Mother Magdalen and the Sisters
of Loretto (1852-1868)
[Front Panel]
Four Sisters of Loretto, Mother
Magdalen Hayden and Sisters
Roberta Brown, Rosana Dant and
Catherine Mahoney, arrived in
Santa Fe from Kentucky on
September 26, 1852. In January
1853 they established Our Lady of
Light Academy, later known as
Loretto, the first school for young
women in the Territory of New
Mexico.
[Back Panel]
Between 1863 and 1879 the Sisters
with the help of local people raised
funds to build the Loretto Chapel.
During the next 150 years, hundreds
of women, many of them of Hispanic
heritage, joined the Sisters of Loretto.
Mother Lucia Perea became the first native-
born New Mexican superior at
Loretto, Santa Fe in 1896.