Institute Catholique
Encyclopedia
Gens de couleur
Gens de couleur is a French term meaning "people of color." The term was commonly used in France's West Indian colonies prior to the abolition of slavery, where it was a short form of gens de couleur libres ....
"), who paid a modest tuition. It operated as a distinct entity until 1915.
Founding
The school was financed from a trust established in the will of Madame Marie Couvent, the African-American widow of Bernard Couvent, one of the most commercially successful free men of color in New Orleans. The concept of educating African-Americans was opposed by some members of the white community in New Orleans, and the establishment of the trust for the school was challenged in court. The widow died in 1837, and when the original executor of the will failed to forcefully implement its terms, a group of ten leading Afro-Creole intellectuals residing in New Orleans formed The Catholic Institute for the Instruction of Indigent Orphans. This group successfully sued in court to obtain control of the widow's estate. The courts did not finally rule in favor of this group until 1846.The charter authorizing the Institute Catholique to function as a corporation was received from the state of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
in 1847, and the school opened in 1848, renting facilities in the Fauborg Marigny suburb just east of the French Quarter while awaiting construction of a permanent building on the land donated by Madame Couvent. Felice Coulon Cailloux, wife of Andre Cailloux
Andre Cailloux
Andre Cailloux was one of the first black officers in the Union Army to be killed in combat during the American Civil War. He died heroically during the unsuccessful first attack on the Confederate fortifications during the Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana...
, later a hero in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, initially served as the principal of the school while it operated in temporary quarters.
By 1850, the city of New Orleans had a population of approximately 150,000. Of this population, 15,000 were free people of color, and 15,000 were slaves. The city had a three tier social structure, at the top of which were free whites, in the middle were free people of color, and at the bottom were slaves. Free people of color could own property, own businesses, and enter contracts, but could not vote, marry whites, or send their children to the public schools of the city, which were established in 1841. The latter fact rankled the French inspired republican idealism of the Afro-Creole intelligentsia, many of whom had been educated in France.
The permanent building of the Institute Catholique was completed in 1852. The Afro-Creole poet Armand Lanusse
Armand Lanusse
Armand Lanusse was an Afro-Creole educator and poet who lived in New Orleans his entire life.Though he was light skinned enough to pass as white, Lanusse embraced his black ancestry, and devoted his life to the republican ideals of liberty and equality for African-Americans living in the United...
(1810–1867)), editor and contributor to Les Cenelles, a book of French poetry written by Afro-Creoles, who had been instrumental in the founding of the school and was one of the ten original Board Members, was named headmaster in 1852. He continued in that capacity until his death in 1867.
Andre Cailloux and his wife, Felicie Coulon Cailloux, were active supporters of the school throughout the 1850s , sending all three of their surviving children there for instruction. Felicie continued to work at the Institute for several years after Lunasse became headmaster, and was responsible for the well being of the 75 young orphan girls who attended.
Though the school's property and building were provided for in the will of Madame Couvent, the income generated from the real estate included in her estate was insufficient to cover annual operating expenses. The gap was made up through charitable contributions from several mutual aid societies established within the gens de couleur Afro-Creole community of New Orleans. The Friends of Order, an African-American mutual aid society of which Cailloux was a member, organized an annual contribution collected by its members at the cemeteries of New Orleans each year on All Soul's Day (November 2). Other mutual aid societies held annual charity balls. Occasionally, the school received small appropriations from the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana.
Average annual enrollment during the 1850s was approximately 300.
Post bellum
The school continued in operation after the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. In 1866, Harper's New Monthly Magazine contained a positive story about the school, its teachers, and its students.
During this period, the Institute Catholique maintained its position as the intellectual center of the Afro-Creole community of New Orleans. All of the faculty members were African-American, many of whom were educated in France. Paul Trevigne (1824–1907), editor of the French language Afro-Creole newspaper L'Union (1862–1864), a publication that advocated abolition and complete equality for African-Americans and the first African-American owned and operated newspaper in the American South, was a teacher there for 40 years.
In 1893, when African-American philanthropist Thomy LaFon
Thomy Lafon
Thomy Lafon was a Creole business man, philanthropist and human rights activist in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was born poor, but was a free person of color. He started out selling cakes to workers, opened a small store, was a school teacher for a time and became successful at money lending...
, the financial backer of the famous Plessey v. Ferguson lawsuit, died, he left a bequest to the school in his will for the construction of a new building. Arthur Esteves, President of the Board of Directors of the Institute Catholique, was one of the men who brought the Plessey vs. Ferguson lawsuit into litigation.
Twentieth century
In 1915, that school was destroyed by a hurricane. Lacking funds to rebuild, the Board of the Institute Catholique agreed to terms proposed by Sister Katharine DrexelKatharine Drexel
Saint Katharine Drexel, S.B.S., was an American Religious Sister, heiress, philanthropist and educator, later canonized as a Roman Catholic saint.-Life and religious work:...
, founder of Xavier University
Xavier University of Louisiana
Xavier University of Louisiana , located in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States, is a private, coeducational, liberal arts college with the distinction of being the only historically black Roman Catholic institution of higher education...
. She offered to build and operate a new school on the site, under the name St. Louis School of Holy Redeemer parish on the condition that it would be operated by the Sisters of the Holy Ghost
Congregation of the Holy Ghost
The name Congregation of the Holy Ghost applies to five Catholic Congregations: the Holy Ghost Fathers and four female congregations.* Holy Ghost Fathers also known as the Spiritans...
. At the same time, a church, the Holy Redeemer Church, was built in the neighborhood, and the school, commonly referred to as Holy Redeemer, operated as an elementary school for the local parish.
During this period, the teachers of the school no longer formed the intellectual center of the Afro-Creole community. In effect, though a school continued to operate at the location, the Institute Catholique, operated and staffed by African-Americans, ceased to exist.
Ernest "Dutch" Morial
Ernest Nathan Morial
Ernest Nathan Morial was a U.S. political figure and a leading civil rights advocate. He was the first black mayor of New Orleans, serving from 1978 to 1986. He was the father of former New Orleans mayor Marc Morial.-Early life and career:Morial was born in New Orleans of Creole ancestry and grew...
, the first African-American Mayor of New Orleans, attended Holy Redeemer Elementary School during this period.
In 1965 Hurricane Besty destroyed the Holy Redeemer Church, but the Holy Redeemer Elementary School continued to operate. Graduates of that elementary school included the author Keith Weldon Medley, whose book on the Plessy vs. Ferguson lawsuit was published in 2003.
The school continued in operation until 1993, when it closed due to lack of funds. That same year, the Bishop Perry Middle School for Boys, a free school operated by the Roman Catholic Church's Society of St. Edmund opened on the site. The school served students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades, primarily of African-American heritage. Enrollment ranged from 60 to 200 students.
Today
Bishop Perry was forced to shut down its operations in August, 2006, a victim of the economic losses of Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. In addition, some of the families of students did not return to New Orleans after the evacuation caused by the Hurricane Katrina flooding. The building itself did not suffer great damage from the storm and subsequent flooding.
From its founding in 1846 until today, the school and its successors have been located at 1941 Dauphine Street in New Orleans. Four buildings have been located on the lot, the last of which was built in 1956.
The building is owned by the Diocese of New Orleans, and was rented from the Diocese by the Society of St. Edmund during the 12 years it operated Bishop Perry Middle School.
In October, 2006, the building became home to the St. Gerard Majella Alternative School. Operated by the Society of the Sisters of Notre Dame, this alternative school is designed to provide ongoing education to young women of high school age who are pregnant.
Books
- Bell, Carolyn Coss, Revolution, Romanticism, and the Afro-Creole Protest Tradition in Louisiana, 1718-1868, LSU Press, 2003.
- Desdunes, Rodolphe Lucien, Our People and Our History: Fifty Creole Portraits, LSU Press, 1973, Translated from the 1911 French original by Sister Dorothy Olga McCants.
- Medley, Keith W. We As Free Men: Plessey v. Ferguson, Pelican Publishing, 2003.
- Medley, Keith W, The Will of the Widow Couvent, Preservation in Print, 1999.
- Ochs, Stephen, A Black Patriot and a White Priest, LSU Press, 2001.
External links
- St. Gerard Majella Alternative School
- Keith Weldon Medley
- The Will of the Widow Couvent, by Keith Weldon Medley.
Hurricane Betsy was in 1965, NOT 1962