Alumni Celebrate 70 Years Since Segregated School Expanded

Seventy years ago, Black students in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana gained something many had never dreamed possible: the chance to finish high school in their own community.

On Sunday, alumni of James A. Herod High School filled Greater Rose Hill Baptist Church to celebrate that watershed moment. The formerly segregated school had expanded to include high school grades in the late 1950s, creating opportunities that simply didn't exist before.

"We are commemorating the beginning, or the birth, of Black schools elevated to a 12th-grade level," said Denny Lapoint, an alumnus who organized the event.

Before the expansion, students could only attend through eighth grade. The change came during the "separate but equal" era, following federal legislation that pushed for expanded education even within segregated systems.

Carlton Campbell graduated in 1960, part of the early wave of students who benefited from the change. He remembers classmates traveling from towns across the parish, including Gueydan, Kaplan, Erath, and Delcambre.

The long bus rides weren't easy for everyone. "Some kids actually quit—they wouldn't go to school," Lapoint said. "It's almost like you're recreating the slave trade, taking people from their roots and bringing them to a strange land."

But for those who stayed, Herod became more than a school. It became a place where Black students could pursue dreams previously out of reach.

The school introduced organized athletics, band programs, and leadership opportunities. "It was the first to take kids and mold them to a much higher level," Lapoint said. "You didn't have that before."

Why This Inspires

Sunday's gathering showed how communities can honor painful history while celebrating the strength that emerged from it. Alumni didn't gloss over the difficulties of segregation or the trauma of being separated from their home communities. Instead, they chose to remember both the struggle and the triumph.

The event reflected a desire to preserve stories that might otherwise fade. Lapoint emphasized that recognizing Black history shouldn't be confined to February. These stories of perseverance and achievement deserve year-round celebration.

"We appreciate the culture," he said. "Even though it was divided, it was a wonderful culture."

The school eventually integrated, but its legacy as a cornerstone of Black education in Vermilion Parish remains. For the alumni who gathered Sunday, the memories of teachers who believed in them and classmates who became lifelong friends still shine bright.

Their celebration reminds us that progress often comes in small, hard-won steps, and that honoring those steps keeps hope alive for future generations.