The Inconsistency of Honoring Legacies: A Call for Fairness
In my recent attempt to purchase Holy Redeemer School in New Orleans, I confronted a deep injustice. The building, which stood on land bequeathed by Marie Justine Cirnaire Couvent, was initially intended to serve as a space for the education of Black orphans, a groundbreaking initiative when she made her will in 1837. Yet, despite our best efforts to secure this site and honor her vision, the Archdiocese of New Orleans has decided to sell the property to pay for child abuse claims. This decision, driven by financial necessity, is a betrayal of the legacy Marie Couvent fought to build, a legacy rooted in the education and empowerment of African Americans.
The removal of Marie Couvent’s name from the school she founded is emblematic of a wider inconsistency in how we honor historical figures. The New Orleans school board, as part of its initiative in the 1990s to remove the names of slaveholders from public structures, stripped her name. However, this effort wasn’t applied equitably. John McDonogh, who enslaved hundreds, continues to have schools named in his honor, such as John McDonogh High School and McDonogh 35. Moreover, Jesuit High School and Loyola University both still bear the name of the religious order responsible for selling my ancestors, the Georgetown 272. These institutions have escaped scrutiny, maintaining their legacies despite their complicity in slavery.
Consider Josephine Dillard, founder of Dillard University in New Orleans, another free woman of color who owned slaves but whose name remains unchallenged. Her contributions to health and education shielded her from backlash. Why, then, is Marie Couvent’s legacy treated differently? Couvent, who dedicated her resources to educating Black orphans, deserves the same recognition and honor for her contributions. We must ask ourselves: why do some legacies get to endure, while others are erased?
At The Couvent Collective, we are committed to continuing Marie Couvent’s vision. We are building a social enterprise dedicated to providing educational and business development resources to underserved communities in New Orleans and beyond. Our programs and initiatives focus on empowering African Americans, particularly women and minority-owned businesses, with the tools they need to succeed. Though we could not save the physical building, we are determined to carry forward the spirit of her mission, ensuring that education and opportunity remain central to the community’s development.
If we are to reconcile with our history and move forward as a community, we must do so with fairness and equity. We cannot selectively choose which figures to honor based on subjective measures of their contributions to society. If we penalize one historical figure for their involvement in slavery, we must do so universally, or we must take a more nuanced approach that recognizes both their positive contributions and their flaws.
Marie Couvent’s story is a powerful reminder that Black history in New Orleans is complex and multifaceted. Her life and legacy should not be erased but uplifted, honored, and remembered for the generations of children she helped and the educational opportunities she created. We at The Couvent Collective will continue this work and invite others to join us in preserving and advancing her vision.
If the aim is to bring justice and equity to our community, then Marie Couvent’s story deserves to be at the forefront of that conversation. Let us not erase her memory, but instead, let us honor it by ensuring her legacy of education and empowerment lives on.
Kim M. Braud
Founder, The Couvent Collective