Tessie Prevost, a pioneer of school desegregation in the Deep South, has died.
She was one of the first young Black girls who integrated New Orleans public schools after federal courts forced the system to abide by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown vs. the Board of Education ruling that declared segregated schools unconstitutional.
Prevost made history on Nov. 14, 1960, along with Gail Etienne and Leona Tate, known as the McDonogh 3. At age 6, federal marshals escorted them past hostile white crowds to enroll in McDonogh 19 Elementary School in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward. They were ostracized and formed a tight bond.