New Orleans To Unite For Funeral Of Civil Rights Icon Tessie Prevost Williams

A casket lying in state will precede funeral services, followed by a final salute for the civil rights icon at the New Orleans TEP Center.

Funeral services for New Orleans civil rights leader Tessie Prevost Williams will take place Saturday, July 27, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Branch Bell Baptist Church.

Prevost Williams, one of four Black girls who bravely integrated New Orleans public schools in 1960, died on July 6. She was 69 years old. According to the Associated Press, her death followed a series of health issues.

The civil rights icon’s funeral in New Orleans will be preceded by her casket lying in state at Gallier Hall on Friday from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. A jazz brass band will lead the funeral procession, culminating in a final salute at the Tate, Etienne and Prevost Civil Rights Interpretive Center.

On November 14, 1960, Prevost Williams and her classmates, 6-year-olds Leona Tate and Gail Etienne, faced jeering crowds as they entered McDonogh No. 19 Elementary School. “It’s an experience that I had with her that I will never ever forget,” Etienne told WWL-TV. “I’m truly going to miss her.”

“My daddy told me in the car, he said, ‘Look straight ahead, take my hand, and I’m here.’ And I wasn’t afraid,” she told CBS News. “For some reason, I just wasn’t afraid. I felt protected with my daddy.”

The girls endured isolation and constant police protection in their covered window classroom after white parents withdrew their children. In recent years, Prevost Williams and Etienne established the New Orleans Four Legacy Collection to preserve their historic role.

Congressman Troy A. Carter commemorated her life, saying “her courage and profound impact on New Orleans and our nation will never be forgotten.”

Prevost Williams dedicated her life to equality. In 2022, she participated in the opening of the TEP Center, celebrating the former McDonogh 19 Elementary School building’s new role as a community hub and living museum of civil rights history. Her death follows the New Orleans 4’s recent honor in Washington, D.C., commemorating the 70th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education.