So many amazing women leaders that I know here turn out to have been educated by the Sisters.
Defying expectations is part of the fabric of St. Mary’s, which this year celebrates the 150th anniversary of its founding by the Sisters of the Holy Family, the pioneering order of Roman Catholic black nuns founded by Mother Henriette Delille. St. Mary’s Academy for Young Ladies of Color, the city’s first Catholic secondary school for African American girls, began in the French Quarter in 1867, then relocated to its own campus on Chef Menteur Highway in 1965.

An historic photo from the 1930s of the original campus in the French Quarter. The Bourbon Orleans Hotel stands there now. Courtesy of the Historic New Orleans Collection. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. L. Kent Nelson. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY Charles L. Franck Studio Collection at the Historic New Orleans Collection