A unique exception to this state of Southern education is the Ursuline Academy in New Orleans. This institution, founded in 1727 by the Catholic sisters of the Order of Saint Ursula, was both the oldest, continuously-operating school for girls and the oldest Catholic school in the United States. It also holds many American firsts, including the first female pharmacist, first woman to contribute a book of literary merit, first convent, first free school and first retreat center for ladies, and first classes for female African-American slaves, free women of color, and Native Americans.