Within the first decade of the permanent establishment of New Orleans by the French, provisions had been made for the education of the females in the area. Opening their school for girls in November of 1727, the Ursuline nuns of France began what was to be an uninterrupted effort directed toward providing a basic education for all women, regardless of race or class. Using primary source material, this article describes the establishment and initial operation of the Ursuline school for girls in French colonial Louisiana. With respect to general colonization patterns, the school was atypical in its concern solely for the social and educational welfare of the female population. In addition to identifying the early curriculum and methods of the school, the article discusses other major social services provided by the Ursulines.
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