Our Provinces Make Up Our Collections
Today, the Felician Sisters of North America are one province comprised of eight former provinces that spanned the continent for 150 years. Our nine collections are the result.
View our collections to learn about the ongoing legacy of the Felician Sisters of North America.
Arriving in Wisconsin from Poland in 1874, Felician Sisters grew in numbers as they uplifted the Polish community. In Detroit for 30 years before settling in Livonia, this first Felician province continues to be a presence in Michigan.
Present as teachers in Buffalo since 1881, the second Felician province was founded in 1900. Sisters in Buffalo lived within the children's home they founded for 43 years before Villa Maria became their provincial home.
An explosion of growth led to the establishment of the third Felician province, founded in their Milwaukee children's home in 1910. By 1927, the Peterson Avenue motherhouse placed them nearer their expanding teaching ministry in Chicago.
Educators in New Jersey as early as 1897, Felician Sisters found a suitable location in Lodi to establish a fourth province in 1913. They opened an orphanage while 345 of the sisters taught in 42 schools across six states.
In 1921, Felician Sisters established a fifth province in Pittsburgh, where they had begun teaching in 1888. A temporary province in McKeesport served them until their Coraopolis motherhouse was built in 1932.
As early as 1892, sisters traveled from Detroit to teach in New England. The sixth Felician province was founded in Connecticut in 1932, as a base to serve the rapidly expanding needs in schools and social service ministries.
Founded in Oklahoma in 1953, the seventh Felician province oversaw territory west of the Mississippi River, with 16 schools and two hospitals across seven states. In 1976, the sisters relocated to Rio Rancho, central to ministries.
In 1937, sisters from the Buffalo province were missioned to Toronto to serve in the fields of social, religious, and educational ministry. As Canadian women joined the Congregation, the mission transitioned to become a province in 1988.
Leaders of the eight Felician provinces met in 1996 to discuss their futures. A 13-year reimagination of their community and governance ensued. The 2009 culmination of their efforts was the creation of one unified North American province.