Sacred Heart third graders are living-history docents at Pitot House

As a culmination to their year-long study of Louisiana history, third graders at Academy of the Sacred Heart donned period dress to  serve as docents April 14 at the 1799-built Bayou St. John residence of James Pitot – New Orleans’ first American-born mayor. (Photos by Beth Donze)

Sophia Shahlaei, dressed as a Bayou Goula Indian in the front garden, explains Bayou St. John’s history as a trading route between the river and lake.

Wesley Warren, portraying the apprentice to French naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur, stands on the Pitot House’s second-floor gallery to tell passersby about Lesueur’s early 19th-century drawings of Bayou St. John.

Catherine Grace Connick, dressed as the wife of portrait painter Jacques Amans, tells visitors about Amans’ portrait of James Pitot’s daughter – Sophie Gabrielle – hanging above the fireplace mantle. The third graders’ visit was made possible by the Louisiana Landmarks Society program “Life on the Bayou.” Interested schools can learn more about the program by calling 482-0312 or visiting www.louisianalandmarks.org. (Photos by Beth Donze)

Andrea Bohorquez portraying the wife of the man who built the Pitot House’s timber frame, explains mortise and tenon joinery.