History

PDF’s of the books on the history of Community

• History of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth: Buckner, Sister Mary. 1898.
  Sister Mary Buckner joined the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth in 1867; just nine years after the Order established itself in Leavenworth. Many of the pioneer Sisters were still living, including the Founder, Mother Xavier Ross. With access to the memories of stories of these Sisters, Sister Mary Buckner created a unique history of the early days of the Community. Sister Mary Buckner’s book is, however, a product of the language and attitudes of her time and some of those ideas or aspects of culture have evolved over time.

• Come North!: The Life Story of Mother Xavier Ross, Foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Gilmore, Sister Julia. 1951.
  Sister Julia Gilmore set out to chronicle the life story of Ann Ross, who would take the Religious name Sister Xavier and go on to found the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, becoming “Mother” to generations of Sisters to come.

• We Came North: Centennial Story of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. Gilmore, Sister Julia. 1961.
  Inspired by her work on the biography of Mother Xavier Ross (“Come North!”), Sister Julia Gilmore created a history of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. Although the book was intended for the Order’s centennial in 1958 it was not published until a few years later. This was the first published history since Sister Mary Buckner’s in 1898.

• We Heard the Call: The History of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth in Latin America, 1963-2003. Hoffelmeyer, Sister Dolores. 2005.
  Amateur historian, Sister Dolores Hoffelmeyer served for many years in Latin America and sought to record the Order’s work there.

• Emerging Frontiers: Renewal in the Life of Women Religious, Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, 1955-2005. Brinkman, Sister Marie. 2008.
  Sister Marie Brinkman took up the thread of the history of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth roughly where Sister Julia Gilmore left off with We Came North in 1961. This work, however, is less a straightforward history and more a history mixed with sociological and theological elements.