Old Ursuline Convent Museum — Attraction in New Orleans

The building and grounds are lovely- we went in on a whim and were led to a guided tour. In retrospect I wish we had just done a self-guided tour (didn't even realize that was an option until I saw these other reviews!) I found the tour guide we had, Ann Williams, to be problematic.

At one point on the tour, she started talking about a historical figure who was half-white and half-Black and how "she could have chosen to be white but she didn't" and said, "just like how Obama could have chosen to be considered white if he wanted." As someone who is mixed race (and not yt passing), I live in a world that, since my earliest memory, considers me 100% Other. I am proud to be mixed; the point is, there would have never been a "choice" when I look Not White. I started to bring this up, conversationally saying, "I'm mixed race-" and she cut me off and said "Ma'am we aren't going to discuss this." And I said, "oh, I was just-" at which point she got in my face, raised her voice, and said something like, "Ma'am you are NOT going to say another word, I will NOT allow you to discuss anything political, do you understand?" I just looked at her for a few seconds, said "ok", and my partner and I left. As we walked away I heard her talking about what a disruption I was to everyone else on the tour. (Up to that point, we had all been casually conversing and asking questions along the way.)

I love New Orleans so much and saw this as a vestige of an old guard. As bell hooks said, "sometimes people try to destroy you, precisely because they recognize your power- not because they don't see it, but because they see it and they don't want it to exist." Experiencing this kind of behavior from someone whose racial identity has never been historically marginalized is nothing new for me. I post this review because I feel part of being a tour guide involves an ability to engage with diversity. And if a tour guide brings up history through a racial lens, I also feel she should be able to handle an open dialogue, especially from someone with a relevant lived experience. She hardcore failed at it- it might be time for her to...

We drove all the way from Las Vegas. It has been my dream for the past 15 years to come to New Orleans and learn the history of the area.

My husband and I walked in exactly at 1:15 pm. But by the time I asked the lady if we could do a self guided tour, she kept looking out the window and said “oh I think you are too late.” And waited until the security guard shut the gate on us. Once the lady said no, it was 1:16. “1 minute late” to the last admission. She wouldnt allow us to go in for a self guided tour, or guided tour. And the security man was very rude and wouldn’t look us in the face. No exceptions.

Normally Id be understanding. But we are here until the end of today, and Ive never burst into tears in a public setting before. And we WERE on time.

I wish I could give this place 5 stars. And I wish they would have let us go in for a self guided tour. We were only a minute late.

If you plan to come here, the last opening is at 1:15. If you’re a minute late or even arrive a couple seconds after 1:15, they will not let you in.

Im trying not to let this affect the rest of my day in New Orleans, but it was pretty...

Our guide was so fun and knowledgeable (“there are no vampires in our attic!”) Haha! If you know, you know! I loved hearing the stories and looking at the artifacts and being amazed at the journey of these nuns coming across the ocean after being sent by King Louis; I felt my own faith being reconfirmed! But definitely don’t think you need to be a Catholic to thoroughly enjoy this building, the last vestige of French Colonial architecture since the rest of the city burned. Why did the wind shift after a nun put her holy candle in the window? Was it a miracle? Come take the tour and decide for yourself! You will also see a relic; a piece of a bone from a saint. For all the ghost and vampire tours in this city, seeing real pieces of bone from a saint is more out of the ordinary bang for your buck imo. You’ll also learn about the iconography of tombstone symbols, the day a swimming pool was built over one of the oldest graveyards, and a clock that survived the Galveston hurricane of 1900 and is still in perfect working order. I filled my days with all sorts of tours during my trip to NOLA, and this one was definitely...