Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Historic Marker

The Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill is a Catholic community of religious women who are devoted to educating children and caring for people in need. The Sisters of Charity first sent sisters to Pennsylvania in 1869 to serve a growing Catholic population, and they settled in Greensburg in 1882. The Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill opened and operated many schools and hospitals in the area. They also founded Seton Hill University. Eventually, the community spread out far beyond Pennsylvania, with branches forming in the southwestern United States and in Israel and Korea. The sisters have helped and educated many people all across the world. In 2021, the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill were honored by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission with a historical marker celebrating the assistance that these women have provided for their communities.

The Sisters of Charity are a religious community who, according to the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, are devoted to “the education of children, care of orphans, the poor and the sick."^[1] They were first influenced by St. Vincent De Paul, who created groups to offer help and care to the poor in their communities. Another important figure in the Sisters’ history is St. Louis de Marillac, who is credited with forming the Daughters of Charity, a society of women religious who helped the poor and inspired the Sisters of Charity. Finally, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton founded the Sisters of Charity in Emmitsburg, Maryland 1809. It was the first American women’s religious community. The Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati were also important to the formation of the Seton Hill Sisters of Charity, as the Seton Hill chapter was founded by the Cincinnati community.

The Sisters of Charity came to Pennsylvania as an eventual result of several other events. When William Penn founded Pennsylvania, he made the colony a safe haven for all religions; because they were unwelcome elsewhere in America, many Catholic Irish and Germans immigrated to Pennsylvania, building a strong Catholic community. Around the turn of the 20^th century there were over 1.2 million Catholics in Pennsylvania. In 1869, Bishop Michael Domenec asked the Sisters in Cincinnati to start a chapter in Pennsylvania. Sister Aloysia Lowe, three other sisters, and two novices came to Altoona and opened a school at St. John’s. Bishop Domenec approved the first version of the Constitutions of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill on August 12, 1871. Eventually, in 1882, the Sisters purchased a farm in Greensburg to be their permanent home.

The Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill have done a great deal of work in their local community. Before their move to Greensburg, they founded other schools in Blairsville, Johnstown, and Pittsburgh. The Sisters opened or operated many schools at the elementary level. Between 1945 and 1962 alone, they ran twenty-two schools in the United States. They also operated high schools. Hospitals were another important part of the Sisters’ work. In their book, The Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill: Volume Two: 1945-2002, Sister Jean Augustine and her co-authors say that in the early 1900s, “most of the Sisters of Charity nurses were missioned to one of the health care institutions owned and operated by the Congregation,”^[2] including Pittsburgh Hospital, Providence Hospital in Beaver Falls, and Roselia Foundling and Maternity Hospital in Pittsburgh. Later, women’s rights were expanded, and, according to Augustine et al., sisters began to earn advanced degrees, leading them to “assume administrative and other positions of leadership”^[3] in healthcare facilities. One of the Sisters’ most widely-known achievements is the founding of Seton Hill College in 1918, with the Sisters as the early presidents, owners, and policy-makers. The Sisters’ local work has made a lasting impact on the area around Seton Hill.

The Sisters of Charity did not limit themselves to Pennsylvania, however. In Arizona, they held workshops on understanding Native American and Mexican American culture, and between 1933 and 1955 they opened several schools around Arizona. These schools taught primarily Mexican American students, but also Native American and Asian students. Some sisters ministered to Native Americans on reservations in the area. The sisters also worked in social ministry—in the 1990s, Augustine et al. say, one sister worked as a “chaplain and administrator of Malta Center, a Phoenix Diocesan pastoral and spiritual resources agency for persons with HIV/AIDS, their families, and caregivers."^[4] In 1975, Sister Gemma Del Duca went to Israel to study, and in 1977 she moved to Church-owned land where a priest was building a community. Augustine et al. write that the two worked to create a “community that would be open to the Torah and the Gospel”^[5] and encouraged “participation in Jewish-Christian dialogue."^[6] The order also spread to South Korea when four sisters founded a community in Mokpo in 1960. Now, there are about 200 sisters ministering in 11 of the 14 dioceses in South Korea. The Sisters of Charity have reached out far beyond Seton Hill to help people outside of their local community.

The Sisters’ good work continues to this day. Their ministry “continues to expand in new directions as sisters move into parish ministry and social service, prison ministry, and a multitude of individual ministries."^[7] There are now 346 Seton Hill Sisters of Charity serving across the world. In 2021, the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill were recognized by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission with a historic marker detailing the Sisters’ historical significance. The marker was dedicated on August 28, 2021. According to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, out of the 45 historic markers in Westmoreland County, “the Sisters of Charity marker is one of only four markers related to the history of women."^[8] The Sisters of Charity have long been and continue to be helpers to those in need.

The Sisters of Charity are important figures in American religious history. When the order was founded to help those in need, it made a mark as the first American order of religious women. Eventually, the Sisters of Charity spread to Pennsylvania, and The Seton Hill Sisters of Charity provided education and ministry to Pennsylvanians. They also helped people throughout the United States and even across the oceans. Their importance to the history of Westmoreland County has been officially recognized by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Today, the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill’s ministry continues as sisters all over the world serve their communities.

1. ^[7] About Us, Seton Hill Sisters of Charity Generalate. Accessed February 23rd 2022. sistersofcharityofsetonhillgeneralate.org/about-us-1.
2. ^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Augustine, Jean. et al.. The Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill: Volume Two: 1945-2002. Volume 2. Greensburg, PA. Sisters of Charity, 2005.
3. ^[8] Historic Marker Honoring Sisters of Charity, Dedicated August 28, Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. August 30th 2021. Accessed February 23rd 2022. scsh.org/historic-marker-honoring-sisters-of-charity/.
4. ^[1] History of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. Accessed February 23rd 2022. https://www.srcharitycinti.org/about/history.htm.
5. Our Founders, Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Accessed February 23rd 2022. https://scsh.org/about-us/history/founders/.
6. Sisters of Charity, Seton Hill. Accessed February 23rd 2022. www.setonhill.edu/about/our-catholic-identity/campus-ministry/sisters-of-charity/.
7. Smith, Walter George. "Pennsylvania." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Volume 11. New York. Robert Appleton Company, 1911.