Le Petit Musée at the Academy of the Sacred Heart

Le Petit Musée is a museum dedicated to the history of the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, Louisiana. In 1821, Saint Philippine Duchesne sent Sisters Eugenie Audé and Mary Layton to Grand Coteau to begin a school for young girls. Beginning in an unfurnished house on land donated to the religious order by Mary Sentee Smith, the school opened in October with just five students. Through hardships, natural disasters, disease and civil war, the school has persevered, grown and flourished.  Explore artifacts, letters, and photographs that tell the story of the pioneering spirit of the foundresses and early life at the Academy.  Learn about the enslaved persons who created the bricks, constructed the buildings, and worked alongside the sisters to make the Academy of the Sacred Heart what it is today.

While on campus, visit the Shrine of Saint John Berchmans, the site of the 1866 miraculous cure of a Religious of the Sacred Heart.