Carola Lillie Hartley
Publisher and Contributing Writer
As we continue with our series on the Women of Opelousas during this National Women’s History Month, today we focus on one of the pioneer educators in Opelousas and St. Landry Parish. Her name was Mrs. Helena (known as Helen) Roberts Donato, and this is her story.
We begin this story with a bit of Opelousas Trivia. Do you know that at one time there were Peabody School in Opelousas?
The Peabody Schools of the south offered opportunities for both whites and the newly freed slaves. These schools were funded with grant support from Baltimore, Maryland banker George Peabody (1795-1869). Barely a year and a half after the bullets had stopped flying in the Civil War, in early 1867, Peabody established America’s very first formal foundation, the Peabody Education Fund to “encourage the intellectual, moral, and industrial education of the destitute children of the Southern States.” The foundation was established with a gift of $2.1 million and a charge to raise the standard of schooling throughout the South without racial considerations. So, Opelousas had Peabody Schools…for whites and blacks.
Peabody Colored School of Opelousas
An early school for blacks during that period of time was the Peabody Colored School, funded with grant support from George Peabody (1795-1869). The principal of the Peabody Colored School in Opelousas was Mrs. Helen Donato, sometimes listed as Mrs. E. Donato.
Mrs. Helena (Helen) Donato
Born on September 2, 1837, in the West Indies, as a young adult Helena came to Opelousas in the St. Landry Parish area of Louisiana. It was there that she married Raphiel Emile Donato, Sr. (b. June 13, 1835 – d. August 11, 1918.), the son of Martin Donato Bello and Julie Esprey. Emile was a Brick Mason and a well-respected citizen of the community. The couple had three children: Julie Donato (b.1869), Raphiel Emile Donato, Jr. (1871-1939) and Sally Melly E. Donato (b.1877).
Following the US Civil War, from 1865-1872, Mrs. Donato was employed as a teacher with the US Freedmen’s Bureau to help with the Freedmen’s school in Opelousas and the Banner School in Washington. Other teachers at the school were Hypolite Martin and Emerson Bentley. She worked for the Freedmen’s Bureau school from that time until the Peabody school opened.
Mrs. Donato served as principal for the Peabody school as soon as it opened. That school became a major part of her life, and in many accounts about the school, it is most often referred to as “Madame Donato’s Colored School.” By 1879, the school had an enrollment of 143 pupils.
Mrs. Donato continued to work in the school until the money from the Peabody Fund dried up. When Peabody died in 1869, grant funding was discontinued during the next years and by1880 the Peabody schools in Opelousas, including this one, were closed.
Mrs. Donato’s School
Following the closing of the Peabody Schools, in 1880 Mrs. Donato took it upon herself to make sure education opportunities for the African American children continued. She opened her own private school in Opelousas at her home, which was located opposite St. Landry Catholic Church in town. The first day of that school was on September 6, 1880. Sometime after that, Mrs. Donato was listed as the principal of the “Colored Public School” in Opelousas.
Mrs. Donato continued her work in the school for several years. On July 16, 1894, the St. Landry Clarion ran an article about the closing exercises at the school. At that time the paper wrote the following about the school and about Mrs. Donato: The closing exercises of the Colored Public School, conducted by Mrs. Helen Donato, took place on Thursday. We learn that the scholars passed a very creditable examination. Mrs. Donato delivered an address which has been pronounced by those who heard it as most able, interesting and touching. Mrs. Donato is a most deserving colored woman and is justly entitled to a full measure of praise for her intelligent and well-directed efforts for the educational advancement of the colored youth of Opelousas. (From St. Landry Clarion, July 16, 1895.)
Mrs. Donato served as principal of the school until the end of the 1895 school year. Besides being a teacher and a principal, she was also a very active member of the community. She was involved in many different groups and organizations and was part of a social group known as the Busy Bee Social Club. She served that group as its Treasurer in 1879.
Mrs. Donato was an early pioneer of education in Opelousas and Louisiana. From the mid 1860s until the mid 1890s, she was the person most associated with public education for the African American community in Opelousas during her lifetime.
Helen Roberts Donato died on February 13, 1896 and was buried in the St. Landry Catholic Church Cemetery in Opelousas.
