IN COMMEMORATION
150th ANNIVERSARY
YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMIC
–––– SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA | 1873-2023

01
HISTORY
The City of Shreveport is set to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Yellow Fever Epidemic, which claimed the lives of approximately one-quarter of the city’s population in 1873, making it the third worst in United States history.
EPIDEMIC
BACKGROUND
02
The Yellow Fever Epidemic of Shreveport in 1873 ranks as the third worst recorded epidemic of its type in United States history.
The epidemic sharply punctuates the chronicle of Shreveport’s existence, perhaps standing out as the most transformative and significant passage of city history. From its earliest history as the Red River connector to the Texas Trail, Shreveport thrived on commerce and experienced all of the population variables that characterized river ports during the great age of the steamboat.

Shreve Town Company Commerce
From its earliest history as the Red River connector to the Texas Trail, Shreveport thrived on commerce, and therefore experienced all of the population variables that characterized river ports during the great age of the steamboat.
Every year on record, Shreveport reported a variety of communicable illnesses among its dense population, and yellow fever was certainly no stranger.
William Bennett, one of the original founders of the Shreve Town Company, now Shreveport, and one of the earliest commercial settlers in the area, died of yellow fever in 1837. Within just a few years of its establishment and incorporation, Shreveport became well acquainted with “the saffron scourge,” also more commonly known as “yellow jack.”
EPIDEMIC SERIES OF EVENTS
03
HEROISM
SACRIFICE
The death toll in 1873 included approximately 1,200 Shreveporters, including five Roman Catholic priests, two religious sisters and one novice of the Daughters of the Cross convent, and countless others who volunteered to care for the sick and dying at the epidemic’s peak. Many more fled the city for safer environs, but history most nobly remembers those who chose to remain and care for others.

Lt. Eugene Augustus Woodruff
United States Army Corps of Engineers,
Native of Ohio
Lt. Eugene Augustus Woodruff, United States Army Corps of Engineers, native of Ohio, who received orders to leave Shreveport with his contingent of men once the federal quarantine was in place. Woodruff wrote a letter to his mother saying, “I am not the least afraid…”
He remained in Shreveport caring for strangers until his own death from the illness on September 30. Lt. Woodruff was 31 years old.
ROMAN
CATHOLIC
PRIESTS


FATHER ISIDORE A. QUÉMERAIS
Native of Pleine-Fougeres, France – Associate Pastor of Holy Trinity Church
September 15, 1873

FATHER JEAN PIERRE
Native of Lanloup, France – Founding Pastor of Holy Trinity Church
Died September 16

FATHER JEAN-MARIE BILER
Native of Plourivo, France – Chaplain for the Daughters of the Cross Convent at Fairfield
Died September 26

FATHER LOUIS GERGAUD
Native of Heric, France – Pastor of St. Matthew’s Church in Monroe
Died October 1

FATHER FRANCOIS LE VEZOUET
Native of Brelidy, France – Priest of Natchitoches
Died October 1
For more information about these priests visit shreveportmartyrs.org
For a deeper understanding of their story, check out these publications and the Five Priests documentary.

RELIGIOUS
SISTERS &
NOVICE OF THE
DAUGHTERS
OF THE
CROSS CONVENT
Sister Marie Marthe Denes
Sister Mary Angela
(née Marie Angèle Le Nédélec)
Rose of Lima
(Novice of the Daughters of the Cross)
05
COMMEMORATIVE
EVENTS

AUG
21
Press Conference at Spring Street Museum
Public Announcements and Press Kits 10:00 a.m.
SEP
15
Honoring the Death of Father Isidore Quemerais
Mass at St. Joseph Cemetery
Shreveport, Louisiana
5:30 p.m.
SEP
16
Honoring the Death of Father Jean Pierre
Mass at Holy Trinity Church
Shreveport, Louisiana
4:00 p.m.
Symphony in honor of the Holy Trinity
composed by Johnum Palado with movement dedicated to The Five Priests
5:15 p.m
All-night vigil at the Shrine to Fathers Quemerais and Pierre at Holy Trinity
SEP
26
Honoring Father Jean Marie Biler and the Daughters of the Cross
Mass at Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity Church
Shreveport, Louisiana
12:00 p.m.
OCT
01
Mass Honoring the death of Father Louis Gergaud
Mass at St. Matthew’s Church in Monroe
St. Matthew’s Church
Monroe, Louisiana
10:30 a.m.
OCT
07
Public Symposium on Yellow Fever
LSU Shreveport
9:00 a.m.
OCT
07
Dedication of the Yellow Fever Mass Grave Memorial
With Mayor Tom Arceneaux
Oakland Cemetery
Shreveport, Louisiana
1:00 p.m.
OCT
08
Honoring the Death of Father Francois Le Vezouet
With Bishop Francis Malone
Mass at Holy Trinity
10:30 a.m.
OCT
08
“The Angels Gathered”
The symphony composed by Kermit Poling
Holy Trinity
5:15 p.m.
NOV
12
Public Yellow Fever Tours
National Tour Association in Shreveport
NOV
19
1873 Themed Dinner: “The Merciful Frost”
Sponsored by Downtown Development Authority
Noble Savage
Shreveport, Louisiana
Time TBA
TBA
Permanent Yellow Fever Exhibit
at LSUS Spring Street Museum
School groups are welcome.
Special curriculum provided by LSU Shreveport.
Spring Street Museum,
525 Spring Street
Open Tuesdays – Saturdays
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
It is not only important that we remember, but that we pause to reflect on the lessons of the past. In any situation, we always have a choice, and from the 1873 epidemic emerge stories of human tragedy and loss, equally punctuated by heroism and sacrifice in the service of strangers.

See our progress on the Yellow Fever Memorial at the mass grave at Oakland Cemetery (1873-2023). The city’s dedication ceremony is planned for October 7.
PRESS
IN THE NEWS
06