Booker T. Washington High School (New Orleans)

Booker T. Washington High School was a high school in New Orleans, Louisiana. The school closed as a result of destruction and student displacement caused by Hurricane Katrina.

From TheLensNOLA.org: Like Valena C. Jones [Elementary School], Booker T. Washington has become a popular spot for vandals, thieves and squatters. Dating to the 1940s, the Art Deco school was the first new high school in New Orleans built specifically for African-American students. That history has been slowly stripped in the five years [August 2005 to February 2011] since Katrina, thieves having removed architectural detailing and tens of thousands of dollars worth of copper. With better maintenance and security from looters, preservationists contend that the historic school could have been restored for less than it would cost to replace it. “It is a concrete-framed building with a brick exterior, and I think everyone involved agrees that it’s feasible to bring it back online,” National Trust for Historic Preservation fellow Brad Vogel said. “But now it is a matter of cost. It will cost more to save it.” The current plan calls for all but the school’s auditorium to be torn down this year. The old auditorium will be incorporated into the new building.^[1]

A new location of New Orleans College Prep will be built on the Booker T. Washington site, moving from the former Sylvanie Williams Elementary School.^[2]

Notable alumni

Joseph Bouie, Jr., member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 97 in Orleans Parish since 2014; former faculty member and administrator at Southern University at New Orleans.^[3]

References

↑ "Ghost schools haunt New Orleans neighborhoods", by Ariella Cohen, 09 February 2011, retrieved 05 November 2015.
↑ Vanacore, Andrew. "Design unveiled for new school on Booker T. Washington site." The Times-Picayune. March 14, 2012. Retrieved on March 18, 2013.
↑ "Joseph Bouie, Jr.". house.louisiana.gov. Archived from the original on April 28, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.

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