NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NOMINATION NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) 0MB No. 1024-0018 Frantz, William School, Orleans Parish, LA Page 1 United Stales Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 1. NAME OF PROPERTY Historic Name: Frantz, William School Other Name/Site Number: Frantz Elementary 2. LOCATION Street & Number 3811 N. GalvezSt. Not for publication: NA City/Town New Orleans Vicinity: NA State: Louisiana Code: LA County: Orleans Code: 071 Zip Code: 70117 3. STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this _X_ nomination __ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60, In my opinion, the property _X_ meets __ does not meet the National Register Criteria. Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: Nationally: X Statewide:__ Locally:_ / CM* April 22, 2005 Sigijuure of Certifying Official/Title Jonathan Fricker Date Deputy SHPO, Dept of Culture, Recreation and Tourism State or Federal Agency and Bureau In my opinion, the property __ meets __ does not meet the National Register criteria. Signature of Commenting or Other Official/Title Date NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NOMINATION MI'S Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) Frantz, William School, Orleans Parish, LA Page 2 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 4. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CERTIFICATION 1 hero6y certify that this property is: V Entered in the National Register __ Determined eligible for the National Register _ Determined not eligible for the National Register Removed/\ from the National Register' ) Other (explain): 5. CLASSIFICATION Ownership of Property Category of Property Private: Building(s): X Public-Local: X District: _ Public-State: Site: _ Public-Federal: Structure: _ Object: _ Number of Resources within Property Contributing Non contributing 1 __buildings __ sites __ structures __ objects 1 0 Total Number of Contributing Resources Previously Listed in the National Register: 0 Name of Related Multiple Property Listing: NA NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NOMINATION Nl'S I'brm 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-OOIS Frantz, William School, Orleans Parish, LA Page 3 United Suites Department of the Interior, National Park Service 6. FUNCTION OR USE Historic: education Sub: school Current: education Sub: school 7. DESCRIPTION Architectural Classification: Art Deco Materials: Foundation: concrete Walls: brick Roof: other: tar and gravel Other: cast concrete Describe Present and Historic Physical Appearance. The William Frantz School (1937) is a large three-story brick and cast concrete Art Deco-style building constructed in a fairly simple modified L-shape with a double-loaded corridor. The elementary school is located in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans in a mid-twentieth century working class neighborhood. The William Frantz School is virtually unchanged on the exterior and retains some of its character-defining interior features. It is easily recognizable as the building that was desegregated when Ruby Bridges first attended it in 1960. The facade has a three-part design consisting of a wide three-bay central pavilion flanked by large, slightly recessed wings of equal lengths, with stair towers at each end that recess slightly from the facade. The majority of the building is sheathed in brick. The decorative elements, most located on the building's facade, are of cast concrete. Cast concrete panels unify the central pavilion and the wings by extending across the entire facade, between the second- and third-story window openings. Five bays of windows are located on the facade of each wing. The grouping of the bays on each side reflects the massing of the entire fagade: one small central bay flanked by two large bays. This repetition creates a feeling of strength and harmony on an otherwise fairly plain facade. The Art Deco styling is understated, except for the central pavilion. The three bays are set slightly forward of the building mass to form a more eye-catching entrance. The pavilion is further accentuated by vertically banded concrete panels set between the second- and third-story windows. Three strips of chevrons pierce the parapet wall to crown the pavilion, further emphasizing the verticality of the composition. The entrance surround features a decorative fluted cornice above the name of the school. Raised square panels surround the entryway. The double door entrance is recessed from the plane of the facade by a progression of cast concrete fluting. The rest of the exterior, including the sides and the rear elevation, are relatively unadorned in NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NOMINATION NFS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) Frantz, William School, Orleans Parish, LA Page 4 United Suites Department of the Interior, National Park Service comparison to the facade. The very simple first story serves as a base to the slightly more decorative second and third stories. The door openings on the terminating end of each wing are surrounded by the same raised square panels as the main entrance, and there is a curved metal handrail on each side of the steps leading to the openings. Other exterior features include narrow brick belt courses over the first-story windows and beneath the second-story windows that carry around the corner and terminate at the stair tower outthrust. Another belt course over the third-story windows encircles the building, reaching around the stair tower outthrust and terminating on the rear of the building. The modified L-shape on the first floor reduces to a rectangle on the second and third floors. The first floor features classrooms along a double-loaded corridor, a lobby, a boiler room, a teachers' lounge, and restrooms. The second floor consists of additional classrooms and the principal's office. The third floor has eight additional classrooms. The interior of the building is functional and unadorned. The entryway consists of a small, unornamented lobby with a staircase that ascends to the school's office and principal's office. Most of the school's twenty-three classrooms have two doors opening into the hallway, one on each end of the classroom. The wooden doors have multi-light glazing with panels below and are topped by three-light transoms. The interiors of the classrooms have been altered considerably, though some contain original details such as wooden cupboards that resemble china cabinets. Wooden floors are found throughout the building. A typical classroom has blackboards on three walls, two doors, and two window bays. A staircase on each terminating end of the building ascends from the first floor to the third. The steps of each staircase are wooden, as well as the handrails on the solid banisters. While the William Frantz School has undergone changes to the interior that are typical in the life of an elementary school, its exterior is virtually unchanged. There is no question that it is immediately recognizable as the building that Ruby Bridges entered on November 14, 1960, accompanied by federal marshals (see Part 8). The Architect: Orleans Parish School Board architect E. A. Christy designed the Frantz School. As school board architect from 1911 to 1940, Christy designed over 50 primary, secondary and vocational schools as well as various remodelings of schools. His designs reflect the variety of styles popular over an almost 30 year span. Christy is credited with designing the first modern school facilities in the city. Today 48 of his schools are still in use. Collectively they make an important contribution to the city's architectural fabric. NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NOMINATION USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0(1 IX Frantz, William School, Orleans Parish, LA Page 5 United Stales Department of the Interior, National Park Service 8. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Applicable National Register Criteria: Criteria Considerations (Exceptions): A B C D E F GX Areas of Significance: education; ethnic heritage; social history Period(s) of Significance: 1960 Significant Dates: November 14, 1960 Significant Person(s): NA Cultural Affiliation: NA Architect/Builder: E. A. Christy, Architect Herman T. Makofsky, Contractor NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NOMINATION NTS I'orm 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) Frantz, William School, Orleans Parish, LA Page 6 United Stales Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form State Significance of Property, and Justify Criteria, Criteria Considerations, and Areas and Periods of Significance Noted Above. Summary: One of the nation's major battles in court-ordered desegregation, in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), occurred in New Orleans in the winter of 1960-61. The southern reaction to the implementation of Brown, termed "massive resistance," saw one of its fiercest expressions in Louisiana. At least one historian, Jack Bass, awards Louisiana a "first place" so-to-speak in massive resistance. "No southern state," he writes, "matched the vigor, imagination, and frenzy displayed by Louisiana in battling to maintain segregated public schools." The two schools desegregated, the first in the Deep South, were the candidate, William Frantz School, and McDonogh 19 (both in the same neighborhood). Four first graders, one at Frantz and three at McDonogh, became the first blacks to enter public schools in New Orleans since Reconstruction. Protecting them were federal marshals. The nation observed the contrast between the small childrens' stoic dignity and the crowds of jeering woman, whose faces, one historian wrote, were "congealed with hate." John Steinbeck observed and wrote about the scene at Frantz, where little Ruby Bridges faced the hostility alone.