Triumph At Carville: A Tale of Leprosy in America

Triumph At Carville: A Tale of Leprosy in America. The Story of the Triumph over Leprosy; Mankind's most Historically Feared Disease. , In 1894, The Louisiana Leper Home was established at an abandoned plantation south of Baton Rouge, near a town eventually known as Carville. That November, the first seven patients, transferred from a "pest house" in New Orleans, arrived on a coal barge towed up the Mississippi River. The laws of the day forbade passengers with quarantinable diseases use of public transportation., The old plantation would eventually become a refuge for leprosy patients from all over the world. The National Leprosy Act of 1917 required patients diagnosed with leprosy in the U.S. to be quarantined at Carville. In its early years, Carville was more prison than hospital. Families, sometimes horrified by the stigma of leprosy, left their infected relatives at the front gate. Patients routinely changed their names to hide their identities. In 1921, when the U.S.Public Health Service took over the hospital from the state of Louisiana, "Carville" became known as U.S. Marine Hospital #66, The National Leprosarium., As the decades passed, greater understanding about leprosy emerged from studies at Carville. Researchers partnered with Daughters of Charity and patients to develop a therapy which, years later, became Carville's gift to the world: the multi-drug regimen many call a cure for leprosy, now known as Hansen's disease., As Carville evolved from leprosarium to hospital - and eventually became a home for patients who lived out the balance of their lives on the grounds - the plantation fostered an incredible sense of community. This exhibit, and the recent PBS documentary of the same name, highlights a few of the amazing stories and characters that vividly tell the story of this unique place.