The Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul Arrive at the Louisiana Leper Home, 1896. Image Courtesy of the National Hansen's Disease Museum, Permanent Collection. Carville, LA.

The first group of four Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul who arrived on April 27, 1896
were:

Sister Beatrice Hart, Sister Superior
Sister Mary Thomas Stokum
Sister Annie Costello
and Sister Cyril Coupe

They were met with almost insurmountable obstacles, one being the dilapidated condition of the Indian Camp Plantation Home which was to be their quarters. Bats, snakes, rats and other pests had claimed it as their home and were not readily going to give it up.

With Spartan spirits, the Sisters of Charity attacked the filthy house and soon had two rooms clean enough to be lived in.

Over their 116 year mission to Carville, 109 Sisters served here in various medical capacities.