As we recognize and honor the central role of African Americans in the history of our nation, let us also pause to reflect on the strong African American women and men in the rich history of SSM Health especially the African American sisters of our founding congregation.
At a time when very few congregations in the United States would accept African American sisters, these five, like our foundresses, uprooted their lives to move to St. Louis and follow their calling to serve God and care for the sick and vulnerable. In June 1946, three young women entered the Sisters of St. Mary, (SSM), as the congregation’s first black postulants: Sr. Hilda Brickus, Sr. Antona Ebo, and Sr. Marie Therese Townsend. Two more candidates – Sr. Mary Benet Gale and Sr. Martine de Porres Handy – would join in December of that year. Together, these five women were invested with the holy Habit of the Sisters of St. Mary on June 9, 1947. Three more African American women joined the congregation in 1950, 1954, and 1956.
Please take a few minutes to get to know these amazing sisters. May their extraordinary lives and the commitment to diversity and inclusion shared by the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, Felician Sisters, and Sisters of St. Agnes, inspire us to live out our values of community, compassion, and respect for all people, this month and every month.
SSM Health is nationally recognized for quality and innovation, SSM Health is a Catholic, not- for-profit, fully integrated health system working to advance health equity and empower all people to achieve their full potential.
