Booker T. Washington High School

During the 1930s, as industrial production expanded across the United States, community leaders in New Orleans began advocating for a new high school for African American students that would combine traditional academics with vocational training. Many believed that practical instruction in skilled trades and technical fields would prepare Black students for better-paying industrial jobs and provide greater opportunities for economic advancement.

At the time, New Orleans had only one vocational trade school serving the city’s children. Established in 1921, the Delgado Central Trades School offered specialized training but was restricted to white boys. Members of the African American community increasingly called for comparable educational opportunities for their children, arguing that Black students deserved access to the same practical training that could lead to skilled employment and a more promising future.

The New Orleans branch of the NAACP led the campaign for a second high school for Black students, citing overcrowding and the growing need for better educational opportunities. African American leaders advocated for a vocational school, recognizing that many students were expected to enter the workforce immediately after graduation. Trade training could give them practical skills and access to better-paying jobs in an increasingly industrialized economy.

The proposal, however, faced resistance from some members of the white community, who feared that training Black students in skilled trades could threaten their own employment opportunities. School board officials eventually reached a compromise, agreeing that the trades offered at the proposed school would largely be those in which African Americans were already employed.

Despite the agreement, the plan ultimately fell apart. After purchasing property intended for the vocational school, the school board reversed course, and a different school was constructed on the site instead. The decision dealt a setback to Black community leaders who had fought for expanded educational opportunities and access to vocational training for New Orleans’ African American students.

In the early 20th century, the Silver City Dump was the second-largest landfill in New Orleans. Described as the “ulcer of the city,” the sprawling dump received more than 150 tons of garbage. Few could have imagined that this blighted landscape would one day become the site of a landmark in African American education: the first public vocational high school in New Orleans built specifically to serve Black students.

In April 1940, the Orleans Parish School Board purchased a parcel of land bounded by Erato, Prieur, South Roman, and Clio Streets for the construction of a new high school for Black students. The property was situated in Central City, a predominantly African American neighborhood in New Orleans, and bordered the Calliope Housing Projects, a 690-unit public housing development built in 1939–1940. Later renamed the B.W. Cooper Homes, the development would become a defining feature of the surrounding neighborhood.

On September 13, 1940, the school was officially named Booker T. Washington Senior High School in honor of the prominent African American educator and activist who championed vocational training as a means of economic advancement for Black Americans. The name seemed fitting for an institution intended to provide practical skills and prepare students for employment.

However, as construction began, the Orleans Parish School Board imposed restrictions that undermined the school’s original purpose. Officials stipulated that the curriculum would exclude training for artisans, cosmetology, and gold and silver metalworking. These limitations effectively denied students access to several skilled trades and professions that had traditionally been dominated by white workers, reinforcing the racial barriers that Black community leaders had hoped the new school would help overcome.

Booker T. Washington Senior High School was completed in August 1942 and officially opened on September 6, 1942, amid considerable fanfare. Lawrence D. Crocker was appointed the school’s first principal, overseeing an enrollment of approximately 1,600 students during the 1942–43 academic year.

Despite its large student body, the school’s first graduating class in 1943 was remarkably small, consisting of just 12 students: 11 girls and one boy. Among the most popular vocational courses that year were printing, motor mechanics, and shoe repair, reflecting the school’s emphasis on practical skills and job preparation.

By 1947, the curriculum had expanded to include additional trades and technical subjects, such as graphic arts, masonry, and mechanical drawing. These programs offered students opportunities to develop specialized skills that could help them enter the workforce, even as racial barriers continued to limit access to many skilled professions.

Over the decades, Booker T. Washington Senior High School educated numerous notable figures who went on to make their mark on New Orleans and beyond. Its alumni include several members of the New Orleans City Council, Louisiana State Representative Joseph Bouie Jr., and music mogul Percy Robert Miller, better known as Master P, who rose to fame as a rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. Their accomplishments reflect the school’s lasting place in the city’s political, cultural, and musical history.

The 2,000-seat Art Deco auditorium at Booker T. Washington High School hosted many cultural activities and served as the city’s Black municipal auditorium for decades. War bond rallies held in the school’s auditorium in 1942 and 1945 raised thousands of dollars, enabling New Orleans’s African American residents to contribute to the war effort. The earliest of these events took place there in November 1942. The drive included a dinner and presentation hosted by Clarence Muse and resulted in the sale of $10,000 worth of war bonds.

During segregation, African American musicians were barred from performing onstage at Symphony Hall, prompting the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra to move a performance to the auditorium at Booker T. Washington High School. The change of venue also provided an opportunity for Black pianist Jean Maloney to perform with the orchestra. The concert drew a full house and was warmly received by the audience.

The following year, the orchestra returned with William Grant Still conducting. Still would go on to become one of the most prominent African American composers of the 20th century, earning recognition for his contributions to classical music and his role in breaking racial barriers in the field. These performances marked an important chapter in the school’s cultural history, demonstrating how its auditorium provided a stage for musical events that segregation had restricted elsewhere in the city.

On March 25, 1949, bebop jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie performed at Booker T. Washington High School’s auditorium. Although the concert was well received, the evening ended on an unfortunate note when Gillespie reported to police that his dressing room had been broken into and robbed.

A more violent incident occurred on October 19, 1950, when rhythm and blues performer Charles Brown and his band, the Smarties, appeared before an integrated audience at the auditorium. An argument among several concertgoers escalated into a shootout that left six people injured and one dead.

Following the robbery and fatal shooting, the school superintendent imposed restrictions on the use of the auditorium, ruling that future events would be limited to those deemed to have “cultural value.” The decision curtailed the range of performances that could be held at the school, which had become an important venue for musical and cultural events in New Orleans’ African American community.

Following desegregation in the 1960s, students were bused to nearby Alcee Fortier High School, contributing to a decline in enrollment at Booker T. Washington. By the late 1970s, the school’s student population had fallen to approximately 750, about half of whom were female.

The declining enrollment coincided with broader deterioration in the surrounding neighborhood. Years of inadequate maintenance by the Orleans Parish School Board further compounded the problem, leaving Booker T. Washington in increasingly substandard condition. The deterioration of the building reflected a difficult period for both the school and the Central City community it had served for decades.

The 1970s marked a period of significant change in the school’s history. Previously, Booker T. Washington High School had offered students a comprehensive academic and vocational education. In the early 1970s, however, education reformers and civil rights activists advocated replacing this dual-track curriculum with one focused primarily on academics. They opposed vocational education for African American students and supported integrated college-preparatory high schools, arguing that vocational training could confine Black students to low-wage employment.

The school’s physical plant also underwent major changes. In 1973, the building received interior and exterior renovations overseen by local architect R. P. Gandolfo, who directed the project’s design.

By the 1980s, violence and drug activity had become common around Booker T. Washington High School, as crack dealers operating near the neighboring Calliope housing projects contributed to a wave of shootings on and around the school grounds.

Many students lived in one of three nearby public housing developments: the B.W. Cooper Homes (formerly Calliope Homes), the C.J. Peete Homes (formerly Magnolia Homes), or the Guste Homes (formerly Melpomene Homes). Originally built to provide stable housing for working-class African American families, these developments deteriorated significantly by the 1970s. In July 1982, frustrated residents occupied the Housing Authority of New Orleans headquarters to protest unsafe, unsanitary, and neglected living conditions.

Meanwhile, enrollment continued to decline as the school fell into disrepair. A 1981 school report described a bleak scene of “windows boarded up, paint peeling, and not a blade of grass around.” Several doors needed replacing, windows had been shattered by stray bullets, and mold-covered sinks and leaking pipes plagued the bathrooms. Despite the deteriorating conditions, the school board refused to make the necessary repairs, citing a lack of funding.

To combat the low enrollment, Booker T. Washington reached back into its past and initiated an award-winning vocational program that endeavored to train students for agricultural-based employment opportunities. The course was classified as a “Cooperative Agriculture and Education Program,” with students receiving both course credit and a salary while receiving practical experience in an agribusiness occupation. The program extended from 10th to 12th grade and all students who enrolled became members of the Future Farmers of America.

Several years later, a 1991 school report painted Booker T. Washington High School as a school in crisis. It was considered one of the worst high schools in the country based on test scores, dropout rates, and student socioeconomic status. According to many of the former teachers, given the circumstances, the high school did an excellent job, but students left deserving so much more. The OSBP sought to remedy the school’s dire conditions by appointing a new principal and increasing campus security.

Despite these actions, by 1994, the campus was still in need of more than $1 million in renovations. The facility lacked air conditioning and because the heating system was not in working order, the school was forced to close during extremely cold weather. Holes in the wall and broken water fountains were found to be commonplace as the school board was typically slow to address maintenance and upkeep issues. The school was slated for improvements in 1997, including the installation of a new air conditioning system and new flooring, as part of the school board’s $175 million improvements program that was to be financed with a voter-approved bond issue. The new air conditioning system that was funded by the 1997 bond issue was not installed until 2001.

In 2002, a two-alarm fire broke out in a second floor room destroying much of the school’s student records. The following year, the school’s enrollment reached an all-time low. Most students now attended Walter L. Cohen High School as Booker T. Washington was labeled as a “dropout factory.” After permanently closing in 2004, the school became a popular spot for vandals and squatters.

In 2002, the National Register of Historic Places added Booker T. Washington High School to the historic register due to its architectural significance and role it played in the city’s history. On Monday, August 29, 2005, the school year was abruptly suspended when Hurricane Katrina made landfall. With winds in excess of 125 MPH, the storm was “the most destructive storm in terms of economic losses” to ever strike the United States. The high winds, heavy rain, and widespread flooding devastated New Orleans and resulted in extensive damage to Orleans Parish, including the Booker T. Washington campus.

The surrounding housing projects in which the majority of the school’s students resided also suffered devastation. Upon review of the city’s public schools in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, officials estimated it would take 3 to 5 years and $800 million to repair the damage caused by the storms. At the same time, the Recovery School District, a special school district administered by the Louisiana Department of Education created in 2003 to manage underperforming schools, was given the authority to operate the lowest-performing schools in Orleans Parish, including Booker T. Washington. The RSD held a number of public meetings to determine the campus’s future use. At these meetings, the community consensus was that the school be rebuilt at its present site. The Louisiana School Superintendent recommended that the historic school, annex, and outbuildings be demolished, and that the historic auditorium be retained, rehabilitated, and integrated in the new construction of the school at the site.

Preservationists contested that Booker T. Washington High School could be restored for much less than the cost of a new school. Plans were made to save the building from being torn down, however, due to its location and condition, a motion was passed to demolish instead. In 2011, 80% of Booker T. Washington High School was demolished.

In 2016, construction began as part of a $1.8 billion rebuilding program, financed with FEMA funds, which called for the renovation or replacement of dozens of school buildings flooded by Hurricane Katrina. During demolition, workers discovered the soil leftover from the days of the landfill had 24 times the allowable limits of toxic metals. Exposure to these toxic metals can cause cancer and respiratory issues. The state-operated Recovery School District added an additional $3 million for cleanup.

Since a majority of the campus was demolished and its architectural significance lost, the school was removed from the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. While many of the FEMA projects were finished years earlier, reopening Booker T. Washington was a hard-fought battle, as officials tried to figure out the best way to allocate the money. The proposed merger of Booker T. Washington and Walter L. Cohen High, a charter school operated by the organization New Orleans College Preparatory, to make one high school was met with opposition. Instead, state officials allowed the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) charter group to operate a new high school called KIPP Booker T. Washington in nearby Central City. In 2019, when the school moved back to its original site of the old Booker T. Washington High School, the school dropped the word KIPP from the name.

In October 2019, hundreds of locals gathered in the new Booker T. Washington High School gymnasium to celebrate its rebirth. Members of the school’s alumni association, state officials, and New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell, were among those in attendance to tour the restored campus. The auditorium was restored to resemble its original Art Deco design.

Thanks for reading. Please share the blog with your friends. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for more stories and photographs from across the Southeast. My book, Abandoned New Orleans, explores the history of eight locations from across the city including the Booker T. Washington High School. For more amazing, abandoned places check out my photography books.