This year marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, which was a difficult period for the School Sisters of Notre Dame in North America and Europe, but for very different reasons. The School Sisters of Notre Dame was founded in Bavaria in 1833. The motherhouse for the Congregation was located in Munich and German was the...Read more

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 1918 Spanish flu, the deadliest pandemic in human history. Over the course of the pandemic, an estimated one-third of the world’s population was infected, and anywhere from 20 to 100 million people were killed by the disease. Death rates were particularly high amongst otherwise healthy adults ages 20-40. In fact, the disease...Read more

St. Michael At 5 a.m. of Oct. 9, the sisters at St. Michael’s gathered in the Chapel for Mass. The priest arrived “very much excited and in a fearful state.” He told the sisters that they were in danger if the winds turned directly north. He did not say Mass, but distributed Holy Communion to the sisters and left carrying...Read more

SSND and the Great Chicago Fire, Part I On the night of Oct. 8, 1871, a fire was started in the O’Leary barn on Chicago’s west side. The fire quickly spread and by the morning of October 10, roughly one-third of the city lay in ruins. The fire destroyed almost 18,000 buildings, left 100,000 people homeless and caused the death...Read more

Trials and tribulations School Sisters of Notre Dame were required to write a biography before they took vows. The biographies provide an interesting glimpse into the early life of sisters. Sister Vintilla Walczak, SSND, immigrated from Poland as a young woman and her biography tell of the trials and tribulations of that trip. Helen Walczak (later Sister Vintilla) was born...Read more

Construction of an important structure In 1894, the sisters purchased a 21-acre site near the Mississippi River, which they named Sancta Maria in Ripa (St. Mary on the Bank). The property included a ten-room mansion, called the “White House.” The house served as the convent for the sisters while the motherhouse was under construction. Additional historical information can be found...Read more

Back in time: Excerpts from the chronicles of St. Mary of the Pines The School Sisters of Notre Dame were required to keep chronicles or records of major events at each location where they lived and worked. The chronicles are very interesting to read, because they are little snapshots of history. Below are excerpts from the chronicles of St. Mary...Read more

Notre Dame Academy in Waterdown, Ontario, opened in 1927. The academy served as both a boarding school and a day school, although grade-school children were not allowed to board after 1931 (this rule was lifted during World War II because many mothers had to take on war-time work to support their families). In the early years, the boarders were allowed...Read more

St. Mary’s Institute was an SSND school of higher learning for young women. It established by Mother Caroline Friess in 1851 and was located at the Notre Dame Motherhouse in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Each year, the school published a catalog that included information about the school (cost, course of studies, required text books, fees, etc.), a list of students and graduates...Read more

The National Weather Service (NWS), in 2018, recognized SSND-sponsored Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for 50 years of service. But the SSND connection actually goes back much farther. Sister Felice Vaudreuil, SSND, chair of the Mathematics Department, was the first to operate the campus weather station, which was started in 1946 after the NWS realized that temperatures collected at...Read more