The Myth of the Old Ursuline Convent
I wanted to discover why "vampires" and "Old Ursuline Convent" were two things that appeared together on a Google search. What I found was a piece of New Orleans folklore that is both mysterious and intriguing. While searching for answers, I found an excellent blog entry by Liz Genest Smith on her search to find answers on why vampires are associated with the highly historical Old Ursuline Convent.
According to her findings, as well as a worker at the Old Ursuline Convent Museum, there is a myth of "casket girls." These were the females sent over from France in order to be wives to the men already in the city of New Orleans. The "caskets" are as Smith puts it "the 18th century equivalent to an overnight bag" which contained a small amount of items taken with them on the journey.
Convicts, orphans, and prostitues may have all been sent over on the journey from France. The vampire theory may have stemmed from how the females looked when they arrived in New Orleans as they were most likely sickly from disease. They were also said to have "coughed up blood" due to tuberculosis.
Some even tried to attribute the convent's boarded up windows to the fact that the building housed vampires, however in reality the building had functioning hurricane shutters.
It is hard to say whether these myths are fact or fiction as there isn't any formal documentation. However, if you ask a New Orleanian about the topic, I'm sure you'll receive and interesting response.
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