Mother Joseph - Founder of Hospitals
Fort Walla Walla Museum’s Living History Company presents Diane Kaye as Mother Joseph of the Sisters of Providence. It was under Mother Joseph’s guidance that the facility in Walla Walla that became St. Mary’s Medical Center was founded.
Mother Joseph (christened Esther) was born in 1823, the third of twelve children of Joseph and Francoise Pariseau in St. Elzear, Quebec, Canada. At age 17, she enrolled in a newly opened boarding school at St. Martin de Lavel because her mother felt she needed to develop her intellect, talents and skills beyond the family home. In 1843 a new religious order of Catholic woman, the Sisters of Providence, was started in Montreal. After a visit with the Bishop of Montreal, Esther Pariseau decided to enter the order and later took the name Mother Joseph.
In 1856 Mother Joseph led a group of Sisters from Montreal to Washington Territory. Her mandate was to care for the poor and sick, as well as to educate the children. On Dec. 8 th after an arduous journey, they arrived at Fort Vancouver, where they found themselves housed in the attic of the Bishop’s house, which soon became their Convent.
Mother Joseph did not speak English, but two of the Sisters did and acted as translators. They showed the pioneers their tenacity and determination, as well as their adaptability to a hard life. In Vancouver, Mother Joseph and her companions started a boarding school and St. Joseph Hospital, which opened June, 7, 1858.
Mother Joseph and her companions traveled throughout eastern Washington on horseback raising money from miners to build hospitals and schools. In 1864, a school was started in Walla Walla and St. Mary Hospital was opened here in 1880. Mother Joseph died of cancer in Vancouver in 1902.
Performances begin at 2:00 pm in the pioneer village at Fort Walla Walla Museum and visitors are encouraged to question Living History re-enactors about their lives and times. While at the museum, enjoy touring the Museum's five exhibit halls, including the St. Mary School of Nursing display in Exhibit Hall 1, and the historic buildings in the pioneer village.
Museum hours are 10 am to 5 pm daily. Admission is free to members, children under 6, and through a reciprocal agreement Tamástslikt Cultural Institute's Inwai Circle cardholders and enrolled members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation; $3 for children ages 6-12; $6 for seniors (62+) and students; and $7 for adults. Your admission cost can be applied to a membership, which includes free admission to all Living History performances, priced beginning at $25. For more information, contact Fort Walla Walla Museum at 509-525-7703 or info@fortwallawallamuseum.org.
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