Our Story

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1869-1899 1900-1940 1941-1950 1951-1965 1966-1979 1980-1990 1991-today
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1951 - 1965


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1951 The new Incarnate Word High School at Mt. Erin, San Antonio, Texas is blessed. ▪ Sisters assume nursing service in the new Industrial Hospital in Metepec, Puebla, Mexico. ▪ Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Incarnate Word College is accredited by the National League for Nursing.
1952 New building is erected for Colegio Mexicano, Monterrey, Mexico. ▪ New building in Saltillo, Mexico, is blessed by Bishop Guizar, Bishop of Saltillo. ▪ Three Congregational delegates participate in the first National Congress of Religious in the United States.
1955
July 1 		St. Joseph’s Convent, San Antonio, Texas, becomes home for our retired Sisters. ▪ The Congregation assumes direction of Dispensario La Inmaculada in Tepetates, Cuernavaca, México. ▪ Hospicia San Jose is established in Mexico City. ▪ A new center for missionary work among the poor is established in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
1956

Sisters living in their home country are permitted a two week visit to their homes every three years. ▪ New School of Nursing at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Amarillo, Texas is blessed. ▪ 50th Anniversary of St. Joseph School of Nursing in Fort Worth, Texas is honored. ▪ Two new houses are established in Mexico: a hospital at Maravatio and a Social Center in Mexico City.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious is established. Women Religious begin to assess their common ministries, programs of religious formation, and the updating of religious life. Our own Sisters and those from many other Congregations benefit from degree programs offered through Incarnate Word College. Members in the Congregation face profound changes in our lives. Professional education and our ability to network with others help to prepare us for the new challenges ahead.

1957

Centro Social Educativo Miguel Angel (now know as Claudio Maria Dubuis School) is organized in 1957 to serve the poor in Mexico City, Mexico. ▪ The old St. Patrick’s Academy (the original Incarnate Word School in San Antonio) is demolished to make way for a new expressway. ▪ Ownership of St. Francis Home (now known as Villa Maria) is transferred to the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, San Antonio, Texas.

1959 Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital in San Antonio, Texas is constructed and dedicated.
1950's and 1960's

Serious conflict arises in the mid-1950’s between the Congregation and civic leaders of San Antonio over the proposed construction of a new expressway through Congregational property, which would separate major institutions on the property and prevent the building of the planned elementary school adjacent to the newly built Incarnate Word High School. Conflict with the city continues for ten years. The U.S. Supreme Court rejects the Congregation’s appeal. In 1966 the Sisters decide to resolve the controversy primarily because they had come to Texas to serve the needs of the people, rather than to create dissension.

Pope John XXIII’s election and the convocation of the Second Vatican Council move the whole Church and women religious to radical renewal. The Congregation makes deliberate efforts to study and begin implementing the Council documents. Meanwhile, the Sisters continue to expand traditional ministries and to make bold new endeavors into South America.
1964
December 12 		Six Sisters arrive in Chimbote, Peru, to start a ministry which responds to the plight of people of Latin America who are living in extreme poverty and often experiencing political oppression. Centro Santa Clara, a clinic and dispensary fully funded by the Congregation, is undertaken in gratitude to God for the many blessings on the Congregation since our beginning almost 100 years ago.