Our Lady of the Assumption School - Carencro, LA
N 30° 19.555 W 092° 02.538
15R E 592066 N 3355289
Small school building, located on the grounds church grounds, this school played an important role in the education of African American in this area of Louisiana.
Waymark Code: WMMJGV
Location: Louisiana, United States
Date Posted: 09/28/2014
Views: 1
Located in Carencro, north of Lafayette, fine small school located on a quiet street was easy to locate. Very nice people in office were quick to welcome. School played a role in the education of African Americans in this area of Louisiana from the late 19th century. This current building was constructed in 1934, and other buildings on the grounds are considered contributing elements. From the Acadia Historical society web page, located
HERE It states
Our Lady of the Assumption School is a rare representation of the important role the Roman Catholic Church played in the education of African Americans in rural southern Louisiana during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. After the Civil War, in 1866, Roman Catholic bishops, convening in plenary council in Baltimore, decreed that every effort should be made to establish Catholic schools for the newly freed black children. At the next plenary council, held in 1884, the bishops created a permanent “Commission for Catholic Missions among the Colored People and Indians.” Its goal was to provide an administrative framework for the educational endeavor. Encouraged by area bishops, several religious sisterhoods throughout Louisiana responded to the call. Between 1866 and 1944, these orders had established over fifty schools in urban and rural areas of south Louisiana. These facilities included Our Lady of the Assumption School at Carencro.
Assumption provided the African American community an opportunity for education well before the first public school opened which allowed blacks admittance in 1959. Although there were other educational opportunities available at the time, such as home schooling or church schoolhouses, these avenues for education were of poor quality, suffered from a lack of funding, and they did not survive for long.