Online Tour of the Sisters of Saint Joseph Heritage Rooms

We welcome you to the Sisters of Saint Joseph Heritage Rooms which are located in an original section of Monticello, the home purchased by the Sisters of Saint Joseph from Joseph Middleton in 1858. Click on any image below for a larger view: The Heritage Room A large wall mural highlights our Congregation’s beginnings in LePuy, Lyons, Saint Louis, Philadelphia, McSherrystown, and Chestnut Hill. This brief overview of Congregational history is complemented by archival records and artifacts displayed in wall and floor cases. Neumann Room Saint John Neumann, CSSR, Bishop of Philadelphia from 1852 to 1860, was a friend and benefactor of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. He recommended the Chestnut Hill site to Mother Saint John Fournier and celebrated the first Mass on the table to the right in the front parlor, now the Neumann Room, on August 21, 1858. He frequently visited Mount Saint Joseph, always bringing a gift for the students or the sisters. Mount Saint Joseph Academy Room Mount Saint Joseph Academy was established by our sisters six weeks after their arrival on August 16, 1858. This outstanding educational institution has evolved from its modest beginnings in the parlors of Monticello to its present Flourtown, PA site, where the Mount continues to focus on the importance of women’s education. Fontbonne Room Mother Saint John Fontbonne, who re-founded the Sisters of Saint Joseph at Lyon after the French Revolution, sent the first sisters as missionaries to the United States in 1836. The first foundation in the United States was at Carondelet, Saint Louis, Missouri. The Fontbonne Room is dedicated to the memory of this courageous woman.