WHY ARE THESE PROPERTIES SIGNIFICANT?

In 1952, Charles R. Colbert was named the architect in charge of the new Office of Planning and Construction. He initiated a study of physical plant and invited local firms to submit designs for review in architectural competitions for the new schools.* Architecture firms involved in this mid-century modern renaissance include: August Perez and Associates; Burk, LeBreton and Lamantia; Charles R. Colbert; Curtis and Davis; Favrot, Reed, Mathes and Bergman; Freret and Wolf; Goldstein, Parham and Labouisse; and Ricciuti Associates.** Several mid-century school facilities were recognized by national architecture journals and organizations for their design merit. The Thomy Lafon School (1954, Curtis & Davis) received the AIA Honor Award.*** Progressive Architecture recognized the Phillis Wheatley School (1955, Charles R. Colbert). In 1957 Curtis & Davis earned Progressive Architecture’s highest honor, the First Design Award, in for the innovative George Washington Carver Junior and Senior High Schools. New Orleans mid-century modern architects were not just making headlines and history. They were creating models of a regional modernism, inventive designs which are of a place, by a place and for a place. While McDonogh no. 39 Elementary School in Gentilly did not receive any awards, it was nonetheless recognized as a model facility and was the first modern school built in New Orleans.****
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satellite photo of George Washingon Carver Junior and Senior High Schools, Google Map

* The alliance between Charles Colbert of the Tulane School of Architecture, and Jacqueline Leonhard of the Orleans Parish School Board was profiled in Time Magazine in 1953. Through their efforts a plan was developed and embraced to create “ultra modern” schools in New Orleans. “Mrs. Four-to-One” Time, March 16, 1953.
** A Guide to the Architecture of New Orleans 1699-1959 by Samuel Wilson, Jr.
*** In the same year, Curtis & Davis received the AIA Merit Award for St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Elementary School. This school and the St. Frances Cabrini Church (Curtis & Davis, 1959) were demolished in 2007.
**** New Orleans Public School Review, 1950

First Modern School III

In 1999 McDonogh 39 was renamed Avery Alexander to honor the civil rights leader. The school received about 5 feet of flood water and is (mostly) boarded up. The SFMPOP recommends “complete replacement.”

WEL COM EB AC
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more photos on Flickr, including sections. Many thanks to Irene Wainright, archivist, New Orleans Public Library.

First Modern School II

McDonogh 39 is a “finger school” in plan. The broad administrative wing faces St. Roch Avenue and four classrooms project from one end. They are oriented in deference to our summer weather that extends well into the academic year. The classrooms predominantly receive north light. The southern exposure of the classrooms are protected by the deep overhang of the external open corridor. The walls of the classrooms and corridors are mostly filled with louvered glass and aluminum windows, providing ample natural light and ventilation. Each classroom wing fronts an "outdoor classroom," a paved courtyard that also provides additional play space.

view inside corridor

First Modern School I

I "discovered" this school through the wonders of Google. I was searching for information on Charles Colbert, architect of the Wheatley School and found this article from 1953 in the Time magazine archive. The article talks about Mr. Colbert's involvement in this revolutionary push to modernize the school facilities in New Orleans. The article referenced McDonogh 39 as our first modern school and I knew I had to check it out. When I went to photograph the building, I was struck by the relative silence of the neighborhood. The wide open space of the Gentilly campus and horizontality of the school building reminded me more of my roots in the Illinois prairie than of New Orleans. However, on closer inspection, I realized that this modern building had a true regional sensibility.