St. Xavier's
Unity Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
This Convent and Academy is the oldest institution of the Sisters of Mercy who came from Ireland in 1843. From here many Sisters have gone to various parts of the United States as nurses and teachers.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
When the Sisters of Mercy sailed from Ireland in 1843, they established at this convent and academy their oldest foundation in America. From this quiet Westmoreland County house, the order sent women outward as nurses and teachers, seeding schools and hospitals across a growing nation. It is a monument to immigrant faith and to the outsized role Catholic sisterhoods played in early American education and care of the sick.
Why it matters
The convent shows how immigrant religious women built enduring institutions of learning and healing at a time when few other avenues of public service were open to them.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Sisters of Mercy
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Saint Vincent
Unity Township, PA · est. 2014
In 1846 the German-born monk Boniface Wimmer planted the first Benedictine community in the United States on the grounds of a Catholic parish that dated to 1789. From that seed grew Saint Vincent Archabbey, College, and Seminary, chartered by Pennsylvania in 1870 to teach the liberal arts and sciences. The monastery became a mother house whose monks fanned out to found ten more abbeys and colleges across eight states.
Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill
Greensburg, PA · est. 2021
In 1870 Mother Aloysia Lowe and a small band of companions came from Cincinnati to found the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, making Greensburg their permanent home in 1882. Rooted in the tradition of Elizabeth Ann Seton, the sisters built a far-reaching ministry of teaching and healing, serving scores of schools and hospitals across a dozen states. In 1918 they founded Seton Hill College — now a university — and by 1960 had carried their mission overseas to Korea.
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)
Pittsburgh, PA · est. 1996
Andrew Carnegie arrived from Scotland as a poor immigrant boy and rose to become the steel magnate whose Pittsburgh mills helped power America's industrial age. Preaching a "Gospel of Wealth" that held the rich were duty-bound to give their fortunes away, he funded more than 2,500 libraries and endowed institutions devoted to education and world peace. His philanthropy reshaped access to books and learning across the country and beyond.
Jane Holmes (1805-1885)
Pittsburgh, PA · est. 2007
In Gilded Age Pittsburgh, as industrial fortunes rose alongside deep need, Jane Holmes devoted her wealth to organized charity. She founded and funded a range of social service institutions—among them the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children—at a time when such systematic philanthropy was still novel. Notably, she extended her giving without regard to race, class, or gender.