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Henriette Delille was born in 1813 in New Orleans to Jean Baptiste Delille-Sarpy and Pouponne Dias. Her mother was a quandroon and the mistress of her father, who was an aristocrat. Henriette's great great grandmother, Nanette, was a slave. Henriette was trained from an early age, like most young quandroon women during this time, to be conversant in French literature, to have a refined taste in music and to be able to dance gracefully.
Henriette's mother taught her nursing skills and how to prepare medicines from herbs. As a teenager, Henriette's lifestlye included going to balls in New Orleans for the purpose of meeting members of the aristocracy. The quandroon women were expected to become mistresses of the aristocracy. In 1824, Henriette pursued a course different from the one expected of her. During a ball, she was introduced to a French nun named Sister St. Marthe Fontier. This was the first member of a religious community that Henriette had met. She was impressed by Sister St. Marthe's dedication to God and her vows and acts of charity. Sister St. Marthe was a member of the Dames Hospitlier, a French religious order. She had purchased land on Barracks Street with the assistance of the free people of color in New Orleans. She opened a Catholic school for young girls in this building and it had become the nucleus for missionary activities among Negroes, bound and free. During the night Sr. St. Marthe taught classes in morals and faith to adults and during the day, the young girls were given religious instruction. In order to secure more teachers to help her, Sister St. Marthe trained young colored girls to become teachers. As a result, Henriette began to teach at the Catholic school when she was fourteen years old.
Henriette become consumed by her work. In addition to teaching, she visited the sick and the elderly and helped to feed the poor of the city. For Henriette, prayer was a necessity in her life. She often went to the Ursuline Convent's chapel to offer daily devotions. Henriette's family tried to persuade her to give up her work and pursue finding a member of the aristocracy to fall in love with. However, Henriette chose celibacy instead. Henriette's family was passing as white and did not like Henriette's recognition of her mixed ancestry and her association with blacks in the City. Henriette refused to stop her work and her mother had a nervous breakdown. A curator was appointed to handle her mother's accounts and in 1835, he signed a Civil Court document declaring Henriette to be of legal age.
When Henriette was declared to be of legal age, she sold all her property and began to found a community of Negro nuns with the assistance of a French woman, Marie Jeanne Aliquot. On November 21, 1836, Aliquot, Henriette and eight other colored women became the Sisters of the Presentation. They cared for the sick and poor and taught the freedmen. Their motto was "to be of one heart and one soul."
In 1837, Father Etienne Rousselon came to New Orleans from France to take charge of the chapel next to the school founded by Sister St. Marthe. Father Rousselon obtained permission for Henriette Delille to found a religious community of Negro nuns. Henriette and her companions raised money for the new Catholic church, which was completed in 1842. The community was changed from the Sisters of the Presentation to the Sisters of the Holy Family.
After over 150 years, the Sisters of the Holy Family still carry on Henriette Delille's tradition of dedication to God and charitable endeavors. Today, there are over 190 Sisters of the Holy Family who teach, care for the elderly in their nursing homes and retirement centers, and run free schools for disadvantaged children. The Sisters have missions in Louisiana California, Texas, Washington, D.C. and Belize Central America.
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