Description
Personal papers of Mother Aloysia Lowe, the founder and first Major Superior of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in Pennsylvania in 1870. Sister Aloysia Lowe, born Maria Lowe in 1836, was among the first women to enter the newly autonomous Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, Ohio in 1852. In 1870, Sister Aloysia was missioned to establish a new foundation of Sisters of Charity in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. She would serve as Mother Superior from 1870 until 1889. During her tenure, the Sisters of Charity in Pennsylvania expanded from Altoona, Pennsylvania to include missions in Pittsburgh. In 1882, Mother Aloysia purchased the Jennings Farm in Greensburg, Pennsylvania to build a new motherhouse and academy for girls. St. Joseph Motherhouse and Academy was completed in 1889. Mother Aloysia Lowe succumbed to pneumonia on December 25, 1889. Included in her papers are letters to and from Mother Aloysia regarding early missions of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, the wellbeing of the Sisters of Charity, and the building of St. Joseph Motherhouse and Academy.
