On July 29, 1809 Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, a widowed mother of five, traveled from New York to Baltimore to Emmitsburg, Maryland to open a Catholic school for girls.

The Province of the West was well-represented at the Bicentennial Celebration honoring the 1809 journey of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.  The Daughters of Charity who traveled to Emmitsburg and participated in the historic event were: Sr. Marjory Ann Baez, Sr. Chris Maggi, Sr. Betty Marie Dunkel, Sr. Marion Bill, Sr. Margaret Ann Gainey, Sr. Milagros Federico, Sr. Janet Barrett, Sr. Ellen Van Zandt, and Sr. Jean Marie Williams. Special guests included Sr. Evelyne Franc, Superioress General from Paris, France; Robert Issai, president & CEO, Daughters of the Charity Health System; and Gerald Kozai, president & CEO, St. Francis Medical Center, Lynwood, California.

The celebration commenced on Friday, July 31 with an evening welcome and opening remarks. On Saturday, August 1, participants attended a Eucharistic Liturgy in the Basilica, a Civil War reenactment, a showing of The Seton Legacy, and an evening Concert in the Basilica featuring nineteenth century music favored by Elizabeth Ann Seton. Sunday, August 2 was ushered in with a morning Eucharistic Liturgy, celebrated by the Very Rev. G. Gregory Gay III, superior general of the Congregation of the Mission and the Company of the Daughters of Charity, a reenactment of Mother Seton’s journey from Baltimore to Emmitsburg, and dedication of the Seton Legacy Garden. The anniversary culminated with a noontime Bicentennial Eucharistic Liturgy celebrated by the Most Rev. Denis J. Madden, Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore.

At 11:59 a.m., Sunday, August 2, 2009 church bells rang at the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton marking the 200th anniversary of Seton's founding of the Sisters of Charity, the first religious order for American women.

Seton adopted the Common Rules of the Daughters of Charity, an international order founded in France in 1633 by Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac. In 1850, the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph’s in Emmitsburg merged with the French Daughters of Charity.

Canonized by Pope Paul VI on September 14, 1975 during the Holy Year celebration in Rome, Seton became the first native-born American saint. Her Feast Day is celebrated annually on January 4, the anniversary of her death in 1821. She is buried in the Basilica of the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

More than 21,000 women worldwide belong to the apostolic community. In addition to making annual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, Daughters of Charity also vow to serve the poor.