Sophie Wright Place

At fifteen, Sophie Bell Wright started teaching night classes for working-class adults out of her own home. New Orleans in the 1880s offered almost no public adult education. Wright ran her schools for three decades, teaching more than 1,500 students before the city finally funded the work she'd been doing on her own. She kept at it until her death in 1912. The small park at Magazine and Sophie Wright Place sits ringed by 19th-century houses in the Lower Garden District. It's named for a teenager who saw a gap and filled it, one night class at a time, until the city caught up.

Quick facts

·Named for Sophie Bell Wright, who opened free night schools for working-class adults in the 1880s.
·Wright taught more than 1,500 students out of her own home before the city finally funded adult education.
·She started her first school at age 15 and ran education programs until her death in 1912.
·The small park at Magazine and Sophie Wright Place is a quiet Lower Garden District landmark ringed by 19th-century houses.
·Located at the intersection of Magazine St and Sophie Wright Place, Lower Garden District.