Sisters of Charity of New York

The Sisters quickly took on the job of establishing Catholic orphanages in a city overrun with abandoned, orphaned or neglected children.With this background, the Sisters also began to establish or staff existing parish schools, particularly in poor and immigrant neighborhoods, and to set up hospitals.In consequence there developed a tendency to dispense with certain customs observed at Emmitsburg because these changes were required by the French superiors; for example, the sisters in charge of boys' asylums were everywhere to be withdrawn.This was not unusual, in that several other groups of Sisters founded by Seton established themselves as independent diocesan entities once their communities reached maturity.The novitiate of the New York community was opened at St. James's Academy, 35 East Broadway, and later moved to the new motherhouse on an estate purchased at Mcgown's Pass, situated within the limits of the present Central Park.[4] In the late 1850s the sisters bought the Edwin Forrest estate called Font Hill and the Motherhouse and academy relocated to the Riverdale section of the Bronx.[5] In 1890 the Sisters of Saint Martha of Antigonish evolved from the Halifax congregation as an order initially devoted to housekeeping and nursing duties at St. Francis University.Beginning as a summer retreat for orphans from the Foundling Hospital and as a place for the sisters to obtain degrees under the auspices of Mount St. Vincent, it was turned into an all-girls Catholic high school in 1963.Sisters of Charity of New York were main characters in the 2005 Pulitzer-Prize winning play Doubt: A Parable, which was the basis of the 2008 film of the same name.
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774 - 1821)
St. Patrick's Convent and Girls' School
Forrest's Font Hill by the Hudson River
Sister Irene and children at New York Foundling, 1888
St. Elizabeth Ann SetonEmmitsburgMarylandRoman Catholicreligious instituteEducationhealthcarechild careMount Saint Vincent ConventSisters of Charity Federation in the Vincentian-Setonian Traditionreligious congregationsistersCatholic ChurchRiverdalethe BronxElizabeth Ann SetonSaint Elizabeth SetonEmmitsburg, MarylandDaughters of CharitySaint Vincent de PaulSaint Louise de Marillacpoverty, chastity, and obedienceMount Saint VincentEdwin ForrestHalifax, Nova ScotiaSisters of Charity of HalifaxSisters of Saint MarthaAntigonishMary Xavier MeheganThe New York FoundlingArchbishop John HughesMary Angela HughesSisters of Charity of NewarkSt. Vincent's HospitalStaten IslandBayley Seton Hospitalparochial schoolCollege of Mount Saint VincentSt. Joseph by the Sea High SchoolFederation of Sisters of Charity in the Vincentian-Setonian Traditionof the same nameSisters of Charity of Saint Elizabethpublic domainUnited Hospital Fund