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

Nineteenth-century New Orleans was a diverse city. The French-speaking
Catholic Creoles, whether black, white, or racially mixed -- so different from the
city's English-speaking residents -- inspired intense curiosity and speculation. But
none of the city's inhabitants evoked as much wonder as did the Sisters of the Holy
Family, whose mission was to evangelize slaves and free people of color and to care
for the poor, sick, and elderly.

These women, whose community
still thrives, are portraye...