by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
December 22, 2024
The Couvent School complex was once deemed the center of African-American education in Louisiana.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans plans to sell a historic Black Catholic School as it intends to file bankruptcy to pay for its clergy sex abuse settlements.
However, a will created by its Black Catholic owner, Marie Couvent, may prevent the sale. Despite this, the 178-year-old property was listed at a court history for the archdiocese’s ongoing bankruptcy petition.
According to the Black Catholic Messenger, the Couvent School complex was once deemed the center of African-American education in Louisiana, given its generational mission to educate and serve Black orphans. Now, its selling would go toward paying off settlements for the clergy’s sex abuse cases.
Despite the archdiocese’s intentions for the property, the stipulations in its will have been upheld throughout the centuries. Couvent’s will, enacted in 1832, strictly prohibits the sale. Moreover, its words explicitly stating its intentions are even ingrained in her tombstone.
“I declare that said lands and buildings shall never be sold under any pretext whatsoever,” it says at St. Louis Cemetery #2 near the area.
Known by its original name of Institute Catholique, it was supported by notable free people of color in the New Orleans Area, including Black Civil War hero André Cailloux, and famed poet Armand Lanusse. Its alumni also featured Rodolphe Lucien Desdunes, a civil rights activist of the Reconstruction era.
Couvent’s own proclivity to owning enslaved people undermines its storied legacy to an extent. Despite this, the property has continued to champion Black scholars throughout its history. Black-owned organizations operated the building, but the archdiocese took over unofficially in 1920.
The property has been inactive since 2017. However, those who attended the institutions that found a home there continue to fight its potential sale. Many hope to take over the property and restore its legacy as a pillar for New Orleans’ Black community.
Kim M. Braud hopes to transform the property into the Couvent Collective to serve the community. However, when she submitted a proposal to do so, she found a sale already in progress.
Unfortunately, I did not hear directly from the archdiocese after submitting a 100-page proposal and a $1.9 million offer to purchase the school,” she shared publicly in October.
“Instead, I was contacted by the broker, who was very gracious,” she said. “He informed me that the building is tied up in bankruptcy court and that a buyer has already been lined up.”
She wrote again the following month, “My connection to Marie Couvent feels personal. Like her, I’ve worked to support vulnerable communities. Through the Couvent Collective, I’m channeling that energy to preserve history, create opportunities, and help women and underserved groups rewrite their stories…I tried to buy this property to continue her legacy and was ignored.”
The archdiocese plans to sell the property for $1.1 million to Cambronne Real Estate. However, it still requires clearance to do so by a bankruptcy judge.
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