by Colleen Taylor Sen
The Sisters of Mercy Order was founded in Ireland by Catherine McCauley in 1831 and six sisters arrived in Chicago in 1846. In their first three years, they founded three free schools and opened an orphanage.
In 1851 they founded Mercy Hospital and have continued to build and operate schools and hospitals in Chicago and throughout the Midwest. In 1921, at the request of Cardinal George William Mundelein (1872-1939), they established a maternity hospital and home for unwed mothers that, along with Angel Guardian Orphanage, evolved into Misericordia Home for developmentally challenged children and young adults.
In 1882, Sister May Ignatius Feeney became the first registered female pharmacist in Illinois.