Mother Joseph, monumental architect (1823-2024)

On a day like today, in 1823, Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart was born in Saint-Elzéar, Quebec. Among her many facets as a pioneer, a woman of faith and a Great Providence Woman, today we highlight her importance as one of the first women architects. On the image (below, left) we see the first St. Peter’s Hospital built by Mother Joseph herself, on Mills Street in Olympia, Washington, later rebuilt and relocated around the same land in 1971 (below, right). Finally, (above), a current overview of the building shows us the transformation of Mother Joseph’s social and architectural legacy until this day.