The Convent of the Holy Family in New Orleans, Louisiana, was the first convent in the United States for black women.[1] It was co-founded by three women: Henriette DeLille, Juliette Gaudin, and Josephine Charles.[2] The Convent would go on to operate a home for elderly or infirm women, a home for orphans and other charitable work.[3]
Sisters at the convent renewed their vows every year for the first ten years, after which the vows became perpetual.[4]
The Convent's first facility was an unassuming structure on Bayou street, but the Sisters soon moved to a new site, originally the ballroom attached to the Orleans Theater.[5]
References
Southern, Eileen (1997). Music of Black Americans. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN0-393-03843-2.
