130th Anniversary of Death

by Sister Margaret Gannon, IHM

The year 1892 was the four hundredth anniversary of Columbus’s landing on the island which he named Hispaniola (later Haiti and Dominican Republic). Within a few years of Columbus’s landing, the Taíno people, the original inhabitants, were enslaved and decimated. Among the survivors were the forebears of Mother Theresa Maxis.

Also in 1892, on January 1, Ellis Island was opened. Over the years, twelve million immigrants found their path to a better life through its doors.

The Pledge of Allegiance was first recited in 1892, and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker debuted in that year.

John Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892.

Anti-racism, immigration, democracy, preservation of the arts, and the environment—all are current concerns of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

And on January 14, 1892, one hundred thirty years ago, the one who started it all, Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin, went back to the God who has blessed us with her life and love