Diana bajoie biography

10th February 2020   ·   0 Comments

In honor of Black History Month, The Louisiana Weekly is this week illuminating, celebrating, and commemorating women from New Orleans who are history makers.

EDUCATORS

Sylvanie Francoz Williams, an African-American educator and clubwoman, was born in New Orleans.

Williams wrote a report on the educational, economic, and cultural conditions of Black residents of New Orleans and presented it at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. She worked as a school administrator and principal of the Fisk School Girls’ Department and later at the Thomy Lafon School.

The latter school was burned down during rioting in 1900 but rebuilt under her leadership. Among her students was A. P. Tureaud, a prominent civil rights lawyer.

Williams was founder and president of the Phillis Wheatley Club, a prominent organization for Black women