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In 1840 Katherine Nelson Desrayaux and her husband, Adrien Benoit Joseph Desrayaux, took over the “Young Ladies Institute” on Rampart Street, at the corner of Bienville, founded by a Madame Leiris in 1832. Mr. Desrayaux taught French, while Mrs. Desrayaux undertook the “general direction and superintendence” of the school.

They operated the school there until 1848, when they moved into a brand new building on Burgundy Street, between Bienville and Customhouse. When Madame Desrayaux’s husband died in 1859, their property, acquired jointly, was valued at $25,000. In later years, the Burgundy Street property was sold to the Young Men’s Gymnastic Club and now forms part of the New Orleans Athletic Club’s complex.

In 1852, Madame Desrayaux opened a branch of her school in Pass Christian, Mississippi, for those parents who preferred their daughters to spend the summer outside of the city (the New Orleans location remained open during the summers). After the Civil war, the New Orleans location was leased by the Board of School Directors for a Central High School. Madame Desrayaux continued to operate the Pass Christian location until her death in 1875.

(Daily Picayune, August 19, 1848)