The School
Sisters of Notre Dame's roots extend to southern Germany.
Caroline Gerhardinger founded the order in the 1830s,
during a time when equal access to education was rare.
Gerhardinger adopted the name Theresa of Jesus and
quickly built a reputation for teaching illiterate girls.
In 1847 a group of American bishops enticed her and a
handful of School Sisters to come attend to the poor German
immigrants teeming into this country. They established their
first foothold in Baltimore, taking over a building on East
Aisquith Street that would become the Institute of Notre
Dame.
The newcomers assumed immediate responsibility for three
local Catholic schools. Those students rocked their Old
World sensibilities, judging by the archived
correspondence of Sister Caroline Friess.
"They seem to be prone to an inordinate love of all freedom
from birth. Little girls nine or ten years old resent any
admonition," she wrote. "All I could do was resort to
storytelling, lead them in singing and the like, in order to
catch the birds and by degrees clip their wings. ...The most
neglected and annoying children were at [Fells] Point.
Poverty, listlessness and dislike for learning obliged them
to roam the streets much of the time with sacks on their
backs to gather old iron, bones and rags which they would
sell."
Within a year, the School Sisters had established a presence
in seven cities. In May 1848 Sister Theresa and Sister
Caroline went to scout additional sites for SSND missions,
embarking on a seven-week, 2,597-mile trip by stage coach,
train and steamboat that took them as far west as St. Louis.
Sister Caroline kept notes. They read, in part, like a
travelogue: the story of two indomitable women in long,
black habits making their way across a rough-and-tumble,
adolescent America.
Here are some excerpts from her post-journey report,
originally written in German:
Smoke-choked Pittsburgh
"Not until one o'clock did the boat start on its trip down
the Monongahela. After a pleasant ride of four and a half
hours we had covered 50 miles, and sooty, smoky Pittsburgh
lay before us. This is a large commercial city containing
200 to 300 factories. The smoke stacks spit smoke here the
whole day, the fine particles of which mingle with the air
and become burdensome to people as they inhale them and get
covered with them, etc. Everywhere one looks there is coal
dust. Face and hands are always full of it; if one wants to
wipe it off, one paints oneself with it. Children soon look
like chimney sweeps and blacksmiths. Even in the brightest
sunshine, one cannot get a full view of the city when the
factories are in operation.
Traveling the Ohio River to Cleveland
"The country along the Ohio River is well cultivated. The
state has a healthful climate, the soil is well watered and
may in a sense be termed a house of bread. In this part of
the country only a few Germans have settled, but one finds
large numbers of Yankees (unbelieving Englanders),
Methodists, Presbyterians. Their church steeples are
decorated with arrows.
Observing Children on the Boat Across Lake Erie to
Detroit
This lake, feared by many, is of unfathomable depth. It
supplies fish of excellent quality and size, wherefore
fisherman have their homes on the shore. Our steamer was
named Georginia and carried one hundred passengers. On board
were entire families whose children made much noise and
showed themselves very disobedient. It is wonderful to
notice how fast the faculties of American children develop;
they are quite fearless, take hold or touch anything very
skillfully, and speak very intelligently. In many respects
they are quite unlike the European children.
Encountering Tom Thumb and Indians in Detroit
On the street we saw on one occasion a very small but
splendid conveyance, the inside covered with silk velvet and
the whole decorated with silver and gold ornaments. It was
drawn by two small glistening black ponies, who were driven
by two seven-year-old boys. Queen Victoria of England had
presented it to a dwarf named Tom Thumb, who at this time
could be seen in Detroit for a quarter.
At present he weighs fifteen pounds, is twenty-two inches
high, sixteen years old and possesses extraordinary talent.
Tom Thumb may be seen in different costumes; as gentlemen
[sic], sailor, soldier, etc. He is full of fun, runs, jumps,
dances and sings before the public, and his only wish is
that he may find a little lady to be his wife. It is sad to
say that he professes no religion.
Before I close my account about Detroit, I must remark that
many Indians assemble there. These women sell baskets which
they carry on their backs. The men have bows and arrows in
their hands; they offer these for sale. As soon as they
receive a little money, they buy and drink whiskey to
excess.
Riding the Rails and Stagecoach to Milwaukee
The road was very bad again today, the railroad track
covered only with planks placed across, on which the iron
rails lay. In Bavaria no one would dare to travel on such
roadbeds.
At 9:00 in the evening we alighted from the train and
exchanged it for the stage coach, but, oh! My God! What a
wretched road now awaited us. There was no end of knocking
and jolting during the entire night! The poor horses were
driven at full speed over holes and stony ground so that the
wagon continually creaked. The primitive woods are not so
dark as in Pennsylvania. We did not notice any game, but saw
many snakes, squirrels and rather large birds of crimson,
yellow and white color, but they did not sing."
Chicago, That Toddless Town
At five o'clock we were in Chicago, a very handsome city.
Chicago will some day on account of its trade on Lake
Michigan become an important city. On the great Lake
Michigan two boys were rowing along boldly in the hollow
trunk of a tree; pigs came to the shore of the lake looking
for food. Sea gulls, the size of a goose, were rocking on
the glistening waves; men in boats were out fishing. The
islands today were also inhabited by Indians. We become ever
more interested to see people of this race."
From Detroit to Buffalo Via An Angry Lake Erie
Never before had Lake Erie been so turbulent as it was
during that trip. The waves dashed high; the boat rocked
violently back and forth, whereby one's insides were well
stirred up. From nearly every cabin a concert of vomiting
sounded forth, which only brought on more from the
listeners. Oh, how sick our dear Reverend Mother [Sister
Theresa] became!
We made the distance of 300 miles from Detroit to Buffalo in
22 hours. Such a surprise! The ships lying at anchor could
not be counted; each one was larger, newer, prettier then
the one before; flags of different kinds and colors moved
from them. How I wished that our Sisters in Europe could
witness such a sight! Buffalo, a new but very quickly
growing city, will become another New York; its population
increases daily."
Seeing Niagara Falls for the First Time
Before we came to Buffalo we had heard of the Niagara Falls,
which are about five miles distant from the city. We viewed
it from three different sides. The chasm is 160 feet deep,
simply awesome. The falling water resembles milk which has
been well shaken. We descended by a staircase of 300 steps.
We were obliged to ascend again, and this was hard labor
causing heavy breathing. Today were are tired and exhausted,
but we have found more than sufficient compensation.
