Online Exhibit: “Beginning the Good Work: 200 Years of Service in Philadelphia”

Start of the work in Philadelphia. Mother Seton, who sent the first three Sisters, is on the far right. Next to her is Mother Rose White, the first superior. in the middle is a book with early minutes of the board of St. Joseph Orphan Asylum.

Mother Rose White, leader of the first group of Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph’s to serve in Philadelphia. After Elizabeth Seton’s death in 1821 Mother Rose served as the community’s superior.

Mother Rose White’s skill in managing St. Joseph Orphan Asylum led to a request, in 1817, for the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph’s to start an orphanage in New York. In the center is a letter from Mother Seton talking about her desire to send Sisters there. One companions of Mother Seton’s who served in Philadelphia was Mother Elizabeth Boyle, seen at right, who in 1846 became the first superior of the Sisters of Charity of New York. (Image of Mother Elizabeth Boyle courtesy of Sisters of Charity of New York)

Mother Elizabeth Boyle (1788-1861), first superior of the Sisters of Charity of New York (1846-1849) (Courtesy Sisters of Charity of New York)

Photos and artifacts of Sr. Mary Gonzaga Grace and Gonzaga Home. Sr. Mary Gonzaga is at the upper left. Beneath her is an image of the Sisters who served at Satterlee Hospital in West Philadelphia during the Civil War. In the center are pages from a handwritten life of Sr. Mary Gonzaga. On the far right is an image of Gonzaga Home.

Sr. Mary Gonzaga Grace spent 61 years of her community life in Philadelphia. During the Civil War she served as both superior of Satterlee Military Hospital and St. Joseph Orphan Asylum.

Gonzaga Home, completed in 1899 and named in honor of Sr. Mary Gonzaga Grace.

Photos and artifacts for St. Joseph Hospital.

St. Joseph Hospital, early 20th century.

St. Joseph Hospital operating room, ca. 1900

Case showing photos and artifacts from St. Vincent Orphan Asylum, Drexel Hill.

St. Vincent Orphan Home, founded in 1850, moved into this building in the early 1920s. The building later became an archdiocesan high school.

St. Vincent Orphan Home Drexel Hill, children on playground, 1943

“Musical Mites” – a girls’ band from St. Vincent Home Drexel Hill, 1943

On the left are images of St. Joseph Hall for Girls, from the 1970s and early 1980s. On the right is Ghebre Michael Inn, founded by the Vincentians at Immaculate Conception Parish in Germantown in 1989. Ghebre Michael Inn, named for a Vincentian priest and martyr, provided temporary housing and job assistance to under-and-unemployed single men.

St. Joseph Hall for Girls, unidentified Sister and students, early 1970s

Sr. Mary Frate and children at St. Joseph Hall for Girls, early 1980s.

Gwynedd Mercy Academy was one of a number of school ministries. Sr. Denise Williams taught at the school in the late 1980s.

Mayor Rizzo of Philadelphia presents a proclamation for “Elizabeth Seton Day” in the city of Philadelphia, September 14, 1975.

Proclamation from the City of Philadelphia in honor of Elizabeth Seton Day, September 14, 1975