The McDonogh 3
A half-century ago, first-graders Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost and Gail Etienne had McDonogh 19 to themselves for an entire year, thanks to a white boycott. An unnamed white boy briefly broke the boycott in January 1961, but left once protesters descended upon the Walgreen’s that employed his father, John Thompson.
Despite the hostile crowds that gathered outside and the brown paper that covered classroom windows for their safety, the building was a sanctuary, the women told The Times-Picayune in a 2004 int…
