MT. VERNON – As we recognize and honor the central role of African Americans in the history of our nation, let us also pause to reflect on the strong African American women and men in the rich history of SSM Health especially the African American sisters of our founding congregation.
At a time when very few congregations in the United States would accept African American sisters, these five, like our foundresses, uprooted their lives to move to St. Louis and follow their calling to serve God and care for the sick and vulnerable.
In June 1946, three young women entered the Sisters of St. Mary* (SSM) as the congregation’s first black postulants: Sr. Hilda Brickus, Sr. Antona Ebo, and Sr. Marie Therese Townsend. Two more candidates – Sr. Mary Benet Gale and Sr. Martine de Porres Handy – would join in December of that year. Together, these five women were invested with the holy Habit of the Sisters of St. Mary on June 9, 1947 (shown in the image). Three more African American women joined the congregation in 1950, 1954 & 1956.
Please take a few minutes to get to know these amazing sisters. May their extraordinary lives and the commitment to diversity and inclusion shared by the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, Felician Sisters, and Sisters of St. Agnes, inspire us to live out our values of community, compassion, and respect for all people, this month and every month.
Sr. Hilda Brickus was born on July 17, 1926, in Brooklyn, New York. By the time she was nine, Hilda already knew that she wanted to enter a convent and minister to the sick. When she was 12 years old, her right leg was amputated following an accident, which only deepened her desire to help others during sickness.
During her teenage years she wrote to a priest in St. Louis, who gave her letter to Mother Mary Concordia Puppendahl, Superior General of the Sisters of St. Mary. Hilda and Mother Concordia corresponded for a year and a half. At Mother Concordia’s suggestion, Hilda moved to St. Louis in 1943 and enrolled at a local Catholic high school. She entered the congregation in 1947 and made her final vows in 1952. Sr. Hilda remained an SSM until her death in March 1987.
Sr. Hilda began her work in health care as a radiologic technician after earning a bachelor’s degree in radiologic technology and a master’s in education research from Saint Louis University. While working in radiology at both St. Mary’s Infirmary and SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital – St. Charles, she also served as an innovative instructor and faculty member at Saint Louis University – work that she would continue for more than a quarter of a century. It was in teaching, in preparing her students, that Sr. Hilda found her greatest challenge and sense of accomplishment in her health care career. Her lifelong concern for the welfare of those in need was reflected in all of her activities, including serving the homebound in a pastoral capacity and advocating on behalf of persons with physical disabilities. Sr. Hilda wrote:
“My involvement in numerous action and social justice organizations is due to a firm belief of the dignity of the person. Every person has certain basic human rights. Where some may fail due to their own neglect, they can change and are deserving of assistance to better their lives. Where inequities and oppressions are socially imposed resulting in deprivation, I wish to be in a position to assist in improving these conditions. Therefore, as one who can reach resources and well afford to speak out and stand as an advocate for the oppressed, underserved and neglected and invisible persons, I will work toward changing systems, alleviating crises, and helping others to recognize and articulate their own needs. As a Christian, I take the Gospel seriously.”
Sr. Antona Ebo was raised a Baptist in an orphanage in Bloomington, Illinois from the age of six, after the death of her mother and her father’s loss of employment and family home at the height of the Great Depression. She converted to Catholicism when she was 18.
Determined to attend a Catholic nursing school, Sr. Antona faced numerous rejections because of her race. She learned of St. Mary’s Infirmary School of Nursing in St. Louis, run by the Sisters of St. Mary, and enrolled in 1944. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in medical records and a master’s in hospital executive development at Saint Louis University. She also studied clinical pastoral education, earning a master’s degree in theology of health care and becoming certified as a chaplain through the National Association of Catholic Chaplains.
In 1967, Sr. Antona became the first African American woman to administer a hospital in the United States as executive director of SSM Health St. Clare Hospital – Baraboo. Sr. Antona was a pioneer in the civil rights movement, standing up with courage against racism and injustice. On March 10, 1965, she was the only African American sister in the crowd gathered in Selma, Ala., to march in protest after voting rights marchers were brutally attacked by Alabama state troopers just days earlier on “Bloody Sunday.” A spokesperson for her interfaith delegation from St. Louis, she told the crowd, “I’m here because I’m a Negro, a nun, a Catholic, and because I want to bear witness.”
Sr. Antona was often asked to speak on civil rights throughout her life, and she continued to promote peace and equality into her 90s, including offering a reflection on justice at the archdiocesan prayer service in Ferguson, Mo. in 2015. In 2007, a PBS documentary chronicling the events and prominently featuring Sr. Antona was produced: “Sisters of Selma: Bearing Witness for Change,” and in July 2017, the Missouri History Museum honored her in a special “Celebration of Sister Antona Ebo, FSM,” as part of the exhibit “#1 in Civil Rights: The African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis.” Sr. Antona passed away on Nov. 11, 2017, at the age of 93. She was a Franciscan Sister of Mary for 71 years.
Sr. Mary Benet Gale was a Sister of St. Mary for just over a year, joining the congregation on Dec. 7, 1946, but leaving the order in 1947.
Sr. Martine de Porres Hardy was born on Dec. 16, 1927, in Norfolk, Va. She graduated from St. Joseph’s High School in Norfolk before moving to St. Louis to enter the convent. She attended St. Mary’s Infirmary Nursing School, graduating and becoming a Registered Nurse in 1953, the same year she made her final vows to the congregation. It is believed that her nursing skills were utilized in the OR at St. Mary’s Infirmary and St. Mary’s Hospital – St. Louis. She left the congregation in January 1964.
Sr. Geraldine Verdun was born on October 27, 1931 in Port Arthur, Texas and had an interest in religious life beginning in elementary school. She joined the Sisters of St. Mary on June 24, 1950 and made her final vows in 1955. Sr. Geraldine attended the Saint Louis University School of Nursing graduating in 1956. She would have served at Saint Louis University Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital – St. Louis. Sr. Geraldine was part of a group of sisters missioned to a clinic in La Paz, Boliva in 1962 and served on this mission for several years. She left the congregation in 1971.
Sr. Marie Therese Townsend was born on July 24, 1927, in Washington, D.C., and knew from a young age that she wanted to become a religious sister and nurse. When she told her pastor about her calling, he told her of a congregation he’d learned was accepting black women as postulants. Sr. Marie Therese came to St. Louis to join the Sisters of St. Mary and professed her final vows in 1952. A certified laboratory technician, she worked in hospitals around SSM Health, from Missouri to Wisconsin – and even in South Carolina, at St. Eugene’s Hospital in Dillon, S.C., which was at the time operated by the Sisters of St. Mary. She later worked in medical records at SSM Health St. Clare Hospital – Baraboo, before retiring in 1993 and returning to the motherhouse in St. Louis in 1998.
Throughout her life, she was committed to helping others beyond the scope of her work, including volunteering to teach English to refugees and helping them become U.S. citizens. She also volunteered at the St. Louis City Jail, watching children while their mothers’ visited men in the jail as well as visiting the inmates herself, praying with them and offering them encouragement and counsel. Sr. Marie Therese passed away on Jan. 13, 2018, at the age of 90. She was a Franciscan Sister of Mary for 72 years.
Sr. Thelma Mitchell was born on May 26, 1929, in Clarksville, Mississippi. In 1947 she entered the St. Mary’s Infirmary School of Nursing graduating in 1950. After nursing at St. Mary’s Infirmary St. Mary’s Hospital – Jefferson City, Sr. Thelma joined the congregation in 1954 and made her final vows in 1961. Sr. Thelma served at St. Mary’s Hospital – St. Louis as the head nurse in obstetrics from 1956-1961. From 1961-1968 and 1986-1990, she served at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.
After advanced education at the University of California, Sr. Thelma served two years on the hospital ship S.S. City of Hope. When she returned to St. Louis, she served in a couple of roles including teaching Community Health Nursing at Saint Louis University. From 1977 to 1985 Sr. Thelma served on the congregational leadership team. In 1990 Sr. Thelma was missioned to St. Anthony’s Hospital – Oklahoma City as an employee health nurse, serving in that role until 2007. After her retirement, Sr. Thelma volunteered at Cardinal Glennon and St. Mary’s Hospitals.
Sr. Thelma is an advocate for peace and justice working with many organizations. In 2018 Sr. Thelma received the Harriet Tubman Award from National Black Sisters Conference. The award is given annually to a woman who exemplifies the spirit, courage and leadership of Harriet Tubman.
Sr. Sarah Sykes was born on January 18, 1935 in Montgomery County, Mississippi. She joined the Sisters of St. Mary in February 1956 and made her final vows in 1963. Sr. Sarah was an LPN and OR technician at many SSM health hospitals from 1956 to 1990 including St. Mary’s Hospital – St. Louis, St. Mary’s Hospital – Madison, St. Clare Hospital – Baraboo, St. Mary’s Hospital – Jefferson City, St. Joseph’s Hospital – St. Charles and St. Eugene Hospital in Dillon, South Carolina.
In the late 1980s Sr. Sarah started a new ministry as a cosmetologist. She served in this new role at St. Mary’s Hospital – St. Louis and St. Mary’s of the Angels convent. Sr. Sarah also volunteered in the surgical hospitality suite at St. Mary’s Hospital – St. Louis acting as a liaison between hospital staff and the patient family members.
*In 1987, the Sisters of St. Mary and the Sisters of St. Francis of Maryville would reunite to form the Franciscan Sisters of Mary (FSM).