Our History / Schools / New York

History of the
Dominican Sisters in New York

Although New York is home to at least five indigenous Dominican communities, the sisters from St. Mary of the Springs in Columbus, Ohio, have been serving the people in the metropolitan area since 1888. Unlike many Dominican Congregations who had European origins, the Dominicans who later became the St. Mary of the Springs congregation comprised the first foundation of North American Dominican women. They were American pioneers who began educating frontier Kentucky in 1822; soon the Congregation spread to Ohio in 1830. When their reputation as educators spread, so did their members. The stories surrounding the sisters grew and became part of the American and Dominican histories. Schools in New York State and New York City provided the setting for many of the stories which form the history of the Congregation.

Today the sisters continue to operate a sponsored institution, Dominican Academy, and staff St. Vincent Ferrer High School and St. Augustine in Ossining, as well as serve the people of the Empire State in other ministires.