Providence Academy – Mother Joseph: The Architecture of Faith
For this year’s anniversary of the passing of Mother Joseph, we review her life and her mission as a social architect, focusing on one of her most important works, Providence Academy in Vancouver, Washington State, USA.
The 19th of January of 1802 Mother Joseph passed away. Almost fifty years before, she had arrived with five other Sisters of Providence on the Washington Territory in the Pacific Northwest. In order to carry their mission, Mother Joseph and her companions needed enough resources to aid the neediest people living in harsh conditions in that region. In a landscape devoid of social service, medical, and education infrastructure, thinking about having hospitals and orphanages and schools must have seemed almost a dream. But mother Joseph was a dreamer, and above all, a woman of faith.
When the economic means finally started to arrive —after the sisters had worked hard to raise the necessary funds— she started a journey of learning and showing others how to create a building out of nothing but faith.
Along with her spiritual work together with the Sisters of Providence in the American West, Mother Joseph’s most outstanding contribution to the society of her time can be found in the many buildings she sketched, designed, and executed. It is not a coincidence that her statue at the United States Capitol depicts her kneeling down in prayer surrounded by her tools, as a vivid portrait of one of the first architect women in the continent.
Unfortunately, from the 29 buildings that are usually attributed to her, only the Providence Academy remains standing. Also known as the House of Providence, it was bought by The Historic Trust in Vancouver, Washington, in 2015. The main building, which once served as an orphanage and a school run by the Sisters of Providence, is part of the heritage of Mother Joseph’s and the Sisters of Providence contribution to the life and history of the city.
United in prayer, we thank Providence God for the gift of the life of this great Providence Woman.