Greeley, Julia
c.1833-1918 · Contribution: 1880-1918
Catholic laywoman; charity worker
Known as Denver's 'Angel of Charity' for decades of secret nighttime charity to the city's poor; the only African American laywoman among six current Black candidates for Catholic sainthood
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Quick facts
- Born
- c. 1833, Hannibal, Missouri
- Active since
- 1880
- Category
- Religious & Spiritual Leadership
- Best known for
- Denver's 'Angel of Charity'; candidate for sainthood
Impact on the world
Greeley turned a life of hardship into decades of quiet, self-effacing charity, becoming so beloved that her body lay in repose at a Denver church, a first for any Catholic layperson in the city's history.
An alternative history
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Sources
- Book or scholarly workFind
Colorado Encyclopedia
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Related visionaries
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1813-1862
Founded the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans in 1842, the second-oldest surviving African American Catholic religious order in U.S. history
Lange, Mary Elizabeth (Elizabeth Clarisse)
c.1789-1882
Founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence in 1829, the first permanent Catholic religious order for women of African descent in U.S. history; first African American superior general
Bowman, Sister Thea (Bertha Elizabeth)
1937-1990
Singer, scholar, and evangelist who became a leading national voice for Black Catholic culture and intercultural understanding within the American Catholic Church