NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- In
December, 1965, a small vocational school known as the Adult
Education Center welcomed an integrated class of mostly black
underemployed women to begin training to become the first
secretaries who would integrate the all-white businesses of
New Orleans.
The effort caused an uproar at the time. The first pilot program
was shut down after neighbors in uptown New Orleans objected to the school's
integrated student population. After the pilot program closed, the
founders went looking for a new home. In the process, 60 landlords
turned them down. Finally, one brave landlord, James J. Coleman, agreed to rent them a space in
a series of converted bars on Exchange Place in the French
Quarter.
During its period of operation from 1965 to 1972, the school
placed 94 percent of its 431 graduates in jobs with salaries above
the national average, thus making it one of the most successful
programs of its kind in the War on Poverty.
Graduates of the Adult Education Center will reunite on
Wednesday, October 16, from
1 p.m. - 3 p.m. at the Historic New
Orleans Collection, 410 Chartres, New
Orleans, Louisiana. The reunion event is organized by the
431 Exchange, a nonprofit organization started by the children of
Alice Geoffray to keep the spirit,
legacy and camaraderie of the Adult Education Center alive.
The program was not without controversy for teaching English as
a second language and for teaching African-American history and
culture. The school published the first textbook on teaching
English as a second language to native English speakers. It also
pioneered teaching African-American makeup and hairstyles to help
prepare its students for working in some of the city's most high
profile offices. Last, but not least, the school was a champion of
taking a humanistic approach to vocational education. So, in
addition to typing and shorthand, the students worked on writing,
speaking and communication skills to help strengthen their critical
powers and self-image.
The school was shut down a second time in 1967 for political
reasons. But a group of New
Orleans businessmen and leaders rallied to keep the school
alive. The school was brought back to life in 1968 as a private /
government partnership that was unique in its day and became a
model for other such partnerships around the country. The story of
the school closing and reopening was the subject of an Emmy Award
winning documentary entitled, "The School That Would Not Die"
written and narrated by Mel Leavitt.
Eventually, the program's success gained recognition from President
Lyndon B. Johnson and a U.S. Senate
committee welcomed Dr. Alice
Geoffray, the school's director, and three students to
testify in Washington about the
reasons why the school was so successful when so many other jobs
programs in the War on Poverty failed. The late Congressman
Hale Boggs, the father of
Cokie Roberts, who recently passed
away, was a great supporter of the school.
Dr. Geoffray documented the successes of her students, many who
went on to earn advanced degrees and become prominent New Orleans change agents. These stories are
celebrated at the reunion by survivors and their families, as well
as used to encourage new generations of success by the award of
scholarships to local students.
SOURCE Adult Education Center