It was a small group, but its mission was big - keeping the memory of Felicite alive in New Iberia.

"I traveled from San Francisco to Seattle, Washington and I heard a woman on a train who said 'you know I heard a story about a woman named Felicite in New Iberia,' " said Michael Bell, a Felicite historian.

Felicite was a slave who in 1839 helped save the lives of many people during a yellow fever epidemic that killed a quarter of the population at the time.

Advertisement

Bell, New Iberia Mayor Hilda Curry and others gathered near Felicite's graveside at St. Peter's Cemetery Saturday morning to sing hymns and read poems in Felicite's honor.

"After the two leading doctors died, she took over all the medical needs from that point on," Bell said.

Felicite, who was brought to New Iberia from Haiti, was known to have gone tirelessly from family to family, carrying food and medicine. Because she had the fever years before, she had become immune, according to historians.

"A lot of black people in those times worked with herbs and natural remedies," Bell said.

At the time of her death, Felicite's body was allowed to lie in state at the home of her former master, Frederick Duperier, while hundreds of people paid their final respects to her.

There is even a sign near the Cyr-Gates Community Center at city park that describes how on "the day of her burial, every business closed its doors and every man, woman and child followed (Felicite) to her final resting place."