New Orleans: 1965 School Trained 431 Women for Corporate Roles
A reunion in May marked 60 years since the Adult Education Center closed, having helped Black women enter white-collar jobs during the Civil Rights era.
By Talia Bennett ·
In the year following the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a vocational program in New Orleans began preparing Black women for entry into the white-collar workforce. The Adult Education Center opened in 1965 at Exchange Place in the French Quarter, offering instruction in typewriting, shorthand, and job interviewing skills.
A group of graduates returned to the site in mid-May for a reunion, marking more than 60 years since the school's founding. The center operated until 1972, producing a total of 431 graduates, the majority of whom were African American.
Raphael Morgan enrolled in the program in 1970 after finishing high school. She cited the cost of college as a barrier and saw the center as a practical path to employment. "I paid $40 for books only, and we had shorthand, typing and job interviewing skills," Morgan said. She completed her training in 1971 and later earned a teaching degree from the University of New Orleans.
Before attending the center, Morgan faced rejection from employers who cited a lack of clerical experience. "Every time I went on an interview, they would say, 'You don't have any experience. We're not going to be able to hire you,'" she recalled. The center provided the specific skills she needed to overcome that hurdle.
The school was established by Father Timothy Gibbons, a Catholic priest who hired Alice Geoffray to teach. Jeff Geoffray, Alice's son and co-founder of the 431 Exchange, described his mother as a seasoned educator rather than an activist. "She was trying to survive. She was trying to be a teacher and feed her children," he said. Geoffray noted that many of his mother's students became the first African American secretaries in the Deep South.
Those graduates went on to work for major corporations and government bodies, including Shell, Standard Oil, Pan American Life, and New Orleans City Hall. Today, Jeff Geoffray and his sister Jeanne run the 431 Exchange, a nonprofit named for the school's student count and location. The organization advocates for affordable education access and offers scholarships to adult learners.
A PBS documentary focusing on the history of the school and the work of the 431 Exchange is expected to be released in 2027.
