Beginnings

2003 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of BVM foundress Mary Frances Clarke. A young Irish woman, she journeyed from Dublin to Philadelphia with four companions in 1833 to teach children of the immigrants. The congregation was founded that same year with the assistance of Rev. Terence Donaghoe. Ten years later, the young community of 19 Sisters migrated to Dubuque, Iowa at the invitation of Bishop Matthias Loras.

The pioneer BVMs soon discovered the immense need for education, particularly of girls. They established a boarding school on the prairie near Dubuque. It later became Clarke College. As the community grew, the Sisters staffed elementary and high schools along the Upper Mississippi Valley and farther West.