HISTORY OF SAINT AUGUSTINE CHURCH In Historic Faubourg Treme The property on which Saint Augustine Church stands was part of the original Claude Treme plantation estate. Treme, a Frenchman, subdivided his estate and sold off large tracts to free blacks and others on a first-come, first-serve basis. In 1834, Jeanne Marie Aliquot purchased the immediate property of the Treme home from the City of New Orleans and became a major catalyst in the development of Saint Augustine. Jeanne Marie sold the house, which was built by the Company of the Indies in 1720, as the office for a tilery and brickyard, to the Ursuline Sisters in 1836. They, in turn, sold the property to the Nuns of Mount Carmel in 1840, who then took over the little school for colored girls and used the Treme home for their motherhouse until 1926 when they moved to Robert E. Lee Boulevard. In 1841, when the free people of color got permission from Bishop Antoine Blanc to build a church, the Ursuline Sisters donated the property at the corner of Bayou Road and Saint Claude, on the condition the church is named Saint Augustine, after one of their patron saints. Bishop Antoine Blanc named Pere Etienne Rousselon the founding pastor of the newly built French speaking church. And so it came to pass. In the midst of all these things, Henriette Delille, a free woman of color, and Juliette Gaudin, a Cuban, began aiding slaves, orphan girls, the uneducated, and the sick and elderly among people of color in 1823. Their particular concern for the education and care of black children, aided greatly in the founding the city’s early private school for the colored. At the urging of Jeanne Marie Aliquot and the wise counseling of Pere Etienne Rousselon, the two women knelt in Saint Augustine Church on November 21, 1842, and pledged to live in community to work for orphan girls, the uneducated, poor, sick and the elderly among the free people of color, thus founding the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family, the second-oldest African American congregation of women. A few months before the dedication of Saint Augustine Church, the people of color began to purchase pews for their families. Upon hearing of this, white people in the area started their campaign to buy pews. Thus, the War of the Pews began and the free people of color bought as many pews as the whites. In an unprecedented political and religious move, the colored members also bought all the side aisle pews. They then gave those pews to the slaves as their exclusive place of worship. This mix of pews resulted in the most integrated congregation in the country: one large row of free people of color, one large row of whites with a smattering of ethnic folk, and two outer aisles of slaves. Except for a brief six-month period when its sanctuary was being enlarged and blessed in time for Christmas, Saint Augustine Church has been in continuous use as a place of worship. Saint Augustine Church was chosen to be included in the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture opening in the fall of 2016. In 2008, the church was designated as one of the original 26 sites included on the African American Heritage Trail. We celebrate the 183rd Anniversary in October of 2024. THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SLAVE On this October 30, 2004, we, the Faith Community of Saint Augustine Catholic Church, dedicate this shrine consisting of grave crosses, chains and shackles to the memory of the nameless, faceless, turfless Africans who met an untimely death in Faubourg Treme. The Tomb of the Unknown Slave is commemorated here in the garden plot of Saint Augustine Church, the only parish in the United States whose free people of color bought two outer rows of pews exclusively for slaves to use for worship. The Saint Augustine/Treme shrine honors all slaves buried throughout the United States and those slaves in particular who lie beneath the ground of Treme in unmarked, unknown graves. There is no doubt that the campus of Saint Augustine Church sits astride the blood, sweat, tears and some of the mortal remains of unknown slaves from Africa and local American Indian slaves who either met with fatal treachery, and were therefore buried quickly and secretly, or were buried hastily and at random because of yellow fever and other plagues. Even now, some Treme locals have childhood memories of salvage/restoration workers unearthing various human bones, sometimes in concentrated areas such as wells. In other words, The Tomb of the Unknown Slave is a constant reminder that we are walking on holy ground. Thus, we cannot consecrate this tomb, because it is already consecrated by many slaves’ inglorious deaths, bereft of any acknowledgement, dignity or respect, but ultimately glorious by their blood, sweat, tears, faith, prayers and deep worship of our Creator. The bronze plaque was donated by Sylvia Barker of the Danny Barker Estate.

Saint Augustine Catholic Church is America's first black catholic church and is nearing 180 years old. It is also in need of serious repair. We have officially launched the first-ever campaign to restore this historically important church. Our needs are critical. We need your help. Why Save Saint Augustine? Saint Augustine has served as a spiritual center to the City of New Orleans, was home to many musicians and civil rights activists, is a historically important church, is core to community involvement efforts in and around Treme, and was home of the (soon to be) first African American Saint. Please continue reading to learn our full story.