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Mary D. Coghill fought to improve education for Black children [1]

['Tammy C. Barney', 'More Tammy C. Barney', 'Verite News']

Date: 2024-03-22  

Described as “one of the most progressive, sympathetic, efficient and appreciative educators in the state,” Mary Dora Coghill led Joseph A. Craig School in Treme through perilous and prosperous times.

She was the first Black principal of Bayou Road School, which started as an institution for white girls in 1853. By 1877, the school was designated for Black girls, and added Black boys in 1900. In 1907, the entire white faculty and staff were replaced with Black women.

According to the Creole Genealogical and Historical Association (CreoleGen), Coghill faced racial protests in the early 1920s when a new $125,000 school building was being built at Bayou Road and Derbigny streets. White people said their “distinctly white” neighborhood was “unsuitable for a Negro school,” CreoleGen states. “James Fortier, president of the school board, even stated that Black children in white neighborhoods would threaten white supremacy.”

Black leaders opposed the protests and the school board relented. Black students were able to attend the new school until another school was built on St. Philip Street.

Renamed to honor Black Civic Leader and Democrat Joseph A. Craig, the school thrived under Coghill. By 1927, the school had 1,487 students. “Enrollment was so large that students were forced to attend half-day classes,” CreoleGen states. “Craig was an excellent school with an outstanding faculty and a very involved PTA.”

Coghill also fought to improve conditions in other Black schools as a founder of the Colored Educational Alliance. The group convinced the school board to open McDonogh No. 35 High School, the first public high school for Black students in Louisiana in 1917.

After retiring in 1940, Coghill moved to Los Angeles, where she died in 1957. To honor her, Mary D. Coghill Elementary School was built in Pontchartrain Park in 1960.

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