Saving the black Catholic experience of Xavier University of Louisiana

The digital conversion and creation of accessible records from the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (SBS) Oral History Collection includes recorded and transcribed interviews with the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament who, in 1915, founded Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) and continue to serve today. This article reflects on the beginnings of XULA and its unique place in Southern black history as the only Roman Catholic historically black college or university (HBCU) in the United States. It examines the necessity of archival oral history preservation at an African-American institution of higher education and the work archivists at Xavier University of Louisiana are doing now to help conserve rare primary research materials for the long-term preservation of black Catholic history.

Barraza, Vincent S. “Saving the Black Catholic Experience of Xavier University of Louisiana.” Oral history. 48, no. 2 (2020): 31–42.