In 1804, the State of Louisiana, led by Governor Claiborne, passed a law that required a licensing examination for pharmacists wishing to practice their profession. Prior to this, there was no enforced licensing provision for pharmacists in any other state. Louis Dufilho, on May 11, 1816, became the first person to earn a pharmacy license after completing a 3-hour oral examination administered at the Cabildo by the medical board appointed by Louisiana Governor William Claiborne. After practicing pharmacy for several years with his elder brother on Rue Toulouse, he opened his own shop in 1823 on Rue Chartres and maintained a successful business there for more than thirty years.
Today, the site of Dufilho’s pharmacy houses the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. Stepping inside, one immediately notices the stone floors and the gorgeous carved mahogany shelves which stretch floor to ceiling. Filling the shelves are hundreds of apothecary bottles, each carefully labelled and filled with chemicals, elixirs, and herbs such as foxglove, belladonna, and opium poppy, which would be used by Drufilho to create his remedies.
Dufilho also learned from the local voodoo practitioners how to make various powders and gris-gris potions that were important to many New Orleans residents. These would be used along with charms, amulets, dolls, and chants to induce healing and well-being.
