Lange, Mary Elizabeth (Elizabeth Clarisse)
c.1789-1882 · Contribution: 1828-1882
Founder of the Oblate Sisters of Providence
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
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Born
- c. 1789, Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti)
- Active since
- 1828
- Category
- Religious & Spiritual Leadership
- Best known for
- Founding the first permanent Catholic order for women of African descent; candidate for sainthood
Impact on the world
Lange built a religious order for Black women in a slaveholding city, and at a time the American Catholic Church barred them from existing white congregations, educating children, sheltering orphans, and nursing the dying through Baltimore's 1832 cholera epidemic.
Sources
- USCCB (On the Road to Sainthood)
1 more sources and references are available to members.
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