HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 99-4673, by Representatives Dunn, Kenney, Ogden, Carlson, D. Sommers, Koster, Cairnes, Clements, Benson, Bush, Skinner, Talcott, Lambert, McMorris, K. Schmidt, G. Chandler, Alexander, Fortunato, Doumit, Pennington, Van Luven, Morris, Wensman, Lisk, Carrell, Pflug, B. Chandler, Ballasiotes, Cox, Chopp, Ballard, Kessler, Mulliken, McDonald, Ericksen, Esser, D. Schmidt, Delvin, Schindler, Radcliff, Mastin, Thomas, DeBolt, Parlette, Hankins, Romero, Rockefeller, Murray, Linville, Dickerson, O'Brien, Keiser, Tokuda, Stensen, Constantine, Kastama, Kagi, Santos, Dunshee, Fisher, Eickmeyer, McIntire, Conway, Lovick, Grant, Wood, Schual‑Berke, Wolfe and Ruderman

        WHEREAS, Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart, the founder of the Sisters of Providence in the Northwest, was born as Esther Pariseau on April 16, 1823, in St. Elzear, a town near Montreal, Canada.  She entered the newly formed Sisters of Providence in Montreal at twenty years of age; and

        WHEREAS, Her carriage-maker father made a prophetic remark upon her entry:  "I bring to you my daughter, Esther, who wishes to dedicate herself to the religious life.  She can read, write, figure accurately, sew, cook, and spin and do all manner of housework.  She can do carpentry, handling a hammer and a saw as well as her father.  She can also plan for others and she succeeds in anything she undertakes.  I assure you, Madam, she will make a good superior some day"; and

        WHEREAS, The Sisters of Providence responded to the pleas for help that were coming from the new frontier settlements in the western United States.  Mother Joseph was chosen to lead the group of five sisters to the Washington Territory in 1856; and

        WHEREAS, By February 1857, the young Sisters inherited their first convent, an old fur storage building abandoned by the Hudson Bay Company, and later used as a barn.  Mother Joseph designed a chapel, built the altar herself, and fashioned a tabernacle out of an old candle box; and

        WHEREAS, From this home base the Sisters began visiting the sick, and soon opened the first permanent hospital in the territory, which is still operating today as Southwest Washington Medical Center.  They also cared for Indian children displaced by the Yakima Indian wars.  By spring of the first year, preparations had been completed for a school.  The first student arrived early--a three-year-old orphan, and soon a tiny baby boy was also placed at the doorstep; and

        WHEREAS, In 1859 Mother Joseph incorporated the Sisters' charitable works and became the President of the Sisters of Charity of the House of Providence in the Territory of Washington, one of Washington's first corporations; and

        WHEREAS, From the 1850's to the 1890's Mother Joseph established no less than eleven hospitals, seven academies, five Indian schools, and two orphanages throughout an area that today encompasses Northern Oregon, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, and Washington, including hospitals that continue in operation in Vancouver, Walla Walla, Seattle, Spokane, Olympia, Port Townsend, Yakima, and Colfax; and

        WHEREAS, Some of her most demanding work was raising funds to complete her buildings.  She found that the people of Vancouver generally had modest incomes or were poor, and began "begging tours" to the mining camps of Idaho, the Blue Mountains of eastern Washington, Montana, and western Canada; and

        WHEREAS, From 1856 to 1873, while she worked on other facilities, Mother Joseph planned and built her home for the Sisters' various medical, spiritual, and educational ministries in Vancouver, Washington.  The House of Providence, later called Providence Academy, was three stories high, and was considered to be the biggest brick building in the Washington Territory.  Today, it has been declared an historic monument in the "National Register of Historic Places"; and

        WHEREAS, After her death from a brain tumor in January 1902, her close friend, Mother Mary Antoinette, honored Mother Joseph in a letter to the community, "She had the characteristics of a genius:  incessant works, immense sacrifices, great undertakings; and she never counted the cost to self.  She exercised an extraordinary influence on the Church in the West"; and

        WHEREAS, In 1953 Mother Joseph was recognized as one of the first architects in the Pacific Northwest, because she was among the first to appreciate the use of Douglas Fir for both carving and building, she was recognized as the "first white artisan to work with wood in the Pacific Northwest," by the West Coast Lumberman's Association; and

        WHEREAS, In 1980 Mother Joseph was honored as one of Washington State's two representatives in National Statuary Hall, Washington, D.C.;

        NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize and honor Mother Joseph, on the occasion of the 176th year of her birth.

                    I hereby certify this to be a true and correct copy of

                    Resolution 4673 adopted by the House of Representatives

                                        April 16, 1999.

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Timothy A. Martin, Co-Chief Clerk                                 Dean R. Foster Co-Chief Clerk