"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : FORGOTTEN LOUISIANA "HBCU" SCHOOLS - GILBERT ACADEMY, NEW ORLEANS UNIVERSITY, and STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY

Today, it seems that while many Black People in Louisiana are familiar with "DILLARD UNIVERSITY, located in New Orleans, Louisiana, but some of them do not know that the original students for Dillard came from 3 schools that were closed to form Dillard University. PLEASE NOTE : The merger took place between 1930 - 1934. The first school, "Gilbert Academy," was named for "William L. Gilbert, a Wealthy Planter and Philanthropist" who gave the school $5,000 to rebuild the school's campus. He later contributed another $5,000 for a building that was named Gilbert Hall, and in his will, he set up a Trust with $40,000 to the school. Interestingly, the orphanage was founded in 1863, during the American Civil War, as a school for orphaned Colored Children. A lady by the name of Louise De Mortie, a Free Woman of Color from Virginia, relocated to New Orleans to run the school. Sadly, due to financial difficulties and a hurricane that hit the school in the late 1870s, the original school had to close. However, thanks to a donation from William L. Gilbert, the school was rebuilt and reopened as Gilbert Academy. Later, the school would function as a private college preparatory school for Colored Children as well as serve as an auxillary school for New Orleans University ; The second school, "New Orleans University," opened in 1869, as "The Union Normal School." It was founded by the Freedmen's Aid Society with funds from the Methodist Episcopal Church. Sometime before 1900, the school's name was changed to New Orleans University. In 1919, New Orleans University formed an administrative merger with Gilbert Academy, but the two institutions remained in their respective locations ; The third school, "Straight University," was founded by the American Missionary Association of the Congregational Church on June 12,1868. Going along with the traditional custom of the day, Straight University received its name as recognition for "Seymour Straight, a Wealthy Cheese Manufacturer," who gave a large financial contribution to the school. Additionally, around 1915, for some unknown reason, the school's name was changed to Straight College. By the way, Notable Alumni from Gilbert Academy included Lolis Edward Elie, a Louisiana Civil Rights Lawyer, Margaret Walker, Ellis Marsalis Jr., and Robert Frederick Collins, a United States District Judge ; Notable Graduates of New Orleans University included Andrew Young, a former United Nations Ambassador, John Louis Wilson, an American Architect, Audrey “Mickey” Patterson, an Olympic Medalist, and William Talbot Handy, an American Methodist Minister ; Notable Graduates of Straight University included B.D. Robinson of Monroe, Louisiana, Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback, Louisiana's "FIRST and ONLY" Black Governor, Fannie C. Williams, Valena C.M.Jones, Alfred Lawless, Theodore K. Lawless, Alice Dunbar Nelson, and Mary Booze, the first Negro woman to sit on the Republican National Committee.