New Orleans civil rights activist’s family home listed on National Register of Historic Places

By CHEVEL JOHNSON RODRIGUE
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans home where civil rights activist Oretha Castle Haley grew up and that served as a hub for Louisiana’s 1960s civil rights movement has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Treme neighborhood residence at 917-919 N. Tonti Street is listed on the National Register as the “Castle Family Home” and became known as the Freedom House. It was the headquarters for the New Orleans chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality and a safe house for participants in the 1961 Freedom Rides that challenged segregated public buses. Tulane graduate student Robin S. Smith launched the historic designation process. She says she knew if she could do justice to the home’s history, the nomination would be accepted.