Sisters of Selma

After Selma, Sister, you can’t stay home again.

Sister Margaret Ellen Traxler SSND

March is the 60th Anniversary of the Selma, Ala., marches. During March 1965, approximately 50 sisters representing 12 religious orders participated in marches in Selma that were televised nationwide.

This month, observances of Women’s History Month, the 60th anniversary of Selma and National Catholic Sisters Week coalesce to highlight the sisters’ stories and their important legacy in U.S. history. The sisters’ legacy or gift is embedded deeply in the fabric of our society; ultimately, it may prove to be the most profound and lasting legacy of the U.S. Catholic church in the 20th century.

You are invited to St. Joseph Academy in St. Louis to view “Sisters of Selma,” followed by a discussion with sisters who went to Selma. Register by March 7 here.

Women’s History Month

The theme for Women’s History Month in March 2025 is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating and Inspiring Generations.” The theme celebrates women who have dedicated their lives to education, mentorship and leadership.

Also celebrated is the 30th Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

Loretto Women in our past are easily remembered for their ventures. Members will recall:

Cecily Jones, creative writer and poet who lifted our minds and hearts and stood staunchly against war and discrimination.

Theresa Kinealy, founder of Denver Public Schools’ recovery program to educate homeless children; instrumental in broadening it to offer activities for kids in public schools living in cars or on the streets. She also founded what is now the Challenge Foundation, thriving at St. Mary’s Academy in Denver and Loretto Academy in El Paso.

Barbara Schulte, instrumental in founding Havern School in Colorado. Havern was one of the first schools in the nation to educate those who learn differently. The school thrives today.

And all Loretto members who founded and ran schools, who taught and passed on a love of learning in a myriad of ways, generously sharing of their hearts and souls for the benefit of others.

Protesting in Selma

Therese Stawowy describes her arrival in Selma, Ala., in March 1965 to participate in a civil rights march, one of the nonviolent protests that was instrumental in bringing the nation’s attention to conditions in the Jim Crow South. This excerpt is from an article that appeared in the Aug. 2009 issue of Interchange.

When we arrived in Selma, we were whisked away to the Brown Chapel AME Church where we were introduced to many civil rights organizers and leaders, among them Andrew Young and Jesse Jackson. Martin Luther King Jr. was not at the march on that day as he remained visiting Rev. Reeb in the hospital. James Reeb, a Unitarian Minister, was dying as a result of a beating that had occurred on the march the day before we arrived.

I so clearly remember Andrew Young’s words as the sisters entered the chapel, “Ladies and gentlemen, one of the great moral forces of the world has just walked in the door.” This is notably the first time that women religious had marched in such a volatile demonstration. Also, perhaps because of Sr. Antona’s* race and our religious habits we found ourselves pictured on the front page of the New York Times and in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

*Mary Antona Ebo FSM was the first Black woman to head a Catholic hospital, St. Clare’s Hospital in Baraboo, Wis.