St. gerard majella school new orleans

Catholic school in New Orleans, Louisiana

The Institute Catholique, also known as L'Institut Catholique des orphelins indigents (Catholic Institute for Indigent Orphans) and the Couvent School, was a Catholic school founded in New Orleans in 1840.

It mainly served the non-orphan children of free people of color, who paid a modest tuition, and was founded with funds from Marie Couvent.^[1][2]

History

Antebellum period

The school was financed from a trust established in the will of Madame Marie Couvent, the African-born widow of Bernard Couvent, one of the most commercially successful free men of color in New Orleans.^[1] 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 Toggle share options PIBI