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NOLA4Women: Lucile Levy Hutton, Music Educator Extraordinaire
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Lucile Levy Hutton was a prominent participant in New Orleans’ vibrant music circles and illustrious educator with a career spanning 46 years in Orleans Parish public schools. Born May 9, 1897, Lucile L. Hutton received her education at Straight College, attending from elementary through normal school. She received her teaching degree in 1916 and began teaching at McDonogh 32 Elementary School in the Algiers section of New Orleans. The following year, she moved to Valena C. Jones Elementary School, where she continued teaching for 12 years.
Considered to be an exemplary teacher by her colleagues, including Fannie C. Williams, principal of Valena C. Jones School and Superintendent Nicholas Bauer of the Orleans Parish School Board, Lucile Hutton was awarded two year leave of absence to attend college. She studied music at the Oberlin College Conservatory, earning her Bachelor’s in 1933. She returned to New Orleans as an instructor at the Valena C. Jones Normal School.
In 1939, the Orleans Parish School Board withdrew from the teacher-training program when a new state law required a baccalaureate degree in education for certification of teachers in Louisiana, causing the Jones Normal School to close. The following August, Lucile Hutton was appointed as a consultant in vocal music for the New Orleans public schools, a position she held for 23 years until her retirement in 1962. Hutton served all of the New Orleans’ African American schools, even traveling to the small rural schools like Lee Station (which was later replaced by McDonogh 40) and as far south as Cut Off (sometimes spelled Cut-Off), Louisiana. She earned her Master’s of Music (MM) degree from Northwestern University (Illinois) in 1948.
Ms. Hutton was a teacher’s teacher, fulfilling a supervisory role for the school district. When Hutton began her work as vocal music consultant, she was only teacher certified to teach high school music. Upon retirement, every high school had a teacher certified in vocal music and several had two.
Outside of her public school teaching career, she taught private piano lessons and was an actively involved in civic, religious, and cultural activities throughout New Orleans. Some of her community memberships include the New Orleans Y.W.C.A., the B Sharp Music Club, and the Friends of the Amistad Research Center to name a few. She was also an active member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority from her time in college through her retirement, involved with the Dillard University Alumni Association, and the Historian for the Central Congregational United Church of Christ.
Lucile Levy Hutton was undoubtedly a remarkable woman. Her legacy is a hallmark of civic aptitude and her papers illustrate her important role as a pillar in the New Orleans community. Her collection contains documents relating to school musical events, documents relating to various social organizations in which she was involved, numerous photographs of her family and social life in 20th century New Orleans, and a history of the Central Congregation Church, titled This is a Grand Work. The full finding aid to her papers is available on our online finding aid database.
Images are from the Lucile Hutton papers and B Sharp Music Club records. Amistad Research Center’s website, newsletters, and blogs may not be reproduced without permission.
#NOLA4Women #MusicEducation #BSharpMusicClub #LucileLevyHutton #musicteacher #ValenaCJonesElementarySchool
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Kathe Hambrick is the Founder and former Executive Director of the River Road African American Museum (RRAAM), established in 1994 as Louisiana’s first African American Museum. She is a past President of the national Association of African American Museums (AAAM). She served as the Chief Curator and Director of Interpretation for the West Baton Rouge Museum for four years. Hambrick was born in New Orleans and spent half her life in California where she received an undergraduate degree in English and a minor in African American Studies from California State University Long Beach.
Hambrick is a Public Historian with a passion for collecting, preserving and interpreting history for diverse audiences. Her thirty-one-year career as a museum professional includes expertise in program development, interpretative planning, curation, grant writing, fundraising, and board governance. She led the effort to preserve three slave cemeteries and six historic buildings in Ascension Parish.
She is considered an expert on the history and culture of African Americans in communities along the Mississippi River. Kathe Hambrick’s interviews include local, national, and international media, the BBC Learning Channel, CBS Morning News, National Public Radio, and the New York Times. The consulting firm, 2PRESERVE was established by Hambrick in 2021 to provide cultural resources and guidance to corporations, museums, cultural centers, government agencies, and faith-based organizations.
Throughout her 31-year career, Kathe has curated over one hundred exhibits, including The Rural Roots of Jazz, African Influences on Louisiana Cuisine, Creole Du Monde, and The Square Collection which featured original art by Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthé, and Tina Allen. Her most recent exhibit is the GU272 of Ascension: The Jesuit and Episcopal Connection to Slavery.
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Kathe Hambrick is the Founder and former Executive Director of the River Road African American Museum (RRAAM), established in 1994 as Louisiana’s first African American Museum. She is a past President of the national Association of African American Museums (AAAM). She served as the Chief Curator and Director of Interpretation for the West Baton Rouge Museum for four years. Hambrick was born in New Orleans and spent half her life in California where she received an undergraduate degree in English and a minor in African American Studies from California State University Long Beach.
Hambrick is a Public Historian with a passion for collecting, preserving and interpreting history for diverse audiences. Her thirty-one-year career as a museum professional includes expertise in program development, interpretative planning, curation, grant writing, fundraising, and board governance. She led the effort to preserve three slave cemeteries and six historic buildings in Ascension Parish.
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Throughout her 31-year career, Kathe has curated over one hundred exhibits, including The Rural Roots of Jazz, African Influences on Louisiana Cuisine, Creole Du Monde, and The Square Collection which featured original art by Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthé, and Tina Allen. Her most recent exhibit is the GU272 of Ascension: The Jesuit and Episcopal Connection to Slavery.
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