Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1920-1952 (Creation)
Extent
.3 cu.ft. (2 boxes partial)
Name of creator
Biographical history
Frances Joseph-Gaudet, an African American woman, founded Gaudet Normal and Industrial School (New Orleans, Louisiana) in 1900. Mrs. Gaudet raised the money necessary to buy land for the school and served as its first principal.
Originally called the Gaudet Boarding School for Boys, then the Colored Industrial Home and School, it grew from a home for orphaned and disadvantaged African American children to an elementary and high school for boarders and day students.
In 1921, Mrs. Gaudet turned the school over to the Diocese of Louisiana, at which time the school came under the supervision of the American Church Institute (ACI). Gaudet developed a cooperative relationship with Dillard University, an historically black university built near the Gaudet campus in 1935. The elementary portion of Gaudet’s curriculum was discontinued by 1946, and the school then became known as Gaudet Episcopal High School. ACI continued its funding until about 1955 when the school closed and the Gaudet Episcopal Home opened in the same quarters.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Records include Gaudet’s Board of Trustees minutes and reports (1940-1949, 1952) and financial records (1925-1953). ACI Director’s correspondence (1921, 1932, 1940-1945) is brief, primarily with Dr. Warren Kearny of the Gaudet Board of Trustees and the Church Periodical Club. The Home Department Director, Rev. George A. Wieland, has correspondence (1949) concerning building projects and improvements to Gaudet’s educational program. Historical summaries (1920-1934) provide background information. This series includes a survey report of the school by the George Peabody College for Teachers (1946).
System of arrangement
This material constitutes file series 14 of the ACI archive.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Access to Episcopal Church records is governed by the Archives Public Access Policy. Research requests must be submitted in writing.
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
The Archives is able to respond to limited requests for reproductions subject to copyright restrictions, internal policy, and the condition of the source documents.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- American Church Institute (Subject)
- Joseph-Gaudet, Frances (Subject)