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Coleen Perilloux Landry | profile | all galleries >> Galleries >> Ursuline Academy and Convent in New Orleans Before and After Hurricane Katrina tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Ursuline Academy and Convent in New Orleans Before and After Hurricane Katrina

October 12, 2005
Ursuline Academy is the oldest girls' school in the United States and was established in 1727 by ten Ursuline nuns (the Order of St. Ursula) who came to New Orleans from France to establish a school, a hospital and an orphanage.
Their first convent and school building still stands in the French Quarter and is the oldest building in the Mississippi River Valley. It is in excellent condition.
The school and convent in this gallery was built in the early 1900's and educates girls from three years old through high school. It once held a college and boarding school but that was discontinued in the late 1960's.
The Ursuline nuns stayed in the Convent during Hurricane Katrina and took in many evacuees, many of them being their elderly neighbors. After Katrina when the canal floodwalls in New Orleans broke and much of New Orleans was flooded the nuns moved all their food supplies and water to the second story where they took care of their guests for eight days. With no electricity and the City under martial law, the Province Mother Superior ordered them to leave. They and their guests were taken out in three boats to higher ground to trucks which took them to a bus and then to Baton Rouge where planes were waiting to take them to their motherhouse in Illinois and to an Ursuline Convent in Dallas.
The flood waters remained on the grounds, in the basement and in the mausoleum for three weeks, killing much vegetation and trees. A company from Missouri has been hired to clean and restore the grounds and buildings and the supervisor told me it should be back in ship shape order by January 2, 2006, an occasion to which I look forward. Water remains in the basement and in the nuns' mausoleum where the original ten nuns who came here in 1727 are interred.
Only 14 days before Katrina struck we held the ceremony of the Blessing of the Herbs in the chapel and on the grounds. What a difference two weeks made.
Nothing prepared me for what I found at Ursuline this day and I sobbed aloud for the first time since the hurricane.

NOVEMBER 3, 2005 The restoration and cleanup efforts are well underway and there are lots of changes on the grounds and lots of trees gone. The basements are dry and sprayed with a mold killer and the mausoleum is dry. The chapel and outside chapel remained untouched. Only a little rain water got into the choir loft from the window above the organ. Our Lady of Prompt Succor was looking out for her Shrine but she must have been out to lunch that Sunday before Katrina when we prayed.

JANUARY 2, 2006-the grounds and buildings are almost ready for the reopening of the Academy tomorrow, January 3, 2006 for pre-kindergarten through 7th grades. High school students will return on January 17. WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY IT WILL BE TOMORROW.
JANUARY 8-the Mass of the Battle of New Orleans was held in the chapel with New Orleans Archbishop Hughes and Bishops Roger Morin and Robert Muench celebrating. The Ursuline nuns were back in New Orleans following the hurricane evacuation and it was the first time New Orleans had been without Ursuline nuns since 1727.

MAY 13, 2006-the 279th commencement ceremonies were held in the Courtyard.
IF YOU CLICK ON THE SMALL IMAGE YOU WILL GET A FULL SCREEN IMAGE. UNDER EACH IMAGE AND TITLE I HAVE WRITTEN A HISTORY.
Sr. Marie McCloskey
Sr. Marie McCloskey
State Street After Katrina
State Street After Katrina
Sweetheart -Came to New Orleans from France on a Sailing Vessel and Rode Out on a Pirogue
Sweetheart -Came to New Orleans from France on a Sailing Vessel and Rode Out on a Pirogue
State-Street-with-Water-Receding Sometime Between August 30 and September 21
State-Street-with-Water-Receding Sometime Between August 30 and September 21
Academy fronting State Street
Academy fronting State Street
Ursuline-from-State-Street
Ursuline-from-State-Street
Academy Entrance Framed by Live Oak
Academy Entrance Framed by Live Oak
Ursuline Academy and Convent's  Sacred Heart Courtyard on October 12, 2005
Ursuline Academy and Convent's Sacred Heart Courtyard on October 12, 2005
Sacred Heart Courtyard from another angle
Sacred Heart Courtyard from another angle
Sacred Heart Courtyard with Academy in background
Sacred Heart Courtyard with Academy in background
Nuns' Mausoleum
Nuns' Mausoleum
Ursuline Inner Courtyard
Ursuline Inner Courtyard
Ursuline Inner Courtyard
Ursuline Inner Courtyard
-National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor at Ursuline
-National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor at Ursuline
Porte Cochere Between Convent and Chapel
Porte Cochere Between Convent and Chapel
Cedars Behind Mausoleum
Cedars Behind Mausoleum
Ursuline-Convent-and-Old-Gymn
Ursuline-Convent-and-Old-Gymn
Date Door and Live Oak
Date Door and Live Oak
Main entrance on State Street
Main entrance on State Street
Nuns'  Gallery and Point of Rescue
Nuns' Gallery and Point of Rescue
State Street November 3
State Street November 3
Sacred Heart Courtyard and Nuns' Mausoleum
Sacred Heart Courtyard and Nuns' Mausoleum
Covered Way Ramp into the Convent and Academy November 3
Covered Way Ramp into the Convent and Academy November 3
The Covered Way and Sacred Heart Courtyard View from Nashville Avenue
The Covered Way and Sacred Heart Courtyard View from Nashville Avenue
Removing last tree in Sacred Heart Courtyard-November 3
Removing last tree in Sacred Heart Courtyard-November 3
Sacred Heart Courtyard and Mausoleum on January 2, 2006
Sacred Heart Courtyard and Mausoleum on January 2, 2006
Inner Courtyard January 2, 2006
Inner Courtyard January 2, 2006
Ursuline Prioress and Academy President Hold Television Interview   January 2, 2006
Ursuline Prioress and Academy President Hold Television Interview January 2, 2006
Academy Reopens-January 3, 2006
Academy Reopens-January 3, 2006
New Tree Planted Following Katrina's Destruction
New Tree Planted Following Katrina's Destruction
Battle of New Orleans Mass of Thanksgiving January 8, 2006
Battle of New Orleans Mass of Thanksgiving January 8, 2006
Altar Photographed Through Pew In Nuns' Chapel
Altar Photographed Through Pew In Nuns' Chapel
January 8 Mass of Thanksgiving
January 8 Mass of Thanksgiving
Ursuline Graduate, My Daughter, At Mass of Thanksgiving January 8
Ursuline Graduate, My Daughter, At Mass of Thanksgiving January 8
Mother Loyola Weilbaecher, O. S. U.
Mother Loyola Weilbaecher, O. S. U.
High School Classes Met January 17 for the first time since Katrina
High School Classes Met January 17 for the first time since Katrina
Excitement Before Commencement Ceremonies
Excitement Before Commencement Ceremonies
Serviam Award Honoree
Serviam Award Honoree
Ursuline Academy Building and Courtyard
Ursuline Academy Building and Courtyard
Salutatorian of the Class of 2006
Salutatorian of the Class of 2006
Little Girls
Little Girls
Blessing of the Herbs Ceremony-August 2006
Blessing of the Herbs Ceremony-August 2006
Blessing of the Herbs Ceremony
Blessing of the Herbs Ceremony
National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor
National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor
Altar Bouquet With a French Touch
Altar Bouquet With a French Touch
Bell Choir Girls
Bell Choir Girls
Young Student at the Piano
Young Student at the Piano
Altar, Nuns' Chapel and Choir Loft
Altar, Nuns' Chapel and Choir Loft
From the Choir Loft - January 8, 2007
From the Choir Loft - January 8, 2007
The Courtyard - August 2007
The Courtyard - August 2007
Another View of the Courtyard - August 2007
Another View of the Courtyard - August 2007
Today is the 280th Anniversary of the Ursulines in New Orleans
Today is the 280th Anniversary of the Ursulines in New Orleans
Ursuline Sisters' Gallery Overlooking Courtyard
Ursuline Sisters' Gallery Overlooking Courtyard
Archbishop Philip Hannan at age 95
Archbishop Philip Hannan at age 95
Ursuline Keeps 194 Year Old Promise
Ursuline Keeps 194 Year Old Promise
195th Year of the Battle of New Orleans and Celebration of Promise
195th Year of the Battle of New Orleans and Celebration of Promise
Reunion - Class of 1975 and Mrs. Gretchen Kane, president of the Academy
Reunion - Class of 1975 and Mrs. Gretchen Kane, president of the Academy
196th Battle of New Orleans Mass of Thanksgiving
196th Battle of New Orleans Mass of Thanksgiving
Blessing of the Herbs
Blessing of the Herbs
Battle of New Orleans Mass
Battle of New Orleans Mass
Archbishop Aymond Addresses the Ursuline nuns at Battle of New Orleans Mass
Archbishop Aymond Addresses the Ursuline nuns at Battle of New Orleans Mass
Ursuline nuns chapel
Ursuline nuns chapel
Historical Cross
Historical Cross
Light one candle
Light one candle
Cedar Tree in front of window
Cedar Tree in front of window
Silence and beauty
Silence and beauty
Birds Eye View
Birds Eye View
Tradition
Tradition