Services will be next week for Dorothy Prevost, the last surviving mother among four who sent their children to previously all-white schools when Brown v. Education was first implemented in New Orleans.
Prevost will lie in state at Gallier Hall in New Orleans from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. on March 13. Funeral services will be held Saturday, March 14, 2026, at New Hope Baptist Church. Public viewing will begin at 8:00 a.m., with funeral services from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Central Time.
State Rep. Alonzo Knox sent a release about Prevost:
“The city of New Orleans, the State of Louisiana and the United States of America have lost a moral giant,” Rep. Knox said. “Mrs. Dorothy Prevost stood at the crossroads of history and chose courage.”
When the United States Supreme Court, in Brown v. Board of Education, overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, the New Orleans–born ruling that had sanctioned segregation for nearly six decades — the highest court in the land declared that separate could never be equal. Yet across the Deep South, Jim Crow did not retreat quietly. In New Orleans, where Plessy first took root, the machinery of injustice dug in its heels, forcing ordinary citizens to rise and make constitutional promise a lived reality. The machinery of Jim Crow refused to yield.
But four mothers did not.
With a steady and firm hand, Mrs. Dorothy Prevost, alongside Mrs. Eula Mae Etienne, Mrs. Lucille Bridges, and Mrs. Louise Tate, embraced and guided a decision that would echo for generations. They sent their 6-year-old daughters (Tessie Prevost, Gail Etienne, Leona Tate and Ruby Bridges) into hostile, previously all-white public schools under federal protection, enforcing constitutional rights at immense personal risk.
Their daughters’ display of bravery and courage sparked the inspiration of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade of 1963 and reignited national momentum in the Civil Rights Movement, leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. What legislators delayed, those mothers helped advance. What systems resisted, those women, day by day, dismantled it with their commitment to overcoming the barriers built to deny their children and Black people equal rights under the law.
Representative Knox said, "History has often lifted the men of the Civil Rights Movement to its highest pedestals — and rightly so — but too seldom has it bestowed equal reverence upon the women whose faith and fortitude sustained the struggle; and as the last living parent of the New Orleans Four is laid to rest during Women’s History Month, I consider it both a privilege and a moral duty to ensure Mrs. Dorothy Prevost is celebrated with the full measure of honor her sacrifice warrants.”
Last year, Rep. Knox welcomed Mrs. Prevost to the floor of the Louisiana House of Representatives during Delta Sigma Theta Days at the Capitol, to commemorate the 65th anniversary of New Orleans school desegregation in remembrance of the brave mothers and the New Orleans Four - America's brave little soldier girls.
“To stand beside Mrs. Dorothy Prevost in the people’s House — a chamber where she was once denied both access and the right to vote — was to witness the full circle of American democracy,” Knox said. “She did not seek recognition. She embodied it. I had the privilege to sit with her, to listen, and to learn from a woman whose strength was quiet but immovable. In her presence, you understood that progress is not inevitable, it is secured by faith and sacrifice.”
Because these mothers stood firm, generations of Black women now serve as judges, educators, scholars, and elected officials in institutions once closed to them. Their courage reshaped the trajectory of American democracy.
As the nation observes Women’s History Month, Rep. Knox emphasized the urgency of honoring her legacy.
“At a time when debates over voting rights, educational equity, and constitutional protections once again command national attention, Mrs. Prevost’s life reminds us that democracy demands vigilance in every generation. Her example calls us not backward, but forward. Not to complacency, but to courage.”
Rep. Knox calls for a visible outpouring of honor and unity, particularly from Black women and women allies whose leadership stands upon the foundation Mrs. Prevost helped lay.
"I encourage an outpouring of honor, love, and visible representation, especially from powerful Black women and women allies whose leadership stands on the foundation she made possible. My hope is that Black elected officials stand witness with me. Let us show up in unity. Let us show up in gratitude. Let us show up in strength."
"Dorothy Prevost’s story is not only a Louisiana story" Knox said; it is an American story. Her courage enforced the Constitution. Her faith advanced justice. Her sacrifice expanded opportunity.
May we honor her not only with remembrance, but with resolve. Louisiana stands grateful. New Orleans stands proud. The nation stands indebted.”
