Notable New Orleanians: A Tricentennial Tribute

William Woodward, 1859-1939, Old Ursuline Convent and Cottage Chartres (oil and crayon on board (ca. 1929).
Impressionist William Woodward’s eye-catching view of the French Colonial Ursuline Convent (completed 1751) with a tile-roofed Creole cottage in the foreground provides precious
evidence of the early twentieth century appearance of important components of the old French Quarter. The second convent on the site, the Ursulines’ building was designed by Ignace
Broutin and built by Claude-Joseph Villars Dubreuil (q.v.). The cottage, built in 1798 for the Ursuline Nuns (q.v), remained in their possession until 1834 when they sold it to notary
Hughes Pedesclaux. The picturesque house survived until about 1926 when it was demolished for a filling station, the loss shocking Woodward and other citizens into action to preserve
the distinctive character of the Quarter. It was that year that the first legal tools to save the Vieux Carré were put into place, leading to the confirmation of the Vieux Carre Commission
in 1936.
The filling station itself later became the focus of an important legal battle in the annals of preservation, City of New Orleans vs. Pergament, when the city prosecuted its operator for
“displaying on its premises a large advertising sign without the permission of the Vieux Carre Commission.” Pergament responded that the city’s action was arbitrary, deprived him of his
property without due process, and could not apply to a modern building. The city’s state Supreme Court victory in the case brought a wider scope of French Quarter property under the legal
purview of the Commission. New Orleans preservationist and city attorney Jacob Morrison (q.v) would cite the case in later legal battles to preserve the French Quarter. The current
Lyons and Hudson townhouse on the site replaced the filling station in 1983.
Meanwhile, in the background, the Old Ursuline Convent has survived periods of neglect and decay to become a museum operated by the local Catholic Cultural Commission. Donated to
the local bishop by the Ursuline Nuns in 1824, it was still the bishop’s residence at the time of the Woodward painting. It has been an icon of the city for over 250 years.
COURTESY OF ROBERT HINCKLEY.
BIOGRAPHIES
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