Our Heritage

A Tradition of Caring in California Since 1852

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton teaching children

The Beginnings of the Province of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton: The Daughters of Charity in California

In 1850, the Daughters of Charity were centered in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and provided services primarily in those states east of the Mississippi River. They taught children, cared for orphans, and nursed the sick. Then California became the 31st state in the Union and the population in the San Francisco area grew rapidly just after the discovery of gold in 1848. Many new problems followed this population increase.

In 1852, the Archbishop of San Francisco appealed to the leadership in Emmitsburg and requested Sisters. The Bishop of Monterey (Los Angeles and Santa Barbara) later made the same request. The leadership responded and Sisters began the long journey.


Daughters of Charity made their way westward to the following cities:

Over 150 Years of Service in the Western United States

The Daughters of Charity first journeyed to California in 1852. During the 1850s, they opened establishments in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara and were part of the Americanization of California. During the 1860s and 1870s, they opened other establishments throughout California as well as in Virginia City, Nevada. In the late 1880s and early 1890s, they opened still other establishments in California. Since 1852, up and down the coast of California, the Daughters of Charity helped settle California through Health Care, Education, Religion, and Social Work. In the early decades of the 1900s, the Daughters of Charity opened establishments in California as well as in Utah. Beginning with the 1950s through the 1990s, they opened many other establishments in California as well as in Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Washington, and more recently in New Mexico and Alaska. Some of these establishments were closed within a short time, others continued for many decades and still others have continued into the present. The original establishments in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara have continued with uninterrupted service to the present.