Christmas is a time for family and thanksgiving, but also a time to reflect on the past. It is evident through the chronicles that the Sisters in Baltimore celebrated Christmas in different ways – those in the motherhouse attended midnight Mass while those at St. Anthony’s Orphanage had more traditional Christmas fun with the children. The following excerpts describe how...Read more

St. Francis de Sales Convent, located at 421 Daly Street in St. Paul, Minnesota, closed in November 2019, marking the end of a 135-year presence of the School Sisters of Notre Dame at the parish and school. We honor the SSND who worked there with the following photos and excerpts from the convent/school chronicles.   [1884] “On August 27, 1884,...Read more

The School Sisters of Notre Dame living at St. Mary of the Pines in Chatawa, Mississippi are currently in the process of moving to a new home. When the final sister leaves in 2020, it will mark the end of 146 years of the SSND living and working in Chatawa. Click here to watch a historical slide show of St....Read more

Needlework was an important part of a girls’ education and the School Sisters of Notre Dame often included needlework as part of their curriculum. Pictured here is a needlework class from St. Agnes School in St. Paul, Minnesota, circa the late 19th or early 20th century. Notice the wall, which is covered in various needlepoint projects. Click here for more...Read more

It is difficult to figure out what is happening in this photo of Sr. Marietta Bettels, until you read what is written on the back: “An experiment – with a yardstick – camera on windowsill.  Took this myself in my classroom in Seelas Hall, New Orleans.” Turns out, Sr. Marietta was attempting to take a selfie!...Read more

In 2010 the Archdiocese of Chicago opened the cause for canonization for Fr. Augustus Tolton, the first African-American priest in the United States. On June 11, 2019 Pope Francis issued a “Decree of Heroic Virtue,” thus advancing the cause of Fr. Tolton and granting him the title of “Venerable.”A lot has been written about Fr. Tolton’s life, including the fact...Read more

By: Michele Levandoski, Archivist, School Sisters of Notre Dame North American Archives The women’s suffrage movement began in the mid-19th century and for more than 70 years, American women lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied and practiced civil disobedience, including imprisonment, in an attempt to achieve the right to vote. By the early 20th century, many states had given women either full...Read more

Sister Zoe Krzysostan Historians and genealogists often work to recreate peoples’ lives based on information they find in various types of records. This can be difficult, however, when records for a particular person are few and far between. This is the case for Sister Zoe Krzysostan. Her personnel file provides dates of major events in her life, but it doesn’t...Read more

St. Joseph’s Orphanage, New York The School Sisters of Notre Dame operated St. Joseph’s Orphanage, located in Yorkville, a neighborhood of Manhattan’s Upper East Side from 1859 until it closed in 1918. The sisters who worked at the orphanage went to great lengths to provide a clean, safe home for the children who lived there. Unfortunately, some things were beyond...Read more

St. Joseph’s orphanage, New York Construction has a way of uncovering historical gems that were thought to be lost. Recently, a parking lot was torn down in Yorkville, a neighborhood in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Hidden behind the structure was the eight-story neoclassical façade of the St. Joseph’s Orphanage chapel, which was built in 1898 (see links below for more...Read more