National Guard preserves history of Hansen’s Disease Center

CARVILLE, La. (AP) — A drive along Point Clair Road can feel like a journey back in time. Many of the buildings, walkways and spreading live oaks look as if they’re preserved in amber.

Gone, however, are the patients who spent the last years — often decades — of their lives there, as are the Catholic Daughters of Charity who cared for them. Replacing them are National Guard soldiers ready to respond to a crisis and at-risk youths learning discipline and job skills.

Since 1999, the Louisiana National Guard has taken over what once was the National Hansen’s Disease Center, where researchers conquered a dreaded illness. Col. John Angelloz, commander of the Guard’s Gillis W. Long Center, sees a connection between the eras.

“A miracle occurred out here and they found a rudimentary treatment for that disease,” Angelloz said. “That gave people hope and encouragement. I tell people that’s still true today. That same spirit of hope and encouragement.”

Once a sugar cane plantation, this property became home to patients in 1894. Commonly called leprosy, Hansen’s disease is a bacterial infection that damages nerves, the respiratory tract, skin and eyes. Since it can cause an inability to feel pain, unnoticed wounds often resulted in severe injuries and infection. It was once thought to be highly contagious.

Louisiana brought in the Daughters of Charity to care for patients, and they remained after the U.S. Public Health Service took over in 1921. Then called the National Leprosarium, it became an impressive campus with a hospital, dorms, Catholic and Protestant chapels, a recreation center and golf course, along with a neighborhood housing the staff. Over 2 miles of two-story covered walkways connected facilities.

Fear of the disease was strong. An incinerator was built to keep...