Timeline Stories

^{Used with permission of Archive, Archdiocese of Boston}

Although James Healy and his nine siblings—all fathered by a Georgia plantation owner—are officially slaves, their faith brings them north for education and freedom. Three of the Healy brothers—James, Patrick and Alexander—become the first African American priests in the U.S., although they do not identify with being Black and never speak on behalf of Blacks.

^{Used with the permission of the Sisters of the Holy Family}

Founded by Henriette Delille and Juliette Gaudin in New Orleans, the Sisters of the Holy Family become the second religious order for Black women. Biracial and of African descent, the founders are free people of color, a separate class and culture above the slaves at that time. The order ministers to poor Blacks, educating and tending the sick. Henriette Delille is declared Venerable by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.

^{Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons}

In this 1839 apostolic letter “In Supremo Apostolatus,” Pope Gregory XVI condemns the slave trade as the “inhuman traffic in Negroes.” Rome outshines the U.S. in race relations from the 17th through the 20th centuries. Many U.S. bishops as well as men’s and women’s religious orders in this period own slaves, sometimes advocating for their proper treatment.

^{Used with permission of the Oblate Sisters of Providence.}

A handful of women from Baltimore’s Haitian refugee colony begin to educate local children in their homes. With the support of the archbishop, in 1829 they create the Oblate Sisters of Providence. The first superior is Elizabeth Lange, born in Cuba of Haitian parents.

^{Photo attributed to Paczilla007 at English Wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons}

Pierre Toussaint had come to New York from modern-day Haiti with his owner in 1787 and become established as a well-known hairdresser. After his owner dies penniless, Toussaint supports his late owner’s wife through her emotional and physical ailments. Eventually she grants him his freedom. He uses his stable income to buy freedom for his sister and his future wife, and to support many individuals and charities including an orphanage and school for Black children. He cares for the ill when yellow fever sweeps the city, and opens his home to homeless youth. Pierre Toussaint is declared Venerable by Pope John Paul II in 1996.