Our History

MICHELLE LEBLANC is the Archivist of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux’s Archives turned 40 on November 11, 2023. The Archives and Records Center contains the diocese’s historical records and maintains school and church records for the diocese. For questions or further research, please email [email protected].

Catholic education has been a staple of life for many faithful residents for more than 150 years in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. Catholic schools have existed in many forms, beginning as day schools and boarding schools and becoming pillars of Catholic faith and education for generations of local citizens. This partial list only includes a handful of school communities within our diocesan boundaries formed before we became a diocese in 1977.

Academy of the Sacred Heart, Morgan City (1893-1957)

The Marianite Sisters of Holy Cross formed a school that opened in September 1893. Girls being taught in the convent while the boys received lessons in the corner of the Catholic church lot. Father Andrew Souby was a big supporter of the school, and with his death in 1938 saw his personal library donated to the school’s library. In 1940, the school’s first band was formed, the school colors blue and gold were chosen, and the mascot was named an eagle. The five Marianite Sisters in 1893 expanded to seventeen staff members by 1947, and enrollment increased from almost fifty in 1893 to 640 students by 1947. By 1957, the school population had extended kindergarten to twelfth grade, and it was renamed Sacred Heart High School, which later became Central Catholic High School.

Mount Carmel Academy, Thibodaux (1855-1965)

Mount Carmel was founded on October 1, 1855, by the Sisters of Mount Carmel to educate girls in Thibodaux at the request of Father Charles Menard. The first class consisted of 45-day school and boarding school students, but the first commencement class wasn’t until 1880 and consisted of only two students. The school closed briefly during an episode of the Yellow Fever epidemic to care for the sick and again in the Civil War so the Sisters could care for the wounded soldiers. The Most Rev. Louis Abel Caillouet, the Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans, and his siblings, Right Rev. Lucian Caillouet and their sister, Mother Marie Delores, O.C.D. of the Discalced Carmelite Monastery in Lafayette, Louisiana, all attended Mount Carmel Academy. The Mount Carmel Sisters accepted male students beginning in 1910 for the first four years of their education, the same year the Academy became a parochial school. In 1926, the control of the school returned to the Sisters, who held power over the school until the school’s closure. In 1964, Archbishop Cody started planning to combine Thibodaux College and Mount Carmel Academy into a new school called Thibodaux Central Catholic High School, which later became E.D. White High School. Mount Carmel Academy closed in 1965 after damage from Hurricane Betsy was too extensive to repair, and the plan to combine Mount Carmel and Thibodaux College was already underway and had to be accelerated.

St. Charles Day School, Thibodaux (1874-1912)

The Sisters of Mt. Carmel, led by Mother St. John of the Cross, were asked by Father Menard, the pastor of Thibodaux, to establish St. Charles Day School in 1874. Sister Anastasia Novel and Sister Valerie Kelley were the first teachers. The school was “discontinued” (closed) in 1912 without any reason mentioned.

St. John's Day School, Thibodaux (1876-1933)

St. John’s Day School was opened in 1876 by the Sisters of Mt. Carmel, a mission of St. John the Evangelist. The first teachers were Sister Anastasia Novel and Sister Dominic Benney. Other Sisters who served the St. John mission were Sister St. John Evangelist Lefrais, Sister M. Helen Burt, Sister M. Archangel Blouin, Sister du Crucifix Laine, and Sister Julia Concannon. Even though Reverend J. Berthault, pastor of St. John the Evangelist, was a champion of the school, by 1933, the number of students had dwindled because of free local public schools, which caused the school to close.

St. Joseph Benedictine High School, Chauvin (1958-1972)

The demand for St. Joseph Benedictine High School, located on Bayou Little Caillou 15 miles south of Houma, began with the people of St. Joseph in Chauvin and Sacred Heart in Montegut, who wanted a secondary school for the area’s families. Father Lloyd Caballero and Father Charles Pagliughi made the people’s dreams of a local high school a reality. The St. Joseph Benedictine High School opened in the fall of 1958 to a freshman and sophomore class of fifty students. The Benedictine name comes from the Benedictine Sisters, who served the local community. The mascot of the high school was the Black Knights. The school closed in 1972 due to the increased cost of tuition and falling enrollment of the school. The school’s financial needs led to the forming of the famous Lagniappe on the Bayou Festival which continued many years after the school closed.

St. Luke, Thibodaux (1923-1967)

In the 1880s, African Americans who attended St. Joseph’s Church in Thibodaux desired a Catholic school to instruct their children. They began work to purchase land to build one by forming the Catholic Progressive Association. The Catholic Progressive Association purchased property bordered by Cross, Bourbon, and Narrow Street. In early 1923, Monsignor Barbier contacted Mother Katharine Drexel for her assistance in erecting a church and school for the African Americans in Thibodaux who desired a Catholic education for their children. Using the property previously purchased by the Catholic Progressive Association, Drexel donated $4000.00 to construct a church and school. Father Van Baast contacted the Josephite Fathers to help establish the church and school they would lead. The school was opened on Monday, October 1, 1923, with 36 pupils before increasing within days to 42. In 1926, the Sister Servants of the Holy Ghost and Mary Immaculate were brought to take over teaching at the school. By 1943, school enrollment went up to 133 students before doubling in 1945 with 159 boys and 146 girls, taught by three Sisters and one lay teacher. St. Luke school was closed in 1967 due to many factors, including the need to replace or repair the convent and the school, which were in poor condition, or the Sisters of the Holy Ghost and Mary Immaculate would have to leave the parish. The parish and school were closed in 1967, and the school was torn down. While the parish reopened in the 1980s, the school didn’t return.

Thibodaux College, Thibodaux (1840-1965)

Thibodaux College was formed in 1840 to educate local boys. It was initially a public school before being taken over in 1861 by St. Joseph Catholic Church in Thibodaux. It closed in 1862 due to the male students joining the Civil War effort. In 1872, the frame structure of the building was bought by Father Charles Menard to use as a school for boys. From 1891 to 1894, the Brothers of the Sacred Heart returned and ran the school. The Brothers returned in 1912, and the school remained open until 1965, when storm damage from Hurricane Betsy was too severe, and the students were moved to Thibodaux Central Catholic High School. 

References

Baudier, R. (1949). St. Luke’s Church- Thibodaux,
Louisiana 1924-1949: Silver Jubilee.
Baudier, R. (1972). The Catholic Church in Louisiana. New
Orleans: Louisiana Library Association Public Library
Section.
Central Catholic High School. (2024). About Us: History.
Retrieved from Central Catholic High School: https://
www.eaglesccs.org/central-catholic-high-school/
about/history
Gillespie, P. (1948). Academy of the Sacred Heart
Morgan City Souvenir: 1848-1948 Marianites of Holy
Cross’ Service of God and Humanity in Louisiana 100
Years. Morgan City.
Historical Sketch of the Congregation of Our Lady of
Mount Carmel: One Hundred Years in Louisiana 1833-
1933 Louisiana . (1933).
Mount Carmel Academy Centennial: 1855-1855
Thibodaux, Louisiana. (1955).
School, F. a. (1969). A Cooperative Study: St. Joseph
Benedictine High School in Chauvin, Louisiana.

Thanks to Gina Dupuis, Office Manager at Sacred Heart Church in Morgan City, and Christine Streams, Liaison for the Office of African American Catholic Ministries, for their help in research for this article. School transcripts are available for St. Lucy High School, St. Luke Elementary School, and St. Joseph Benedictine High School per request. For questions or further research, please email [email protected].