AFRICAN AMERICAN SCHOOL BUILDING REVIVAL
John H. Martyn High School
Jefferson Parish
This school was named in honor of John H. Martyn, one of the first Black educators in Kenner, Louisiana. The school was very successful in the decade leading up to integration, with a principal, Mr. Lawrence Johnson, an assistant principal, Mr. Roland Turner, two counselors, a full-time librarian, three clerks, full-time custodians, 84 faculty members, and Physical Education, Industrial Arts, Art, and Music departments. The cafeteria was under the direction of a certified dietitian. The campus also had a spacious, modern gymnasium. According to a newspaper article from the Times-Picayune from June 8, 1952, the cost of construction for “Shrewsbury Negro (Elementary and High),” another name for the school, was $313,672.96. The school closed its doors in 2015, and was demolished in 2020 to make way for a new charter school, called the Dr. John Ochsner Discovery Health Sciences Academy.
John H. Martyn High School
OPENED: 1937
CLOSED: 2015
OTHER NAMES OF SCHOOL: Shrewsbury Elementary and High School, Shrewsbury Negro School, John H. Martyn Alternative School
DATE OF DEMOLITION: 2020
CURRENT USE OF SITE: Charter school
1108 Shrewsbury Road
Jefferson, LA 70121
