For over a century, Louisiana Creoles have been at the forefront of education in Louisiana since Post-reconstruction. The history of the nonwhite public school system in St. Landry Parish is no different. The first public schools for students of color in St. Landry Parish after the Civil War were the Opelousas Free school at Opelousas and the Banner school in Washington, Louisiana. Hypolite MARTIN, a Creole, taught 169 students of color along with Emerson BENTLY, An Anglo-American from Ohio and Helen DONATO née ROBERTS, a native of the Virgin Islands married to Émile DONATO, a Creole from Opelousas.
Helen ROBERTS DONATO is one of the forgotten pioneers of non-white public education in Opelousas. She immigrated to Opelousas from the West Indies by 1867. Her husband, Émile DONATO, was the son of Martin DONATO, a wealthy free man of color and Julie, a mulatto slave who was emancipated in his will after his death. Émile was well-known in Opelousas , worked as a bricklayer and served on the St. Landry Parish school board. Both believed in the value of education. Helen later opened a private school for students of color in Opelousas and worked as a principal and music teacher until her death on February 15, 1896 in Opelousas after a brief illness at the age of 59.
Helen and Émile Donato sent both of their children, Raphaël and Nellie to Straight University(later Dillard University) in New Orleans. Raphaël Émile Donato became the first physician of color to have a medical practice in Opelousas. Nellie Donato met and fell in love with a college professor named Charles Haswell Mcgruder. The legacy of education continues in Nellie Donato and Charles Haswell Mcgruder’s granddaughter, Dr. Nell Irvin Painter, the eminent African-American Historian, accomplished artist and author of the best-selling, “The History of White People”.
Rodney Sam
References:
1) Freedmen Bureau Education records District Superintendent Monthly School Report(30 September 1968) shows Helen Donato and Emerson Bentley working as teachers at the Opelousas Free school.
2) “Opelousas Courier” (February 15, 1896) Obituary of Mrs. Emile Donato
3) St. Landry Colored School Directors Report( May 12. 1877). Helen Donato mentioned as teacher
4) “Opelousas Courier”( November 6, 1880). Principal of the former Peabody colored school, Helen Donato announces opening of local private school.