St. Augustine Catholic Church

The Ursuline convent donated the small property at Bayou Road and St. Cloud to the free people of color in after they were given permission to build a church from Bishop Antoine Blanc.  This sliver of property soon became a historical church and massive contributor to New Orleans religion and culture. The church was named St. Augustine after the Ursuline Convent founder, St. Angela Merici.  Just before October 9, 1942, free people of color began to buy pews in the church for their families to worship on, which upset white New Orleaneans.  In retaliation, white New Orleaneans began a competition to buy more pews than the free people of color; this was called The War of the Pews.  Free people of color won this competition, and gave many pews to the slaves of New Orleans, the first in America's history.  Below is a brief and abridged timeline of St. Augustine's history.

1842:

•      October 9th: Bishop Antoine Blanc blesses and dedicates St. Augustine Church

1892:

•      In hoped of eliminating segregation, Homer Plessy, a Parishioner of Augustine Church, chose to sit in the white section of a train to Covington, Louisiana.  He was then arrested and jailed.  He appealed to higher courts and hoped his case would desecrate segregation.

1896:

• The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the State of Louisiana, claiming that separate but equal was fair.

2005:

• April: Famous Mardi Gras Indian Chief and St. Augustine Parishioner Tootie passed away of a heart attack.
• August: Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans

2006:

• St. Augustine Church was ordered to close, but many fought for it to stay open.  A sit in was arranged and the compromise was that the Church would have a new pastor but be put on probation for 18 months

2008: 

• May: $75,000 was given from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to complete many much-needed renovations. 

2009:

• March: St. Augustine Church was taken off of probation and recognized for its growing congregation and efforts.