“A granite “Memorial Arch” stands behind Frederick Douglass High School in the historic Bywater neighborhood of New Orlean’s Upper 9th Ward. The arch…was constructed following World War I and dedicated in 1919 to recognize the military service of Upper 9th Ward residents. Adorned with embossed bronze plaques, it includes several lists of names…separate plaques for white and black soldiers are a reminder of the racial inequities and segregation that have shaped Douglass High School since its beginnings.”

Some notable moments regarding the history of Frederick Douglass High School:

1913:

Frederick Douglass High School originated as Francis T. Nicholls High School. Nicholls High School was named after a Confederate general who was also a Reconstruction governor of Louisiana after the Civil War and was constructed on the grounds of a former plantation As an all-white high school, it’s no surprise that the building and its classrooms were well equipped for learning (Buras, 2015, p. 145).

1930s:

Nicholls is rebuilt (Buras, 2015, p. 144).

1940s:

Nicholls’ school newspaper is established and named, The Rebel Yell; and the school mascot, a Confederate Rebel is created.  A Civil War veteran, Francois Bourgeois, was interviewed by the newspaper. Bourgeois explained his life working as an overseer on both St. George and St. Peter Plantations for “sugar king” Leon Godchaux (Buras, 2015, p. 147).

1950s:

The principal of Nicholls High School, Daniel Allain, wrote a message to the class of 1954 that promised his students that Nicholls prepared them for their future. In a survey conducted at Tulane University, data was collected from students who graduated Nicholls between the years of 1940-1951. Of the 46% of graduates who responded to the survey, 60% of them continued their education, 70% joined the armed forces and 47% of them were employed. A decade later, Nicholls was ranked at the top of Louisiana’s public schools. Nicholls was a place for white students to flourish before and beyond graduation (Buras, 2015, p. 147).

1960s:

Desegregation and white-flight in the 1960s led Nicholls into becoming an all-black high school (Buras, 2015, p. 147).

1967:

Gwendolyn Adams, a black woman transferred to Nicholls. She endured racist action from her white peers, who at one point, was thrown through “the plate glass window of a grocery store across the street from the school” (Buras, 2015, p. 147).

1970s:

Some of Nicholls white students protested school desegregation outside of the OPSB offices while holding Confederate flags (Buras, 2015, p. 147).

White students left Nicholls to attend private schools or other public schools (Buras, 2015, p. 147).

Resources and funding left with the white students (Buras, 2015, p. 147).

1976:

Rosalind Vicknair, Nicholls school librarian in 1976 explains that once the white students and teachers fled, the black students and teachers developed “strong academic, sports, and music programs.” The original mascot, the Confederate Rebel was replaced with a Bobcat (Buras, 2015, p. 148).

1980s:

School culture was thriving in the 1980s. The Black Culture Club was established, there was a Black Culture Assembly where students were “invited to a celebration of works by Black Artists,” the school put on plays including A Raisin in the Sun; at the play, a teacher performed a poem called “Ego Tripping” which is “about the strengths of African culture and history. In addition, students celebrated, and Dr. Martin Luther King with a candle lighting ceremony (Buras, 2015, p. 148).

1990s:

Francis T. Nicholls High School was renamed Frederick Douglass High School in 1990 after the once-enslaved black abolitionist. It’s said that the “naming of Douglass was a testament to the tenacity of students and teachers” given the ongoing problems the school faced. Douglass was understaffed, under-resourced, and outdated (Buras, 2015, p. 148).

2005:

Hurricane Katrina hits. Fortunately, Douglass doesn’t suffer damages beyond minor flooding (comparatively). In the weeks following the Hurricane, the National Guard occupied the school (Buras, 2015, p. 148).

2007:

Under RSD control, no new ninth graders were admitted into Frederick Douglass High School for the 2007-2008 school year due to the many ninth-graders from the previous school year who failed to graduate (Buras, 2015, p. 159).