Gilbert Academy
Gilbert Academy was a premier preparatory school for African American high school students in New Orleans, Louisiana. Begun in 1863 in New Orleans as a home for colored children orphaned by the American Civil War, the home moved to Baldwin, Louisiana in 1867. The Orphans Home evolved into a school and, over the next 80 years, became Gilbert Academy, a college preparatory school for African Americans. Gilbert Academy returned to New Orleans, achieved accreditation by the Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges, and graduated many notable students until it closed in 1949. History Civil War origins The Union Army captured New Orleans April 25th, 1862, one year into the American Civil War, and the United States Department of War set up the Department of the Gulf as part of the United States Army. Nathaniel P. Banks, the Gulf Department's second commander, appropriated the vacant mansion of Confederate exile Pierre Soulé on Esplanade Avenue to house the Colored Orphans Home in 1863. Banks appointed fellow Bostonian Louise De Mortie to run the Home (Some sources name De Mortie herself as the founder). The Orphans Home remained in the Soulé mansion under De Mortie's care until 1866. She fundraised tirelessly, holding