We pay tribute to Mrs. Sybil Haydel Morial
9th September 2024 · 0 Comments
Sybil Haydel Morial passed away on September 4, 2024, at the age of 91. She will be sorely missed.
Known to many as New Orleans’ beloved “First Lady,” Morial left a legacy as deep and wide as that of her late husband, Ernest N. “Dutch” Morial, the first African-American mayor of New Orleans and a leading civil rights advocate in Louisiana.
Mrs. Morial’s statue was petit, but to borrow a quote from William Shakespeare, “though she be but little, she was fierce.”
A mother of five, an accomplishment unto itself, Mrs. Morial was an educator, filmmaker, author, civil rights and voting rights advocate, and community leader. Morial’s tireless efforts to desegregate New Orleans institutions and to register people to vote have left an indelible mark on our community.
Morial and three other African-American women founded the Louisiana League of Good Government after being refused membership in the League of Women Voters. LLOGG held voter registration drives. For years, she served on the Board of Directors of the Amistad Research Center in New Orleans, a beacon of knowledge and cultural preservation. She also created Symphony in Black, a project celebrating Black musicians and conductors, which attracted Black audiences to the New Orleans Philharmonic Symphony.
While Associate Dean of the Drexel Center at Xavier University, Morial produced “A House Divided,” the documentary that explores the history of desegregation through the eyes of the people who made civil rights history in New Orleans. Actor James Earl Jones narrated the one-hour film.
As president and chair of the I’ve Known Rivers Afro-American Pavilion at the Louisiana World Exposition in 1984, Morial was the first African-American woman to oversee the building and operations of such a massive attraction.
Visitors to the pavilion entered the facility and experienced what it was like to be on a slave ship. The innovative hydraulics under the floor, designed by Hewitt and Washington Architectural Firm, as envisioned by owners Lonnie Hewitt and James Washington, simulated the sea-born rocking of the ship bearing enslaved people on their way to life in the peculiar institution of slavery.
Panels lit with scenes of enslavement brought tears to visitors’ eyes. Emerging from the ship’s slave hold, visitors were greeted by larger-than-life murals and cut-outs of famous Black achievers, master classes in New Orleans music, and panels bearing the names of Black inventors whose inventions were on display at the 1900 Paris World Exposition in Paris, France.
Morial’s book “Witness to Change: From Jim Crow to Empowerment” details her lifelong fight against segregation and racism in New Orleans. “It is a book about heroes, written by one,” said Henry Louis Gates Jr. “This charming, gritty, gentle woman was on the front lines in challenging a segregated South,” Gates said.
Silas Lee, a Xavier University professor and long-time family friend, said of the trailblazer: “She was more than a witness. She was a conduit for change before writing her book, ‘A Witness to Change.’ She was a visionary and a leader of voter enfranchisement.
“Mrs. Morial was a lioness who did not roar. She was humbler but spoke with force and determination. She had the elegance of a queen but the tenacity of a warrior. She waged battles with perseverance and courage and always had a powerful moral compass,” Lee said.
Morial started life as a schoolteacher and became the dean of student activities at Xavier for 28 years. Despite her prominent role in the Civil Rights Movement, she was a dedicated mother who raised five children, including Dr. Julie Morial, former New Orleans Mayor and current president and CEO of the National Urban League, Marc H. Morial, Jacques E. Morial, Cheri Morial Ausberry and the Hon. Judge Monique Morial. She is the grandmother of seven grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.
A statement released by the Morial family read:
“Words cannot express our sorrow at the loss of our beloved matriarch and guiding star. Our grief is tempered by our overwhelming gratitude for her life, her wisdom and her love.
“Like many women of the Civil Rights Era, she was the steel in the movement’s spine. From the moment she met our late father, Ernest ‘Dutch’ Morial, they were joined in the fight for justice and equality. She confronted the hard realities of Jim Crow with unwavering courage and faith, which she instilled not only in her own children but in every life she touched.
“As a teacher and university administrator, she imparted a reverence for education not only upon her own children but upon her students and the many colleagues who had the good fortune to fall under her brilliant mentorship.
Legacies are made every day; hers will be one we will see and touch as long as we live in the city. Her advocacy, her leadership, her mentorship.”
With her passing, the world seems just a little less brighter.
A celebration of life will be announced soon, a testament to the hope and joy that Mrs. Morial brought to all those she touched.
This article originally published in the September 9, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
