175 Years in New England: Milestones

From Cincinnati to Boston

Amid a nation still grappling with its identity, three Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur arrived clandestinely in Boston from Cincinnati. Their objective was to manage Boston’s first  parish school, at St. Mary’s in the West End, launching a pioneering journey that would shape education and community service in New England for generations to come.

The Sisters followed Irish immigrants to St. Patrick in Lowell, Massachusetts where they founded a school, and later a boarding school, to address the long-neglected educational needs of area girls and to meet the city’s dire need for that era’s version of daycare. Read more.

The Sisters open parish schools in Salem, Mass. and Notre Dame Academy (NDA), a boarding school for girls, in Roxbury, Mass. Over the coming decades, they opened schools across Massachusetts, including St. Mary’s School in Lawrence and the Holy Redeemer School in East Boston. Read more about the NDA.

Sts. Peter and Paul High School in South Boston become Archbishop, then Cardinal Cushing High School (CCCH), educating thousands of young women for 132 years.

Expanding Schools and Ministries

The impact and the reputation of the Sisters continued to grow across Massachusetts, as did the ever-increasing need for education.  By 1867, they expanded to Chicopee, Worcester and Springfield, then to other states: in 1891, St. Teresa’s in Providence, Rhode Island, and extended their influence in Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. By 1900, there were 32 Notre Dame Schools in New England.  Over the next 50 years, another 15 schools opened in Massachusetts, and 24 schools were staffed by Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Read more about the Sisters’ schools in Worcester.

Sisters build their new novitiate in Waltham, Mass., to instruct novices, and are there for nearly a hundred years before moving to a new novitiate in Ipswich, Mass., in 1962.

Swan Farm

The Sisters purchase the 145-acre Swan Farm in Worcester, Mass., and affectionately rename it “God’s Acre.” They add a new convent in 1904, and in 1906 Notre Dame du Lac, a rest home for ailing Sisters. Over the years, the Plantation Street campus added a private cemetery, health care center, assisted living community, and an educational center for local immigrants and workers.

When the Sisters of Notre Dame arrived in Boston in 1849, they numbered only three. Fifty years later, more than 1,600 women in Massachusetts had taken their vows as Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

The Sisters purchase the Brinley Estate in Tyngsboro with an eye to opening a Notre Dame Academy. The estate is used for rest and retreat for the Sisters, and NDA Tyngsboro is later completed and opened in 1927. In 1931, the Academy in Lowell closes, and students transfer to NDA Tyngsboro. In 2003, the administration of St. Patrick School transferred from the parish to the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.  Read more.

Addressing Working-Class Families Needs

Always mindful of society’s pressing issues, the Sisters pioneered childcare services to address the needs of working-class families, perhaps the earliest childcare center in the U.S. Recognizing child labor as a prevalent issue, the Sisters set up the first night schools for girls working during the day, and in 1858 an industrial school. Welcoming Boston’s immigrants and the working-class poor, the Sister organized the first Sunday schools and sodalities in multiple neighborhoods.

During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, Sisters in Massachusetts, from Boston to Worcester, from Salem to Lowell, travel to nurse the sick.

Emmanuel College

The Sisters open Emmanuel College, the first Catholic women’s college in Massachusetts, to 27 passionate students. It gained its charter in 1921. Today, Emmanuel College enrolls more than 2,000 students from 35 states and territories and 42 countries.
Read more about Emmanuel College’s origins.

Massachusetts Sisters are invited to Okayama, Japan, to take over a school previously run by the Sisters of the Infant Jesus. From 1947 to 1956, additional American Sisters joined, leading to Japan’s eventual independence as a Province in 1975. New convents and schools were established, contributing to Japan’s post-war reconstruction. Today, the Notre Dame legacy endures, with numerous schools and a growing community of Japanese Sisters continuing the Mission established a century ago. Read more

Mother Maria Julienne and Sisters from the British and Belgian provinces open a school in Rome, Italy at Villa Certosa, to educate children living in poverty, beginning with two nursery classes.  Today, the worldwide headquarters (Generalate) of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur is located in Rome.

The Sisters begin their first mission in Connecticut as five sisters move into the convent at Assumption Parish in Westport, Conn., and begin religious instruction for the children. The Assumption School opens in 1950.

The Sisters assume leadership roles at Mary, Star of the Sea School in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The Sisters purchase 13 acres of the former Ellis Estate on Salisbury Street to establish a convent and Notre Dame Academy (NDA) for girls. Today’s NDA graduates are confident women who are lifelong learners, spiritual seekers and compassionate global citizens. Read more about the Sisters’ schools in Worcester.

As president of Emmanuel College, Sister Alice Gertrude Keating begins work to transform the college from a commuter school to a residential college. By the end of her term in 1960, she adds three more buildings to house residential students.

Notre Dame Academy (NDA) Boston and NDA Roxbury merge and become NDA, located in Roxbury. Read more. 

The Sisters purchase a beautiful property in Ipswich, Mass., and the novitiate is completed in 1962. Today, the property also includes the Notre Dame Spirituality Center, St. Julie Billiart Residential Care Center, the province and international offices, and the Cuvilly Arts and Earth Center at the former dairy barn.

The Connecticut Province was officially established in 1959, and the convent was in Fairfield. Over the next five decades, they taught in 24 Connecticut and Rhode Island schools. In 1951, they opened a parish school in Exeter, New Hampshire, followed by schools in Salem and Nashua. Despite the closures of many of these schools in the latter part of the 20th century, the Sisters maintained a presence in the communities, focusing on the needs of immigrants and the underserved, a mission they continue to uphold.

The Plantation Street Campus in Worcester transitions to medical care, with the opening of an infirmary to provide round-the-clock nursing care.

NDA relocates to its new facility in Hingham, Mass., where NDA Hingham continues today. Read more. 

Project Care and Concern in Dorchester begins serving as a beacon of hope in Dorchester’s Columbia/Harbor Point area and beyond. PCC responds to the needs of low-income families, youth and senior citizens with services, programs, and support so families can attain their fundamental human rights whenever they are deprived. Read more.

Julie’s Family Learning Program is founded in South Boston, dedicated to empowering mothers to recognize their strengths and apply their expertise to enhance and transform family life. Read more. 

In 1984, St. Patrick elementary school in Lowell accepted boys for the first time, and in 2020, the high school became co-ed. St. Patrick School and the Academy of Notre Dame continue today as sponsored ministries of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Read more.

Sister Patricia Rolinger, SNDdeN founds Cuvilly Arts and Earth Center, named for the birthplace of St. Julie, with a mission to address the issue of ecological justice, inspiring people of all ages, preschool through adults, to explore their connection to the whole Earth community, to all living creatures. Read more.

Responding to the AIDS health crisis in the 1980s, Sister Claire Pierz, SNDdeN saw the need to care for children suffering from the disease. Despite the complex and daunting licensing requirements, she founded Holy Innocents House in Bloomfield, Connecticut.

Notre Dame Health Care (NDHC) was created in 1990 and began serving the general community in 1993 through the opening of the award-winning skilled nursing facility. NDHC is a place of welcome that delivers high-quality care for the whole person—mind, body and spirit—with dignity and respect.

Julie House is dedicated in Windsor, Conn., to offer senior living and care for Sisters.

51 Sisters move to the newly built Notre Dame Long-term Care and Rehabilitation in Worcester, Mass. Some travel by wheelchair “down the hill” from the Notre Dame Convent.

The Sisters open Notre Dame Education Center (NDEC) at the former St. Mary’s School in Lawrence, Mass., and then later transferred to the Riverwalk Mill. NDEC is an inclusive community of learning that offers English language and citizenship classes, skills training and leadership development — tuition-free or low-cost — for the immigrant community. Read more.

The Notre Dame Spirituality Center opens in Ipswich. Open to the public, the Spirituality Center provides a contemplative setting and spiritual and educational opportunities to enable others to profoundly experience life’s goodness.

Following the successful transition of the Plantation Street Campus’ nursing facility, the original convent and infirmary spaces were fully renovated, rebuilt and opened as the Notre Dame du Lac Assisted Living community. NDHC established the Hospice Services Program in 2007, the Pediatric Palliative Care Program in 2012, and Adult Palliative Care in 2021.

Emmanuel College officially became a coeducational institution. Today, Emmanuel College boasts over 70 majors, nurturing the aspirations of over 2,000 co-ed students.

Prep school Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School (NDCR) opens in Lawrence, Mass., to serve economically disadvantaged youth. Now based in Methuen, Mass., NDCR offers the Corporate Work Study Program that enables students to earn tuition while gaining valuable on-the-job experience. Read more.

The Educational Bridge Center is added to the Plantation Street Campus, a community outreach wing designed to assist local immigrants and workers with adult basic education and citizenship testing.

The Sisters protect 71 acres of their Ipswich property from development, working with the Essex County Greenbelt to set a $1.1 million conservation on land that is home to large breeding populations of water birds and a shellfish nursery.