In 1885, during an epidemic of small pox, forty Grey Nuns devoted themselves to the care of the victims in their homes and in the hospitals.
Since the days of their foundress, the Sisters each year have provided for a certain number of poor students who board in the establishment.
In the Mother House, on Guy Street, at present, the Grey Nuns care for foundlings, orphan boys and girls, poor and aged men and women, besides having an industrial school for young girls.
THE FOUNDLINGS
The number of foundlings received annually is between four hundred and fifty and five hundred. Since the founding, 37,168 infants have been admitted.
The number of children averages between one hundred and one hundred and twenty. There are at present in the nursery 126. The children who survive, when not kept in the nursery, are either placed out to board or adopted by good families. In 1911, fifty-five were adopted.
When about three years of age, the little children leave the nursery and are placed with the orphans. These foundlings come from all directions and belong to all nationalities.
A course of lectures has been opened at the nursery for the training of children’s maids.
THE ORPHANS