This is a picture of the graves. This is so families have an easy way to see if their family member has been buried at Carville.
A list of the sisters who cares for the patients. None of the staff at Carville contracted Hansen's Disease.
Some of the equipment made for patients eith Hansen's to help make their activities of daily living easier.
Wheelchair with hand cranks.
This is their body bag.
The currency that was made for the patients at Carville.
One of the decorations for the Mardi Gras celebration at the facility.
The Hansen’s Disease Museum is located in a secluded area on
around 400 acres of land. When we
arrived we were taken into the museum where we watched a short movie about Hansen’s
Disease and the purpose of Carville. I
learned so much interesting information while at the museum. The first patient arrived at Carville in 1894
and the last patient left only a few months ago. When the disease became a concern in the 1800’s,
those who contracted the disease where placed in mandatory quarantine. Individuals were taken away from their loved
ones to be placed in Carville. Some
patients took pseudo names to remove the stigma of the disease for their
families when there were admitted to Carville.
Family members were allowed to visit their quarantined family members as
long as they were older than 16 years old.
There were no paved roads leading to the facility so it was difficult
for visitors to come. A majority of the
patients were between the ages of 18-80.
In 1920, the federal government took over the facility. The facility had their own currency made for
multiple reasons. One reason was because
at the time they did not know how the disease spread so they did not want the
money to get into the general public.
The other reason for their own currency was they did not want the
patients to save enough money to escape from the facility. Dapsone was found to treat Hansen’s Disease
in 1920. Though a treatment was found,
patients were not allowed to leave the facility unless they had multiple
negative test results for 12 consecutive months. During the tour of the museum, I saw many interesting
things that were invented to help those who had contracted Hansen’s
Disease. Though medicine has come a long
way, we still use certain things that were in the museum. The tour guides then took us on a vehicle
tour of the area. We witnessed the
recreation area, the cemetery, the store, the infirmary, the prison, and the
dormitories. While driving area we heard
the chanting of the army men (Carville is now a military base). The tour left me feeling sad for the patients
who were forced into quarantine, shunned by society and went through unimaginable
testing to help find a cure such as hot temperature therapy. It opened my eyes to how patients may currently feel when they are admitted to the hospital and placed in isolation precautions. I imagine they feel alone or isolated. I need to remember my experience at the museum when I am caring for these individuals. I think the museum was a very educational place. I would recommend that people go visit it, even if they are not involved in healthcare.
After we left the Hansen’s Disease Museum, we went on a
short adventure to the Whitney Plantation.
When we arrived at the plantation all students were given a badge with a
story of a child who grew up in slavery.
My child was Hannah Kelly. We
started the tour in the church which was new to the plantation and was not
there when the plantation housed slaves.
We walked around the plantation where we were able to see three
memorials that were placed there to honor slaves. On the memorials were stories of the children
of slavery. These children recounted the
stories of slavery from what they remembered from their childhood. We also got to walk into a house that was
used by slaves. These houses consisted
of four rooms in which up to ten slaves would have to share. We saw the kitchen, the blacksmiths area, and
the horse and mule area. We went into
the main house where a lot of the painting had been restored to hence the experience. The whole experience was a humbling one. At one point in the tour, I was reading a
story that was posted on a memorial. I
found myself feeling the hurt of the child and started to cry. It is hard to imagine what life was like for
the slaves. Stories of birthing children
at young ages, being beat for taking a biscuit and being separated from your
parents because they had been sold. The plantation is something everyone should go visit especially in today's society where lines are being placed and races are being torn apart. I left the plantation with the question of why. Why would anyone every treat someone else this way? Yes, it may have been the culture at the time but it obviously was not right and people, some white people knew it or they wouldn't have revolted against slavery. Thankfully we have people in the world who will stand up against the norm if it is wrong.
The church that was placed on the plantation.
The statues of the children of slavery
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