Much of the history of the United States has been told through presidents, wars, political movements, and economic transformation. Less frequently told is the story of the thousands of religious sisters whose faith and service helped build the nation’s educational, healthcare, and social-service networks—often in places where few other sources of assistance existed.

The special exhibition “Do the Good: The Sisters Who Shaped America,” now open at the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland, brings this important history into the light. Through the experiences of individual sisters and the communities to which they belonged, the exhibition explores more than two centuries of religious women responding to poverty, illness, war, displacement, inequality, and social change.

The self-guided exhibition is free and open to the public through spring 2027. Its opening coincides with the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, offering visitors an opportunity to reconsider the people and movements that contributed to the country’s development but have not always received the attention they deserve. According to the Seton Shrine, the exhibition tells the story of more than 20,000 women whose congregations trace their spiritual lineage to Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.

From Mother Seton’s Dream to a Nationwide Mission

The story begins in 1809, when Elizabeth Ann Seton established the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph’s in Emmitsburg. It was the first community of apostolic religious women founded in the United States. That same year, Mother Seton opened a free Catholic school for girls, laying a foundation for what would become the Catholic parochial school system in the country.

Mother Seton understood service to people in need as a direct response to Christ. In a letter written in March 1809, she expressed her joy at the prospect of assisting the poor, visiting the sick, comforting those who suffered, clothing children, and teaching them to love God. Her vision was practical, personal, and deeply rooted in faith.

From the small community founded at St. Joseph’s Valley, a much larger family of congregations developed. The exhibition introduces women from the 13 religious communities in the United States and Canada that constitute the Sisters of Charity Federation. Eight trace their origins directly to Mother Seton, while all 13 follow a spiritual tradition shaped by Saints Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac.

This common heritage called the sisters to recognize Christ in people experiencing poverty and to place themselves at the service of those whom society neglected. Their response was not limited to isolated acts of kindness. They built institutions, formed networks of care, challenged unjust structures, and adapted their ministries whenever new forms of suffering emerged.

Responding to a Young Nation’s Needs

The exhibition unfolds across five major periods of American history, beginning with the Early Republic and continuing into the present day.

During the country’s first decades, rapid population growth, immigration, recurring disease, and westward expansion placed great pressure on communities that possessed few organized systems of public assistance. The Sisters of Charity responded by teaching children, caring for people who were sick, and establishing orphanages, schools, and hospitals in both growing cities and frontier settlements.

These ministries became part of an emerging network of social services for vulnerable families. The sisters often went where the need was greatest, bringing professional competence and compassionate care to people who might otherwise have been abandoned.

The Civil War created an even more urgent crisis. Religious sisters served in military hospitals and near battlefields, nursing wounded and dying soldiers from both the Union and the Confederacy. They worked amid shortages, infectious disease, violence, and overwhelming numbers of casualties. Their discipline, experience, and willingness to care for people without distinction earned widespread respect and contributed to the development of nursing and medical care in the United States.

After the war, industrialization and rapid urban growth transformed American society. Large waves of immigrants arrived, cities became increasingly crowded, and many children were left orphaned or vulnerable. Once again, the sisters expanded their ministries. They opened schools, hospitals, settlement houses, and social-service centers that helped families survive difficult transitions and enabled generations of newcomers to build new lives.

During the first half of the twentieth century, they responded to global war, economic hardship, and widespread illness. Sisters served during the 1918 influenza pandemic, worked in wartime hospitals, modernized healthcare institutions, and expanded nursing education. In more recent decades, their ministries have included advocacy for civil rights, international missions, healthcare innovation, and accompaniment of people affected by poverty, illness, trauma, and displacement. The Shrine’s account of the exhibition emphasizes that these women consistently responded to the most pressing needs of their time with creativity, courage, and compassion.

Women Whose Courage Changed Lives

Within this broad historical narrative, the exhibition highlights individual sisters whose actions embody the larger mission.

• Sister Anthony O’Connell, SC, served the wounded following the Battle of Shiloh in 1862. In the chaos of battlefield medicine, she helped introduce a system of treating the most critically wounded first, contributing to the development of battlefield triage. Her courageous service earned her recognition as the “Angel of the Battlefield.”
• Sister Josella Conlin, SCN, answered another national emergency during the 1918 influenza pandemic. When the disease spread through Camp Zachary Taylor in Kentucky, she mobilized 88 sisters to care for sick soldiers. They entered crowded barracks where fear, suffering, and death were widespread, bringing skilled care and human comfort to those in desperate need.
• Sister Mary William Sullivan, D.C., carried the mission of charity into the struggle for civil rights. Working from Marillac House on Chicago’s West Side, she helped transform a neighborhood settlement house into a center of community empowerment. Her ministry confronted racial injustice while strengthening opportunities and support for local residents.
• Sister Barbara Ford, SC, brought this tradition of service to Guatemala beginning in 1978. She trained community health workers and midwives, helped provide clean water to Indigenous communities, and developed programs for people living with trauma. Following Guatemala’s civil war, she also assisted efforts to uncover mass graves and accompany survivors through the long process of healing.

Each of these women represents hundreds of others whose names may never be widely known. Together, their stories demonstrate how religious vocation became a source of social transformation.

Charity as Service and Justice

“Do the Good” presents charity as more than emergency assistance. At times, the sisters responded by feeding, teaching, nursing, sheltering, or comforting people in immediate need. At other times, they asked why so many people lacked access to adequate food, housing, education, and medical care.

Those questions led them to examine the structures that perpetuated poverty and exclusion. They built coalitions, advocated for marginalized communities, and brought the experiences of people without power to the attention of civic, religious, and institutional leaders.

Sister Regina Bechtle, SC, speaking at the exhibition’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, described humility, simplicity, and charity as defining characteristics of the Sisters and Daughters of Charity. Their work crossed boundaries of race, language, culture, creed, and political allegiance because they recognized every person as created and loved by God. Her reflections also emphasized that the sisters drew their courage from Jesus Christ as the source and model of all charity.

This is what makes their contribution especially significant. They did not merely establish institutions; they introduced a way of seeing other people. The sick person was not a burden. The orphaned child was not disposable. The immigrant was not a stranger to be feared. The wounded soldier was not treated according to the uniform he wore. Each person possessed a dignity that demanded recognition and care.

A History That Remains Unfinished

Although the exhibition honors the past, its purpose is not simply commemorative. Its title draws inspiration from Saint Vincent de Paul’s invitation to “do the good” that presents itself. The same call that moved Mother Seton and the generations of sisters who followed her is addressed to visitors today.

The social realities have changed, but the fundamental questions remain. Who is being overlooked? Where are people suffering without adequate care? What new forms of poverty, exclusion, loneliness, and displacement require a creative response? Which institutions must be renewed, and which new ministries must be created?

The sisters featured in the exhibition did not wait until they possessed perfect solutions or abundant resources. They recognized the need before them, trusted in Providence, organized others, and began to serve. Their history shows how faithful responses to immediate suffering can grow into works that transform entire communities.

In this sense, “Do the Good: The Sisters Who Shaped America” is both a historical exhibition and an examination of conscience. It recovers the often-unrecognized contribution of religious women to the United States while reminding visitors that their legacy is still alive. The work they began continues through today’s sisters, lay associates, colleagues, volunteers, educators, healthcare professionals, and all who choose to encounter Christ in people who are poor and vulnerable.

Visiting the Exhibition

“Do the Good: The Sisters Who Shaped America” is located at the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 339 South Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, Maryland. Admission is free, and the exhibition will remain open through spring 2027 during regular Shrine hours, currently daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The self-guided experience is designed for individuals, families, educators, parishes, schools, and organized groups. Advance reservations are recommended for group visits. Additional information and visit planning are available on the official exhibition website.