Mother Joseph (born Esther Pariseau) participated in designing and building two orphanages, eleven hospitals, seven academies, and five Indian schools in the Pacific Northwest in the second half of the nineteenth century. One example of her work is Providence Hospital in Seattle, pictured here around 1891.

*Providence Hospital in Seattle, c. 1891. Photo by Frank La Roche.*

Esther Pariseau was born in Quebec in April 1823 where her parents taught her carpentry, math, writing, and the domestic arts. She joined the Sisters of Charity of Providence in Montreal in 1843 and took the name Joseph after her father. She learned more skills including caring for the sick, and in 1856 the diocese sent her with five other missionaries to the Pacific Northwest Territories.

That December, after a three-month journey, the nuns arrived in Vancouver, Washington Territory to find that no provisions had been made for their accommodations. They slept in the bishop’s attic until February 1857 when they finished construction of a small wood framed house and school. They completed the design and construction while providing three clerics and a handful of other household members with cooking, cleaning, laundry, and gardening services, caring for the sick, and starting the school.

In addition to her design, construction, domestic, and charitable work, Mother Joseph led “begging tours” to raise money for the hospitals, orphanages, and schools. The nuns traveled on horseback to mining camps as distant as Montana and Colorado, camping along the way. One trip brought in $3,000.

Mother Joseph had learned an artisan’s skill and attention to detail from her father, a carriage maker. She once demolished a chimney that didn’t meet her standards and re-laid it herself. Outfitted in her black habit, she could be found inspecting a foundation or bouncing on a high crossbeam to gauge its strength. She went back to Montreal briefly in 1863 and studied sculpture, returning to add wood carving and wax sculpting to the contributions she made to the order’s buildings in the Pacific Northwest.

In 1898 she moved back to Montreal but continued raising money for the western missions, advising the diocese on hospitals and other buildings, and catering to the needs of students and others. After a brief illness, she died in January 1902 at age 78.

In 1953 the American Institute of Architects recognized Mother Joseph as “The First Architect of the Pacific Northwest.” In 1980, the state of Washington sent a statue of Mother Joseph to the US House of Representatives. It currently resides in the US Capitol Visitor Center.

Read more about the impact of missionaries and other non-indigenous people on Indians in the Pacific Northwest.

Watch a video about Mother Joseph’s work with the Sisters of Providence. It includes historic photos.

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