Sisters featured in Christ is our Hope Magazine
In their lifetime, the Joliet Franciscan Sisters witnessed the Wright Brothers take flight in Kitty Hawk, Charles Lindbergh cross the Atlantic, and Neil Armstrong become the first person to walk on the moon. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, laying the groundwork for the ability to communicate with people around the universe in more ways than even he could have possibly imagined.
Over their 150 years, the sisters opened classroom doors, and thousands of students walked through to meet teachers who would help them learn about God, the world and themselves. They founded the Franciscan Learning Center, St. Francis Academy (now Joliet Catholic Academy) and the College of St. Francis (now known as the University of St. Francis), all in Joliet. The sisters taught in schools across the Diocese of Joliet, the Archdiocese of Chicago,towns in Illinois and the United States. As the immigrant population of the U.S. grew, sisters who spoke German, Slovak and Polish were sought by pastors needing teachers who could teach the children of their growing parishes.