Ouachita Female Academy 1840 – 1900

What you are looking at is one of the ancestors of Monroe/Ouachita Parish schools.  It was known as the Ouachita Female Academy.  It sat where Anna Grey Noe Park is, facing the block that now houses St. Francis Hospital.  Behind it was the Catholic Church (St. Matthew), The Catholic Friends building and St. Hyacinth Catholic School, which was the ancestor of St. Matthew and St. Frederick schools.  Some say it was built in 1849, others in 1840.  The earliest article I could find about it, came from 1846:

The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA) September 1, 1846, Page 2

               Prizes Awarded. – At an examination held on the 10^th and 11^th ult., at the Ouachita Female Academy, Monroe, La., medals were awarded as follows:

The gold medal to Miss Caroline Morrison; a silver medal to Miss Ann Atkins; a silver medal to Miss Harriet McDonald; a silver medal, for French, to Miss Louisa White; a silver medal, for music, to Miss Thankful Willson.

The next session of this institution will commence on the 21^st inst.

As an interesting side note, Thankful Willson, a daughter of Judge E.K. Willson, would become the mother of one of Ouachita Parish’s greatest educators, Lida St. Clair Benton!

In 1898 or so, the building was turned over to the city for a public school.  The city eventually gave St. Matthew Catholic Church a lot on Jackson Street and in return, they gave their half of the lot and building over to the city.  In 1901, after the City High School was built on most of the lot, the old Female Academy was torn down.

New Information (July 30, 2026): I found a list of the people numbered in the October 20, 1929 Monroe Morning World.

1. Selina Brown
2. Maggie Vogh
3. Mamie Strickland
4. Lizzie Trousdale
5. Eliza Shields
6. Georgia Richardson
7. Tommie Horton
8. Julia Ennemoser
9. Pauline Wetzel
10. Rebecca Kern
11. Daisy Richardson
12. Deborah Kaliski
13. Unknown
14. Ava Duncan
15. Unknown
16. Maud Duncan
17. Unknown
18. Minnie Steinau
19. Mattie Newman
20. Unknown
21. Sallie Nelson
22. Jenie Richardson
23. Beulah Ensminger
24. Minnie Frost
25. Nora Richardson
26. L.D. Allen, superintendent of school
27. Lula Proctor
28. John Moore, trustee
29. Hannah Baer
30. Sallie Richardson
31. Ida Jowers
32. Unknown
33. Unknown
34. Mrs. J.E. Evans, principal
35. Lenora White
36. Mamie Nelson
37. Rebecca Baer
38. Alvina Peters
39. Unknown
40. Miss Ida Murphy, teacher
41. Eva Hanna
42. Georgia Kellar
43. Maud Linney
44. Eola White
45. Clara Ennemoser
46. Margie Garrett
47. Mollie Hanna
48. Carrie Steinau
49. Lena Evans
50. Wm. Richardson
51. John Robert Richardson
52. Anna Evans