond. 

Peter founded Hammond, Louisiana about 1818. Hammond was from Sweden. Three of my grandkids live in Hammond and I wanted them to tour the historic landmarks in their own hometown.   During the Christmas break, I took them to tour the African American Heritage Museum. 

I took them to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN and the Slavehaven Underground museum to learn about the civil rights and the underground railroad. They learn so much about history by visiting museums. They have so many questions to asked and I welcome the questions because I know they are paying attention and learning. 

Cajun Swamp Tour, Laplace, Louisiana

Family field trips do not have to be expensive at all. All you have to do is make the time and make it a family project. "Get them involved by looking at what's available in their area, visit the website to learn more about the museum or site you plan to tour." The kids can be very helpful and learn while planning. 

Last summer they wanted to take a swamp tour so they decided to sell fresh blueberries to pay for their own tickets. Every morning they would get up early before it got too hot outside and pick the fresh blueberries. They sold enough to purchase their tickets for the Cajun Pride Swamp Tour. The field trip taught them how to earn money and save money to accomplish their goal. They were so proud of themselves and I was proud of them also. The kids had enough money left over to go see a movie. Family field trips can help them in my academic subjects. 

Whitney Plantation, Wallace, Louisiana

From Whitney Plantation in Wallace, La., to museums and parks in New Orleans, the kids enjoyed themselves. We are planning our summer fun time at grandmother's house. I created the Facebook page to document and blog about our journey together. It's a great way to share photographs and videos with their parents who work and can't join us for the fun. While driving to our destinations they learn about the direction they traveling. "Whether it east, west, north or south!" Meeting new people, exploring new places and tasting new foods is educational within itself. Matter of fact is it the best education one can ask for.  I'm enjoying the family field just as much as they are. It's our quality time spent together as a family. It's important to remember that the quality time spent together is more valuable than money. I make the classroom come alive for them. Well! Our Mardi Gras break is coming to an end and they are ready to get back to school. They've already asked me to come to school and have lunch with them. "How can I tell them no!" I can't and I won't. I hope this blog article inspire you to take family field trips with your grandkids, kids or any child in your family. 

Audubon Zoo, New Orleans, LA

Press Conference Held to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the M.C. Moore Deseg Case

Press Conference at the African American Heritage Museum
Photo Credit: Antoinette Harrell

On April 29, 2015 a press conference was organized by Antoinette Harrell and Charles Terry to announce the upcoming events that will commemorate the 50th Anniversary of M.C. Moore's desegregation lawsuit against the Tangipahoa Parish School System.

The press conference was held at the African American Heritage Museum in Hammond, La., Several of the late M.C. Moore and Willie Mae Moore daughters was in attendance; Joyce, Katherine, Betty and Jeanette. Two son-in-laws, Charles Terry and Henry Jackson talked about the legacy their father-in-law left.

Joyce couldn't hold back her emotions as she talked about how hard it was for her. "When people asked me if I was the same Joyce associated with the case, I told them no it wasn't me," said Joyce.

Henry Jackson recalled standing guard with other African American men all night with guns to protect the Moore family after the Moore home was shot at in 1965.

Osa Bett Williams candidate for State Representative District #72 of Hammond recalled marching when A.Z. Young came through Hammond, LA.

Pat Morris of the president of the Tangipahoa Parish spoke about the opposition she faced from both blacks and whites in Tangipahoa Parish. The case was reopened in 2007 at the urging of the Greater Tangipahoa Parish Branch NAACP because of numerous complaints of the school system's wronging of African-American children and African American employees.

Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of M.C. Moore Desegregation Lawsuit in Tangipahoa Parish

The late M.C. Moore

Hammond, LA - May 3, 2015, will commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Mr. M.C. Moore's desegregation lawsuit against the Tangipahoa Parish School System. The lawsuit was initially filed on behalf of his daughter, Fannie Moore, who was disenfranchised and not given an opportunity to receive an equitable and fair education, which is guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Fifty years later, the question remains whether or not education in the lives of Black Children matter; the answer is emphatically, yes it does, because the fight continues for equity in this school system. Unfortunately, there is very little resolve towards settling this decades-old desegregation lawsuit.

Moreover, many are keen to talk about or write pieces about what happens or does not happen in the public school system in Tangipahoa Parish. Consequently, I process and attempt to find balance with personal ties to the conflicts in Tangipahoa Parish race relations and injustices found in our school system that have had my attention for decades now.

As we begin to reflect on the importance of this lawsuit, we think of the lawsuit being filed in 1965.  As a result of this filing, Mr. Moore was ostracized. For instance, he and his family were threatened, and his livelihood and means of providing for his family were taken away through his logging business being sabotaged, which resulted in his having to bake cakes to sell to provide for his family. Men guarded his home at night after his home was shot into early one morning. His wife heroically crawled through grass and weeds to a neighbor’s home to call the police because their telephone lines were cut on the outside of their home. Those bullet holes remain in Mr. Moore’s home to this very day. Despite having his life threatened and his livelihood compromised, Mr. Moore pressed on. Thank you, Mr. Moore, for your courage and tenacity in ensuring equality for African-American children, and ultimately all children. 

After this case was filed and opened in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, with the late Honorable Alvin Benjamin Rubin as the presiding judge, the Tangipahoa Parish School System was forced to integrate its public schools in 1969. Judge Rubin ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, stating, in pertinent part, that the Tangipahoa Parish School System was segregated and did not provide equitable educational access to African-American students. As a result, the school board was ordered to reinstate the jobs of all terminated African-American employees as one of the wrongs the Tangipahoa Parish School System committed following forced integration in 1969.

The plaintiffs’ case was led by Attorney Nelson Dan Taylor, Sr., who is now the Lead Attorney in the Moore Case.  This case was Attorney Taylor’s first case as an attorney for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense Fund.  Unfortunately, the school system did not comply with Judge Rubin’s order, and the case became dormant following Honorable Alvin Benjamin Rubin's untimely death. 

The case was later reopened in 2007 at the urging of the Greater Tangipahoa Parish Branch NAACP because of numerous complaints of the school system’s wronging of African-American children and African American employees. Evidence was provided to prove that the same segregated conditions still exist in Tangipahoa Parish School System. The test case used to reopen the M.C. Moore desegregation case was the case of Coach Alden Foster, who became the first African-American head high school football coach hired in Tangipahoa Parish. Coach John Williams was reportedly the first African-American head high school football coach in Tangipahoa Parish. However, after speaking to several others, including Coach Williams, we discovered that he was not given the position of head football coach at Hammond High School in Hammond, Louisiana, despite being appointed by Judge Rubin. Instead, Coach Carmen Moore, a white coach, was named as the head football coach at Hammond High.  

The discourse of this article is too long to write all of what has happened over the past fifty years in the Moore Case, however, a Master Thesis done by Dr. Wayne Brumfield is found in the Southeastern Louisiana University public library. 

As we commemorate the lawsuit’s 50th anniversary, let us remember to thank God for the stamina of Mr. Moore, his trials endured, and triumphs he and others made for every child attending school in the Tangipahoa Parish School System.  Let us be mindful, as well as thankful for all of the accomplishments seen and unseen in this case having been reopened, because without such, sitting conservative judges would have dismissed this case due to its inactivity. 

While there are some thirty-six unopened desegregation cases, let us be mindful that the M.C. Moore lawsuit has set a precedent for subsequent desegregation cases. As President of the GTPB NAACP, and as I walk in the shoes of the late Mr. M.C. Moore, I feel his pain many times, and my heart breaks as I continue to witness the disenfranchisement of African-American children in the Tangipahoa Parish School System. Despite the many wrongs of this school system, I am reminded by Ecclesiastes 9:11 that “the race is not given to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor the bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happened to them all.” With these words in mind, the fight for equality will not end, and it cannot until “justice rolls down like a mighty stream” for every student and employee in this school system. There can be no other way, and no person will be left behind. 

The Moore family and Antoinette Harrell has organized several events to commemorate the legacy of M.C. Moore. They began by getting the Parish Council to issue a Proclamation  proclaiming May 3, 2015 as M.C. Moore Educational Awareness Day. On Wednesday, April 29, a press conference will be held at 10:00 am at the African American Heritage Museum in Hammond, LA., at 1:45 p.m. that Wednesday afternoon Joyce Marie Moore, Henry Jackson, Charles Terry and Pat Morris, President of the Tangipahoa Parish NAACP will speak at Southeastern Louisiana University Department of Sociology, Professor Rebecca Hensley. A wreath laying ceremony at Holly Garden cemetery will take place on Sunday, May 3rd at 4:00 pm, and on Sunday evening at 6:00 pm, a worship service will be at the First Church of God In Christ, Attorney Nelson Taylor will be the keynote speakers. On Monday, May 4, at 6:00 pm a panel discussion will be held at the First Church of God in Christ. On Tuesday, May 5, the Moore Family will be featured on NOATV Cable Access television “ Nurturing Our Roots “ Educational Talk Show with producer and host Antoinette Harrell. The Moore Family are asking citizens of Tangipahoa Parish to join them as they honor the legacy of M.C. Moore a pioneer  who changed the educational system in Tangipahoa Parish to ensure that African American children get a quality education.