Thomy Lafon (December 28, 1810December 22, 1893) was a Creole of color teacher, businessman, and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Biography

He was born free on December 28, 1810, to a

mixed-race The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...

francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

family. His mother, Modeste Foucher, was a mistress of

Barthelemy Lafon Barthélemy Lafon (1769–1820) was a notable French architect, engineer, city planner, and surveyor in New Orleans, Louisiana. He appears to have had a double life, as a respectable architect, engineer, and citizen; but also as a privateer, smugg ...

, though Thomy's father was Pierre Larande. He started out selling cakes to workers, opened a small store, was a school teacher for a time, and became successful at money lending and real estate investment. He was an opponent of

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

and supported

racial integration Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of Race (classification of human beings), race, and t ...

in schools. He is mostly known for his large donations to the Institute Catholique, the Louisiana Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans, and other charities for both

blacks Black is a racial classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and often additional phenotypical ch ...

and

whites White is a racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly European ancestry. It is also a skin color specifier, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, ethnicity and point of view. De ...

. In his will, he left funds to local charities and to the Charity Hospital, Lafon Old Folks Home,

Straight University Straight University (known as Straight College after 1915) was an American historically black college that operated between 1868 and 1934 in New Orleans, Louisiana. After struggling with financial difficulties, it was merged with New Orleans U ...

, and the Sisters of the Holy Family, an order of

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

s founded in New Orleans. Lafon also supported the ''Tribune'', the first black-owned newspaper in the South after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The Thomy Lafon school was called "the best Negro schoolhouse in Louisiana," but it was burned down by a white mob during the New Orleans

Robert Charles riots The Robert Charles riots of July 24–27, 1900, in New Orleans, Louisiana were sparked after African-American laborer Robert Charles fatally shot a white police officer during an altercation and escaped arrest. A large manhunt for him ensued, an ...

of 1900. Lafon never married, and died on December 22, 1893. He is interred at the Saint Louis Cemetery No. 3.Creolegen
/ref> 100 2107

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lafon, Thomy 1810 births 1893 deaths African-American businesspeople Businesspeople from New Orleans Louisiana Creole people 19th-century American philanthropists 19th-century American businesspeople African-American Catholics