Sisters of Charity Federation Digital Archives

The Sisters of Charity Federation of North America is a voluntary membership association of 14 congregations of women religious that number 2,180 sisters. Impelled by Christ’s love and joined together in the mission of Charity, the Sisters of Charity Federation respond to the cries of people living in poverty and on the margins. The Federation's mission in the Church continues the original values of Saint Vincent de Paul, Saint Louise de Marillac and Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.

The Sisters and Daughters of Charity serve throughout the United States, Canada and in 24 other countries in various capacities: education and administration, social services, health care, senior housing and care for the aged, pastoral care, youth services, human services and homeless shelters, advocacy, community centers, nonprofits, inner-city ministries and many more.

Spearheaded by the Sisters of Charity Federation archivists, this website is the culmination of a collaborative, international, and intercongregational project to promote the legacy of Catholic sisters in the Vincentian-Setonian tradition in North America through the establishment of a public, digital collections database.

By sharing the sisters’ stories through archival audio, text, images, and much more, each of the Federation communities will have an opportunity to highlight its respective history while also uniting the charism of charity into a single voice. Historians, the general public, and members of women religious communities will all benefit from this open source of story and history.

The Sisters of Charity Federation Archives database is a unique endeavor for women religious archives and, equally, is exceptional in the realm of Catholic scholarship. Our project will not be limited by time or scope, but can grow into the future to build a deeper, lasting legacy of the history of charity.