I’ve taken an interest in Margaret Huaghery. She was a humble woman of extremely humble origins who, through hard work and prayer built a small empire and dedicated her time and wealth to helping the poor and the orphaned.
Margaret’s Birthplace has been preserved.
There’s a Margaret Huaghery site.
And there’s even a Catholic Encyclopedia Article on Margaret Haughery.
In New Orleans there’s a Restore the Monument organization.
There’s even a musical!
Well, there are lots of others it seems.
But the one I find most interesting is on Facebook, from the “Beloved Margaret Haughery of New Orleans” page.
Here it is, for future reference:
(reprinted from the Facebook page, Beloved Margaret Haughery of New Orleans.)(Well, it’s evidently also on the page over at Vieux Carre Productions, for the musical.)
Margaret Haughery (1813 – 1882) was a philanthropist known as the “Mother of Orphans.”
She opened up four orphanages in the New Orleans area in the 19th century. Many years later in the 20th and 21st centuries several of the asylums Margaret originally founded as places of shelter for orphans and widows evolved into homes for the elderly.
Margaret Gaffney Haughery (pronounced as HAW-a-ree) was a beloved historical figure in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the 1880s. Widely known as “Our Margaret,” “The Bread Woman of New Orleans” and “Mother of Orphans,” Margaret devoted her life’s work to the care and feeding of the poor and hungry, and to fund and build orphanages throughout the city. The poor called her “Saint Margaret.”
An Irish immigrant widow of many titles, Margaret was also commonly referred to as the “Angel of the Delta,” “Mother Margaret,” “Margaret of New Orleans,” the “Celebrated Margaret” and “Margaret of Tully.” A Catholic, she worked closely with New Orleans Sisters of Charity, associated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans (the second-oldest diocese in the present-day United States).
[click to continue…]
