The old Orleans Ballroom built in 1817, served a number of purposes over the decades. Its most unique function was as a convent, orphanage, and school for the Sisters of the Holy Family, a religious community of negro nuns, now located on the Chef Menteur Higway. The Society of the Sisters, founded in 1842 in New Orleans by Miss Henriette Delille (1813-1862), a free woman of color, taught the bond and free, cared for the orphans, and administered to the needs of the poor, aged, and sick. This site was the center of the nun's ministry to members of their race from 1881 to 1964.
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