The first-ever historical marker in northern St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, will honor a historic church and school that has been the spiritual home of countless local African Americans. It was also the first Josephite mission to the Deep South.
A special Mass and unveiling ceremony will take place in Lebeau on Saturday, Dec. 6, at the campus of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and its former school with parishioners, alumni, and friends.
“Everyone is invited to attend the event and the presentation that follows which will detail the history of the area,” reads an announcement from the St. Landry Parish Visitor Center.
The church, whose origins date to 1897, has been staffed since its founding by the Josephites, who began independent operations just six years earlier to exclusively serve African Americans. Their mission to Louisiana began in Lebeau—then known as Bayou Petite Prairie—and was inaugurated by their first Louisiana-born priest, Fr Pierre Oscar Lebeau, who later became the namesake of the town.
Following the Louisiana Purchase in the early 19th century, the state’s mostly integrated Catholic parishes of French and Spanish colonial origins had given way to the American system of more strict segregation. Lebeau was one of several such areas where the Josephites arrived after years of serving along the East Coast and in other parts of the South.
Immaculate Conception Church was built in 1897, and a school was added three years later, staffed by the Sisters of the Holy Family. Both were replaced in 1927, after which the Sisters of the Holy Ghost taught in the school. The parish added a high school in 1939, the first for African Americans in Lebeau.
The school’s most notable alum was the Grammy Award-winning zydeco musician “Rockin' Sidney” Simien, who graduated in the 1950s. The church grounds continue to host the city’s annual Lebeau Zydeco Festival, which takes place each summer.
Another alum, Fr Charles “Chuck” Andrus, was ordained for the Josephites in 1976 as the first native son of Immaculate Conception to become a priest. Now serving in New Orleans, he says he plans to attend the historical marker unveiling next month.
Members of Immaculate Conception Church were involved in the Civil Rights Movement, especially under the pastorate of Fr Bernard R. Callaghan, who supported parishioners in the fight for Black suffrage in Louisiana. In the summer of 1950, men from the parish attempted to register to vote, resulting in their beating at the hands of local law enforcement. The leader of the group, Xavier University of Louisiana professor Alvin H. Jones, later died of his injuries.
Immaculate Conception High School closed in 1963, following the nominal end of school segregation in Louisiana. The lower school continued until 1979. Immaculate Conception Church remains active, now pastored by one of the Josephites’ recent ordinands, Fr Joseph Kikanda. They celebrated 125 years as a church community in 2022, following a capital campaign to support the church’s various needs.
As in years long past, the church has faced challenges related to their building, with a fire damaging the church in 2022 and a tornado hitting the property earlier this year during a severe weather outbreak. Kikanda noted that damage was sustained to the parish hall as well as the main church building, which flooded due to torrential rain.
Given this, the historical marker celebration—spearheaded by the Immaculate Conception Alumni Foundation and beginning next Saturday with Mass at 10am CT—may serve as both a homecoming and a call to action for a resilient parish now looking toward its next 125 years.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
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