From Trailblazer to Mentor: Raphael Morgan’s Full-Circle Journey
When Raphael Morgan entered the Adult Education Center in 1970, she was a young Black woman with strong grades from a prestigious all-girls Catholic high school—but stuck in a dead-end job as a manual elevator operator. Encouraged by her mother and driven by a desire for more, she enrolled at the Center at age 18. Though one of the youngest students, she found camaraderie and wisdom among her older classmates, many of whom were married with children.
“I was given a chance to become something. And now, I try to pass that chance along.”
Like hundreds of other women who passed through the Center’s doors during the height of the civil rights movement, Raphael believed education could be her way forward—even if the path ahead was uncertain.
What she didn’t know then was that she would help make history.
In our newest episode of Scholarship Spotlight, Raphael Morgan sits down with Jeanne Geoffray, Executive Director of the 431 Exchange, to reflect on how the Center prepared her to become one of the first Black secretaries in the New Orleans public school system. That job placement wasn’t just a personal breakthrough—it was a quiet act of integration that helped reshape the culture of public institutions in the Deep South. It was also a promise fulfilled: that civil rights legislation could open real doors.
“That job placement wasn’t just a personal breakthrough—it was a quiet act of integration that helped reshape the culture of public institutions in the Deep South.”
Just ten years earlier, Ruby Bridges, Leona Tate, and other young girls had endured the trauma of integrating New Orleans public schools. Even by 1965, the system remained only 1% integrated—and the burden of progress was carried mostly by Black students brave enough to cross hostile thresholds. The same inequities extended to staffing: the best Black teachers were often reassigned to white schools, and by 1971, Black women remained severely underrepresented in school administration.
Raphael’s breakthrough was part of a larger pattern—one still incomplete. But her story didn’t stop at one milestone. She went on to become a beloved educator, a dedicated wife and mother, and today serves as a board member of the 431 Exchange and founding member of our scholarship selection committee. Since joining, she has reviewed more than 1,000 scholarship applications and personally interviewed over 100 scholars—each time honoring the support she once received.
In her own words: “I was given a chance to become something. And now, I try to pass that chance along.”
For Jeanne, this conversation with Raphael carried a special kind of meaning. As a child, Jeanne had visited the Center where her mother served as director. Though she and Raphael didn’t know each other then—Jeanne just a teenager, Raphael a determined young student—those early visits left a lasting impression. She never forgot the sense of purpose and pride that filled the school’s classrooms.
Today, that connection has come full circle. Jeanne and Raphael now serve side by side on the 431 Exchange board, working not only as colleagues but as friends. Together—with other alumni and supporters—they are building something positive and enduring. As Jeanne says in the interview, it’s a rare and joyful gift to turn shared history into shared action.
Raphael’s life illustrates the long ripple effect of educational opportunity. Her daughter, Deanna Morgan, now helps carry that legacy forward—working alongside Jeff Geoffray in Los Angeles as a grant writer and researcher to support the next generation of scholars.
We are proud to spotlight Raphael Morgan, Class of 1971, as both a graduate and a guiding light. Her voice carries the legacy of the Adult Education Center into the future.
