Desegregating a New Orleans public high school
In 1960, four six-year-old Black girls, flanked by U.S. Marshals, desegregated two New Orleans public schools. Seven years later, Black students were finally able to enter John McDonogh Senior High School.
In the fall of 1967, Pam Matthews was one of the first Black students to walk the hallways of the John Mac, as the school is known. A strong student, Matthews focused on academics, but made friends dressed in the school’s signature green and yellow colors – as a cheerleader, on the dance team as a Trojanette, and in drama club…