Mother Caroline’s first task was to establish a motherhouse in Milwaukee. Here she admitted and prepared thousands of young women for their life of dedication to God as religious educators in an area of the world that was vastly different from her European homeland.

Mother Caroline’s first task was to establish a motherhouse in Milwaukee. Here she admitted and prepared thousands of young women for their life of dedication to God as religious educators in an area of the world that was vastly different from her European homeland.

Mother Caroline Freiss led the School Sisters of Notre Dame in North America for 42 years from 1850 until her death at 68 in 1892. Youthful missionary Josephine Friess, the future Mother Caroline, was born August 21, 1824 in a suburb of Paris of a French mother and German father. She grew up in Bava-ria, where she entered the School Sisters of ...

On November 7, 1853, Mother Caroline Friess, accompanied by two sisters, left the Milwaukee motherhouse to open a new mission in New York City, but the trip did not go as planned.

The passion and courage of Mother Caroline Friess, the American foundress of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, can be seen in the ministries of sisters today. More 100 years later, sisters continue her efforts to educate and aid immigrants and those less

The life of Mother Caroline Friess, the American foundress of the School Sisters of Notre Dame began in an unusual family. Explore her family of origins in four vignettes that offer insight into her childhood and youth.

Learn about the history of the Liturgical Fabric Arts, started by Mother Caroline Friess in Notre Dame of Elm Grove, Elm Grove, Wisconsin, and how Sister Josephine Neimann continues the work in St. Louis.

Caroline Gerhardinger (1797-1879) lived during turbulent times in Bavaria. At the age of 15, she was already a certified teacher in the school for girls in Stadtamhof near Regensburg. She was a very gifted educator whose enthusiastic and encouraging acceptance of the children soon made her a beloved teacher.

St. Peter the Apostle School in Philadelphia was founded by Mother Caroline Gerhardinger in 1848. The K-8 school serves the immigrant community in Philadelphia, beginning with German immigrants in the 1800’s. For the past 30 years, the school has been under the leadership of principal Sister Rose Federici.

Mother Caroline’s love for Mary, the Eucharist, and international unity seem to be represented in the grape arbor that was planted at Elm Grove in 1886, just six years before her death. Laying down one’s life, much as grapes are crushed to provide wine for others, represents the goal of the School Sisters of Notre Dame.