Among New Orleans' most compelling stories is that of the Sisters of the                  Holy Family, which was founded in the 19th century and still thrives today. The                  community's difficult early years are portrayed in a remarkable account by one of                  the sisters, Mary Bernard Deggs. While Deggs did not officially join the community                  until 1873, as a student at the sisters' early school she would have known Henriette                  Delille and the other founders. It was not until 1852 that the sisters were able to                  take their first official vows and exchange their blue percale gowns for black ones,                  and it was 1873 before they were permitted to wear a formal religious habit. This                  community of mixed race faced almost insurmountable obstacles, but the women                  remained unflagging in their dedication to the poor, to education, and to the care                  of the elderly and the orphaned -- to the needs of "their people."

No Cross, No Crown: Black Nuns in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans PDF

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