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History Timeline 1840-1926

Explore the early years of the Sisters of Providence and their ministries.

diorama of the humble convent in Ruillé

Mother Theodore’s early life in France

Anne-Thérèse Guerin is born on October 2, 1798, in Etables, France. She lives with her parents, Laurent and Isabelle, and her siblings Jean, Marie Jeanne and Laurent. Many sad things happen in her early life. Her father, a captain in the French navy, is murdered. Both of her brothers die in fires. Anne-Thérèse takes care of her grieving mother and sister. When things settle down, she follows her dream of becoming a sister. She joins the Sisters of Providence at Ruillé-sur-Loir in 1823 and becomes Sister St. Theodore. Because she is a very good teacher and leader, she is chosen to lead a group of sisters to Indiana.

1840

Mother Theodore and her five companions arrive at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods

1840–1856

Establishing the Academy

The Academy opens on July 4, 1841. The sisters welcome eleven girls the first term. It costs four dollars per quarter to attend and live at the school. In 1846 the Academy is incorporated as the first Catholic school in Indiana to teach women at a higher level. The school later splits into two parts: a high school and a college. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College earns official accreditation in 1916.

1841

Academy welcomes first pupil and holds first commencement

1842

First external school established in Jasper, Indiana

1843

Mother Theodore arranges a celebration of Forty Hours. It is the first recorded in the United States.

1843

Mother Theodore and Sister Mary Cecilia Bailly travel to France to solicit aid.

1846

Academy incorporated. It is the first Catholic institution of higher education for women in Indiana.

1848

Congregation receives official deeds to the grounds.

North view of Providence as it existed June 10, 1847

Making a home at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods

When Mother Theodore and her companions arrive in 1840, they are warmly welcomed into the Thralls family farmhouse. The sisters soon plant gardens and tend to livestock. Over the years they also harvest honey and build a dairy barn. In 1921, workers combine seven ravines in the north woods to create beautiful Saint Joseph’s Lake.

1854

Railroad cars pass through Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, connecting Saint Mary’s to other towns. Mail now delivered daily to the convent.

1854

Dogma of the Immaculate Conception proclaimed.

A mission of education

In 1842 the sisters open their first mission away from St. Mary’s. It is a school in Jasper, Indiana. Many other schools are opened in the Midwest. Sisters are teaching at schools as far away as Massachusetts in 1889. The next year, they set up a program so sisters can learn how to be good teachers. In 1926, Sister Mary Joseph Pomeroy is the first Sister of Providence to earn a Ph.D.

1856

Death of Mother Theodore Guerin

1857–1868
1861

War between the States begins

Serving in hospitals during the Civil War

The first shots of the Civil War are fired at Fort Sumter in April 1861. Indiana’s Governor Morton soon asks the sisters for help. In May, they take charge of City Hospital in Indianapolis to take care of soldiers and do chores like washing, cooking and cleaning. Other sisters minister at a hospital in Vincennes. Today a special memorial in Washington, DC called “The Nuns of the Battlefield” honors the Sisters of Providence and other sisters who helped during the war.

1863

Sisters of Providence now number 100 members.

1865

President Abraham Lincoln assassinated on Good Friday. General Robert E. Lee officially surrendered on April 9, 1865 and the civil war was officially declared over in August 1866.

1868–1874
1873

Panic of 1873 causes financial hardships

1874–1883

Dedication to the poor and underserved

Soon after arriving, Mother Theodore starts a free school for children from St. Mary’s Village. Over the years, the sisters find many ways to care for people who are poor. They open St. Ann’s Orphanage in Terre Haute in 1876. Sisters teach religion to African-American children and teach Irish girls who work in cotton mills. They also staff the Holy Childhood Home orphanage in China in 1930.

1882

Telephone installed at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in the business office

1883–1889
1886

Cornerstone laid for building a new church

1889

First mission on east coast opens in Massachusetts

1889

Providence Convent, planned and built by Mother Theodore in 1853, burns to the ground

Building and rebuilding

The sisters build many buildings at St. Mary’s for themselves and for the school. Unfortunately, there are also many fires. When buildings burn down, the sisters build new ones. They construct Providence Convent in 1890 to replace the previous convent that burned. It is the first building in the county to have electric lights. The whole city comes out to see the lights turn on the first time. In 1907, the bishop consecrates the beautiful Church of the Immaculate Conception.

1890–1926
1890

Providence Convent rebuilt. Electric lights introduced with the “Grand Illumination of Providence”

1893

Coal discovered on the grounds while boring for oil or gas

1893

Sisters of Providence exhibit at Chicago World’s Fair, highlighting Catholic education offerings

1900

Jubilee Year proclaimed by Pope Leo XIII

1903

First airplane flight by Wright Brothers opens a new era

1907
1908

Cure of cancer of Sister Mary Theodosia Mug after she prays at tomb of Mother Theodore for the health of another sister

Mother Theodore’s legacy begins

Many people love Mother Theodore and think she is very holy, both before and after her death. While she is living, other sisters see bright rays of light coming from her room. After she dies, sisters keep relics of her and pray for her intercession. Sister Mary Theodosia Mug is cured of cancer in October 1908. In 1909, the bishop of Indianapolis decides to start the process of seeing if Mother Theodore can become a saint.

1909

Formal cause for Mother Theodore’s canonization opened by Bishop Francis Silas Chatard in the Diocese of Indianapolis

1912

An automobile replaces the horse-drawn carriage at Saint Mary’s

1914

World War I begins

1918

End of World War I and a promise to build a shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes in thanksgiving

Showing devotion and building shrines

Just like Mother Theodore did, the sisters show God their love all the time. They build many special shrines and chapels at St. Mary-of-the-Woods. These shrines celebrate Jesus, Mary, and some of the sisters’ favorite saints. Beginning in 1876, many people come to the Woods every year to watch hundreds of sisters make a procession to St. Ann’s Shell Chapel.

1920

Mission to China begins in response to the request of Bishop Joseph Taconi for sisters to establish schools for Chinese women

1922

Lourdes Infirmary, an up-to-date facility, replaces the previous one

1924

Consecration of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel

1926

National Shrine of Our Lady of Providence established at Saint Mary’s

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