Mathilde Mendelsohn Schwab Dreyfous (1897-1992)

Born in Baton Rouge, but living much of her life in Cincinnati, Mathilde Mendelsohn Schwab moved to New Orleans after marrying George Dreyfous in 1947. She quickly became active in the ACLU, which her husband founded locally. When Leander Perez, the boss of Plaquemines Parish and a leader in the White Citizens’ Council, demanded a boycott of parish public schools by white citizens, Dreyfous and her sister-in-law, Ruth, taught there and in other places to keep schools open. Mathilde and her husband encouraged the political careers of “Dutch” Morial and Sidney Barthelemy as well as state judges Joan Armstrong, the first African-American woman elected to the bench in the state, and Revius Ortique, the first African American elected to the Louisiana Supreme Court.