30 June 2025
By C.C. Campbell-Rock
Contributing Writer
New Orleans City Council members stepped into history on June 12, 2025, when they named the intersection near Booker T. Washington (BTW) in honor of the iconic educator Dr. Elliot C. Willard Sr. Willard served as the school’s principal from 1977 through 1983.
“Today commences the designation of the intersection of Earhart Boulevard and South Roman Street as the Dr. Elliot Willard Honorary Intersection, right next to a great high school,” New Orleans City Councilman Eugene J. Green Jr., District D, commented from his council seat.
“It was my idea for some years. City Councilwoman Harris, District B, had used her honorary intersections, so I asked Councilman Green if he would introduce it since he was acquainted with Dr. Willard, as he served at St. Augustine High School, which was in his district,” Feltus explained.
WILLARD
“Doc Willard’s lifelong commitment to education and civic engagement transformed Booker T. Washington High School into a beacon of hope, shaping the lives of countless individuals. His guiding motto, ‘Be First Class,’ still resonates,” he added.
Booker T. Washington High School is located at 1201 South Roman Street. It opened on September 6, 1942, as the first vocational school for African-American students in New Orleans’ Central City. Lawrence D. Crocker Sr. was its first principal.
Wearing BTW’s red and white school colors, alumni and several family members turned out to honor and celebrate Willard, affectionately known as “Doc.”
Willard Sr. was an educator, coach, counselor, teacher, principal, regional director of the Louisiana Department of Education, executive assistant in the district attorney’s office and an Orleans Parish School Board member. He participated in civic work through organizations such as Alpha Phi Alpha, the Knights of St. Peter Claver, the SCLC, the NAACP and the Urban League. Willard was born on December 21, 1931, and passed on December 24, 2012.
BTW is legendary, and its legacy is carried in the hearts of its graduates. It was the school to attend if a student wanted to learn a trade. It also had strong academic and cultural programs. The school’s vocational courses served as springboards to entrepreneurship. Booker T. Washington Senior High School opened on September 6, 1942.
In the September 19, 1942, issue of The Louisiana Weekly, students are shown attending some of the most popular vocational classes, including shoe-repairing, printing and motor mechanics. In 1947, the school added courses such as masonry, millinery art, graphic art, commercial cookery, woodwork and mechanical drawing, according to creolegen.org.
Family members and former students, including former City Councilmember Cynthia Willard-Lewis, one of Doc’s 12 children, Julius Feltus, advisor to the mayor, former New Orleans Police Chief Warren Riley and others spoke about the impact he had on their lives.
“The Willard family is extremely and profoundly grateful, and we’re so humbled by this beautiful display of love and admiration for the life and the work of our dad.”
“He tried to serve his students and build up the parents and make a difference in the community – good and positive work, reminding the young people that they had all possibilities ahead of them,” Cynthia Willard-Lewis explained.
She and other family members followed their father’s example and entered the field of politics.
Willard-Lewis served in the Louisiana State Senate, the Louisiana House of Representatives, and the New Orleans City Council. Brother Benjamin Willard is a judge and Matthew Willard, one of Doc’s grandsons, is a state representative and running for a city council-at-large seat.
“Doc was a difference maker in the lives of his students,” former Police Chief Riley told The Louisiana Weekly.
Willard Sr. was Riley’s principal when he attended BTW. “He instilled values in students who may not have gotten them at home. He changed lives and mindsets and instilled hope, so this honor is well deserved.”
Willard Sr. devoted his life to education. In 1969, Willard became the first lay principal of St. Augustine High School. He served as an assistant superintendent at the Louisiana Department of Education under Governor Edwin Edwards.
Willard Sr. taught his family morals and values, “the utmost of which was service,” former legislator Cynthia Willard-Lewis told The Louisiana Weekly.
Many people recall Booker T. Washington High School as a unique institution modeled after the philosophy of its namesake, a prominent advocate of vocational education.
Many notable students attended BTW, including State Senator Joseph Bouie Jr., and musicians like Alvin Batiste, Harold Battiste, Eddie Bo, Alton “Big Al” Carson, James “Sugar Boy” Crawford, Edward Frank, Barbara George, Ernie K-Doe, Earl King, Melvin Lastie, Robert Parker, James Rivers, Allen Toussaint, Earl Turbinton and Ernest “Doc” Watson.
Additionally, Percy “Master P” Miller (a rapper and businessman) and former City Council members Jim Singleton and Dorothy Mae Taylor are also alumni, according to A Closer Walk NOLA.
Several BTW students went on to become professional athletes, including Bruce Seals (an NBA player), Michael Ball, Ed Thomas, and Calvin Magee, who played in the NFL, among others.
“An intersection in Doc Willard’s name stands as a fitting tribute – not only to his enduring legacy and achievements, but also as an inspiration for future leaders to carry forward his vision of service and educational excellence,” Feltus concluded.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell proclaimed, posthumously, June 12 as Elliot C. Willard, Sr. Day.
The New Orleans City Council dedicated the intersection of Earhart Boulevard and South.
Roman Street, in honor of Dr. Elliot C. Willard and Booker T. Washington High School and the New Orleans community at large.
“Today is a very special day. So, when you drive through the Dr. Elliot C. Willard, Sr. Honorary Intersection, members of the public recognize that you are driving through an intersection named after this icon; after someone who represents the best of New Orleans, his family also,” Councilman Green says before inviting the group out to the courtyard for a photo.
This article originally published in the June 30, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.