This is the third installment in our Faces From the Album series. Here we take a look at the initial office staff hired to manage the first three housing projects in New Orleans for colored residents.
The Federal Housing Act of 1937 facilitated the creation of housing authorities across the country to address the need for reasonably-priced housing in America’s growing cities. Under the act, the first three housing projects for blacks were opened in 1941 – Magnolia, Calliope, and Lafitte (the opening of the latter having been previously covered on CreoleGen). These were followed in 1942 by the St. Bernard Project, the opening of which is featured on CreoleGen as well. The last three were the Desire (1956), Melpomene (1964), and the Fischer in Algiers, opened in 1965.
Left to right: Adrienne Dauphine, Morris Edwards, George Washington, Virla Barnes
Miss Adrienne Rosemond Dauphine was a graduate of the YMCA School of Commerce. She later married Mr. Robert F. Smalls and moved to Washington, D.C., prior to her death in 1999.
Mr. Morris Alfred Edwards, Jr. was a native of Mansfield, Louisiana and a graduate of Southern University. In addition to a long career with the Housing Authority, Reverend Edwards pastored the Carver Desire Baptist Church.
Mr. George Washington served as the first manager of the Magnolia Housing Project.
Mrs. Virla Lawson Barnes (Mrs. Jesse Barnes) served for several years as a secretary within the Housing Authority. Later, she served as a school secretary and as a teacher in the Medard Nelson Public School.
Left to right: Miss Grace Nelson, Mr. Felton J. Earls, Mr. Huntington H. Dusuau, Mrs. Evangeline Wethers Jefferson
Miss Grace Nelson holds an A B from Xavier University and taught in the YMCA School of Commerce. She formerly worked as an investigator for the Housing Authority and later had a lengthy career as a home visitor in the State Department of Welfare.
Mr. Felton J. Earls taught school in Alabama and Georgia before being hired as an investigator and then an assistant manager with the Housing Authority. He received his A.B. degree from Dillard University, an M.A. from Atlanta University, and did graduate work at the University of Minnesota.
Mr. Huntington H. Dusuau, the manager of the Calliope Project, who has been previously featured on CreoleGen, was a graduate of Xavier Preparatory High School and Xavier University of Louisiana. He worked as secretary to the principal of the Cardinal Gibbons Institute and assistant to the librarian at Xavier University.
Mrs. Evangeline Wethers Jefferson, the secretary to the manager of the Calliope Project, graduated from New Orleans University with an A. B. and later graduated from Straight Business School. She worked as a teacher and a social worker in the public schools.
Left to right: Mrs. Marie Rousseau Paul, Mr. Lionel L. Hoffman, Mr. Sheldon C. Mays, Miss Daniska Duconge
Mrs. Marie Rousseau Paul was a graduate of Straight College and the Straight Business College. She served as secretary at the Magnolia Project prior to being appointed to the staff of the Lafitte Housing Project.
Mr. Lionel L. Hoffman, the manager of the Lafitte Project, graduated with a Masters of Arts degree from Xavier University. He completed doctoral work at the University of Prague in Czechoslovakia but was prevented from completing the degree by World War II. He taught for four years in the public school system. He was a son of legendary educator John W. Hoffman.
Mr. Sheldon C. Mays was a graduate of Xavier University. He taught history for many years at Gilbert Academy prior to his appointment as assistant manager of the Lafitte Project.
Miss Daniska Ducongé (later Cager), a graduate of Xavier University, has been previously pictured on CreoleGen in connection to her work with Saint Peter Claver Parish. She was a graduate of the YMCA School of Commerce and later joined the faculty of that school.
Source: The New Orleans Sentinel, 24 May 1941, page 5.
Jari Honora
Do you have any picture of Mr. Cabbell Swan, Manager of the Magolia project or Mrs. Keys his assistant?
In what issue of CreoleGen was the Lafitte Project featured? Throughout the 12 years of our education at St. Mary’s Academy, from1947 -1955, our parents, along with the Sisters of the Holy Family, were raising me and my younger sister, Janice to prepare us for the successful careers & lives which we achieved as adults. Both of us owe our accomplishments to the richness of the experiences of the foundation of our formative years in the Lafitte Project! Our family history had evolved in the Treme for 5 generations by the time of the development of the Lafitte Project and it holds a very special place in my heart! Thus, my request to read your feature on it!
Thank you so much in advance for your work on this very special home of one of the oldest cultural subsets of our beloved Crecent City.
Dr. Carol Leal, You can find CreoleGen’s article on the Lafitte Project dated August 20, 2014 on our site. Just put ” Lafitte Project ” into the search engine located on the right hand upper corner on the main page of our website. Click it and you will find the article entitled, “The Building of the Lafitte Project..1941.” Hope you enjoy it !!
This information is truly incredible to be able to read in the 21st Century. My family were some of the first residents to inhabit the Lafitte Housing, having moved from “Backatown” on S. Dupre, to 610 N. Galvez Street, back in 1942 in the 6th Ward.
It was my first home, having been brought there in June of 1953. I’ve since had the opportunity to see how the community has developed since the onslaught of Katrina and how the demographics have undergone a complete “facelift”. No matter where I live (now in Slidell via NYC!), The Lafitte will always be my first and most memorable New Orleans home. Thanks for this information!
My dad and mom’s families lived in the Galvez Court.
In which year(s) did your family live there? We were there in the 60’s.
New Orleans history is not complete without the legacy of it’s Black citizenry. Thank you for all you do to make US so relevant to New Orleans growth and progress.
I attended XP with Mr. Dusuau’s kids, Evangeline and Huntington Jr. A third child, Adleaner still lives in N.O.