Sisters of St. Joseph

In 1650, the Sisters of Saint Joseph (SSJ), now an international federation of thousands, began as a group of just six women. 
With a promise to serve the disadvantaged, they have since branched out across the world.

Called from LePuy to St. Augustine

Following the Civil War, Bishop Augustin Verot (the first bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine) invited the Sisters of St. Joseph to live and work here.

Despite having Confederate ties, Verot had realized that newly freed people — now officially American citizens — needed to be educated in order to contribute to American society.

When the first eight Sisters of St. Joseph from LePuy, France arrived in St. Augustine on September 2, 1866, their main goal was to establish schools for Black children.

The Father Miguel O'Reilly House

Located at 32 Aviles Street (once Calle Hospital or Hospital Street), the O'Reilly House is one of the oldest structures in the city.

When the Sisters arrived in St. Augustine, they taught classes among the orange groves that once stood on Aviles; the oldest platted street in the country.

After extensive repairs to the O’Reilly House, the Sisters of St. Joseph used it as their first schoolhouse. In those first four months, their mission expanded to serve newly free Black people of all ages.

According to their letters, they initially started teaching Black boys in the house first. Later, they also opened classes for girls and held night classes for adult Black men and women. Males and females were taught separately.

Funeral of Sister Marie Joseph Cortial

In March of 1868, the youngest of the original eight Sisters of St. Joseph passed away from tuberculosis.

The dispute that surrounded Sister Marie Cortial's funeral shows the strong bond the Sisters had formed with St. Augustine's Black community.

Upon the Sister's death, Black students insisted on planning and paying for her funeral.

Marie Pappet, leader of the community’s Black Women's group, emphasized the significance of Sister Marie Joseph's dedication to the Black community, stating:

“Sister Marie Joseph came for us and not for you... so it is right for us to take charge of her funeral, and we are the ones who will walk first in the procession." She added, “The whites were upset because we were first in the procession; but it was only just. Sister Marie Joseph was first a teacher of the Black children.”

St. Cecilia's School

Throughout the 1870s and early 1880s Sisters of St. Joseph relocated their lodging and their classes several times.

In September of 1883, the Sisters of St. Joseph established a "select" school for Black children on the third floor of the Sisters of Mercy’s former convent. (This school was referred to as "select" because it was the nicest classroom the Sisters had ever used.)

It came to be known as Saint Cecilia's School.

St. Benedict the Moor Catholic School

The old Sisters of Mercy Convent (Saint Cecilia's School) was sold off to become a cigar factory on April 4, 1895. This required the Sisters to place the boys’ school in a City Building.

The Black school, Saint Cecilia’s, was moved to an old building formerly used as a Black Public School until a new facility, made possible by the donation from Mother Katherine Drexel, was ready in April of 1898.

St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church

In 1914 the Parish of Saint Benedict the Moor was erected by the diocese on the same property as St. Cecilia’s School. 

St. Cecilia’s was renamed St. Benedict the Moor School.

Teaching grades first through eighth, the Sisters had between 90 and 110 students total. Generations of Black St. Augustinians (both Catholic and non-Catholic) would go on to attend the private school.

Sisters Arrested for Teaching Black Students

In 1913 — during the early decades of the Jim Crow Era (1877-1964) Florida introduced House Bill 415, a law that enforced racial segregation in schools by prohibiting White teachers from instructing Black students.

Bishop William J. Kenny anticipated the harmful impact House Bill 415 would have on African Americans and their educators in St. Augustine's Catholic schools. He sought legal advice and was told that the law was flawed and probably wouldn't hold up in court if the Sisters were accused of breaking it.


So, the Sisters of St. Joseph continued to educate their Black students until three Sisters were arrested on Easter Sunday in 1916.

Classes at private Black schools stopped as legal proceedings began. Two of the Sisters pleaded guilty and were immediately released from jail. However, one Sister maintained her innocence and remained in jail until her bond was secured.

On May 21, 1916, the judge declared the Sisters innocent, ruling the law unconstitutional because it violated citizens' equal rights and privileges. He clarified that the law applied only to public schools, ensuring that Black students could continue receiving the private education they rightfully deserved.

St. Benedict Closes, 1964

Following the 1964 Civil Rights Act, desegregation led to the closure of Black schools, including St. Benedict. Its brick schoolhouse fell into disrepair over the following decades.

Other Ventures in St. Augustine

The Sisters of St. Joseph have been integral in St. Augustine’s Catholic community since they set foot in Florida. Along with their classes and schools for Black students, parallel schools for White students also existed — St. Joseph’s Academy (1876) and the Cathedral Parish School (1916).

The St. Joseph Neighborhood Center

On January 10th, 2022, the Sisters of St. Joseph were called back to St. Benedict the Moor School. They saw beyond the rubble and envisioned the possibilities of returning the School to a place of ministry and community.

In its new life in the 21st-century, the St. Benedict building will become the St. Joseph Neighborhood Center. There, the Sisters will offer professional, personal, and spiritual resources to single mothers, aiming to help them develop a healthy work-life balance.

Throughout the 150+ years the Sisters of St. Joseph have served St. Augustine, they have remained dedicated to the community. Their story is integral to the city’s Black History.

Resources

Online Resources

Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Augustine
Official Website / Official Facebook / Official YouTube

Father Miguel O'Reilly House Museum
Official Website / Official Facebook page

"Traveling with the Sisters of St. Joseph" digital exhibit from the Father Miguel O'Reilly House Museum.

Black Education Timeline from the Harvard Library.

Sisters of St. Joseph History, from Centre International St. Joseph.

"Ministries in Black and White: The Catholic Sisters of St. Augustine, Florida, 1859-1920," article by Barbara E. Mattick for Florida State University.

"Writing blessings on the walls of the historic school house, once used for Black students in St. Augustine," article and video from First Coast News.