This History of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary

Members of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary have supported the National Black Sisters Conference throughout the years. Founded in France during the late 1700s, it is one of the first religious orders to accept Black sisters. We celebrate the order’s legacy, history and contributions to the National Black Sisters Conference.

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The Daughters of the Heart of Mary was founded in 1791 by Father Pierre Joseph Picot de Clorivière, SJ, in France. Four years prior, he met a woman named Marie Adélaïde de Cicé, who shared an inspiration to create a community for women. Marie’s vision was for religious women to be dedicated to God, serve the poor and marginalized, and not be cloistered or wear habits which modeled the first Christian communities. Once founded, the Daughters of the Heart of Mary determined their post-nominal letters to be DHM. After founding the order under Marie’s vision, Father Pierre asks her to be the first

Superior of the Society and to start ministering in Paris.

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When the French Revolution began four years later, radical revolutionaries attempted to remove Christianity from France. Sister Marie was arrested multiple times for religious persecution during this period. After the French Revolution ended in 1799, Sister Marie and Father Pierre died while praying in 1818 and 1820, respectively.

 

Seeking to expand the ministry of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary, three sisters came to the United States in October 1851. Shortly after their arrival, they moved to Cleveland and started to take in orphans later that year.

 

While kept quiet, the Daughters of the Heart of Mary were among the first religious orders to accept Black sisters. Their first Black sister was Frances Millicent Douglass, a pioneer for Black women in education, who joined the order in 1945. Affectionately known as “Frankie,” she was the first African American department head at DePaul University in Chicago and the first woman of color to chair a department at Marquette University, where she led the school’s psychology department.

Sisters of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary has been active in the National Black Sisters Conference, helping to share the Catholic faith, promote positive images of

 

Black people, and speak out against moral injustice. Today, the Daughters of the Heart of Mary are located in 30 countries across 5 continents, including Rwanda, Japan, and Ecuador. Since arriving in the United States in the 1800s, sisters have served in various ministries, including healthcare, chaplaincies, education, municipal development, diocesan administration, pastoral

 

support, and spiritual direction. Their ministries include Adèlaïde’s Place, a home for the homeless and disenfranchised women in Atlantic City, NJ, and DeCicé Hall Ministry, a center for spiritual development in Holyoke, MA. As the founding society, they remain active board members of St. Joseph School for the Deaf in Bronx, NY; Nardin Academy in Buffalo, NY; and NativityMiguel Middle School of Buffalo, NY.

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For more information on this order, visit https://www.dhm.org/.