"Lucien-Victor-Alexis" (July 8,1887-December 18,1981)

Not very much is known of his early childhood in New Orleans,but what is known are

the achiivements he would make in the later years to come.Born to Louis Victor & Alice Saaucier Alexis,he was educated in the local schools where he excelled academically. Lucien was determined to attend Harvard University.Not having the finances to do so,he began working in 1907 (at the age of twenty) as a railway mail clerk, saving for the education he so desperately desired.

By the time he reached twenty-seven he had set aside enough money for four years of college. He applied and was accepted at Harvard but was asked to attend (for one year) Philllips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire,a prestigious preparatory high school. While at Exeter,he lived in the home of Mr.H.F.Quimby and soon developed a keen interest in foreign languages and the sciences.By now he had had only enough money for three years upon entering Harvard,so he managed by graduating "cum laude" a year early (1917).It was there,at Harvard,that he earned the nickname: "The Negro Einstein."

That same year,Lucien entered Officers' Training School in Des Moines,Iowa and was commissioned  as a 1st lieutenant and assigned to the 367th Infantry on October 15, 1917. World War 1 was raging in Europe and Lucien sailed for service in France on June,1918.Two months before departing,Lucien married Rita Holt in Gulfport,Mississippi and together they would have one son, Lucien Victor Alexis Jr.

Upon returning to New Orleans,Lucien took up the profession of teaching. He was assigned to McCarthy Elementary in 1921 and appointed  Assistant Principal in 1923 at Willow Elementary.But his greatest reward came in 1926 when he became principal of Mcdonogh#35,the only public high school opened for the education of African American students in the city of New Orleans. For the next nearly 30 years,he would leave an indelible mark on the institution which is still being echoed by many of his formal students up to the present day.

"It was not unusual to spot our principal walking up and down the corridors of the Rampart Street Schol reading scientific works printed in German. Noted for his mastery of Latin,he often found time to instruct advanced classes in the subject." (Class of 1936).


Other graduates affectionately tell stories of his successful administration but also his dreadful "army." Being a former military man,Lucien was said to be strict but fair as well as famous for his method of disciplining students.Students who violated his dress code or discipline code were forced to join Alexis' "army" and ordered to march up and down the second floor of the school building.


Respect for Mr.Alexis soon extended beyond the school grounds and into the community.Since McDonogh#35 was located on South Rampart and Girod Streets,the students had to pass through a neighborhood of sleazy bars,houses of prostitution and various other vices.Often the girls were meddled by men on the way going and coming from school.Fortunately,once it was known that you were an "Alexis"girl,you were never meddled again.They respected Mr.Alexis and knew to show respect for his students.
Lucien did not give up his interest and love for science and once he became principal.For five he engaged in serious scientific study and soon published a 40 page brochure outlining his principles of a new theory which he termed his "ethonic" theory.


From 1929-1937,he published the following scientific articles: Fundamentals in Physics & in Chemistry,The Thermo-Electric Formula,The Riddle of the Magnetic Field,An Empirical Disclosure of the Fallacies of  Relativity, A Counter-Deduction from Bent Alpha Tracks,Radiations-Their Loci of Travel and Their  Loci of Orgin,The Co-Orgin of Gravity & Cosmic Rays,Simple Formula for Measuring Atoms,Their Speed,and the Speed of Light.

Lucien also spent a great deal of time on his favorite hobbies at home.On the 25th Anniversary of his graduation from Harvard,he told he told the Harvard press of the Hobbies:

"Don't interfere with my physics and chemistry,which I have raised from the ignoble position of a hobby into the dignified status of a science.Don't interfere with my Italian which I have picked up since leaving you fellows.Don't interfere with my German,My French,or my Spanish which I have kept plugging at.These are my near hobbies.You may interfere with my gardening and my frequent efforts at directing operettas,especially the Gilbert and Sullivan one,for there you are in the field of real hobbies of mine."

He is buried in the family's tomb in St.Louis Cemetery No 3.