Daughters of Charity

BOOK INFORMATION
Books sell for $14.95 plus tax and shipping/handling. They are available at the Daughters of Charity hospitals: Seton Medical Center Gift Shop (650) 991-6527; O’Connor Hospital Gift Shop (408) 947-2830; St. Louise Hospital Gift Shop (408) 848-4938. Also, books are available at the California Historical Society Book Store (415) 357-1860; History San Jose Gift Shop (408) 918-1055; Kaufer’s Religious Supplies (415) 333-4494; and the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco sfmuseum.org. New outlets are added each week. For further information, please see attached information about how to purchase or order books; or call (650) 949-8879.
Proceeds from sales of Steel Frames will be used for the Daughters of Charity Missions at the service of the poor.

HERE ARE A FEW BRIEF EXCERPTS FROM THE SISTERS ACCOUNTS.

Sister Eugenia Garvey writes about the earthquake and fire in SAN FRANCISCO:
“After many slight shocks of earthquake, we became tranquil and began to think of others. We were safe in [South San Francisco]. . . . But I felt that the Sisters of Charity should be braver than that, so Sister Alexis and I went down and begged a man to bring us to the city, where masses of suffering creatures lay in big halls, etc. He brought us to a car house where the dying lay thick upon the floor. . . . All day we knelt beside the sufferers, washed their faces and hands, fixed their beds and pillows, attended to other wants and proved ourselves acceptable nurses.”

Sister Victorine Fitzgerald writes about the earthquake in SAN JOSE:
“Thank God, all in the Sanitarium escaped uninjured. The patients are all in tents and although the dew is heavy, they all seem cheerful and comfortable. The building is badly damaged and is unsafe. The first dreadful shock nearly swept us into eternity. . . . When we recovered our equilibrium, we found all the inmates unharmed. The roof fell in here and there on the beds which were empty. One of the girls was saved by a miracle when the laundry chimney fell in on her bed.”

Sister Teresa Hill writes about the earthquake in HOLLISTER:
“Our House is demolished. How we came out of the House alive is a mystery, not only to those who see the condition of the place but to ourselves. The Sisters proved themselves most courageous, going to the third floor for the children, plaster falling around them and blinding and smothering them at every step.”

Sister Helena McGhan writes about the earthquake in SANTA CRUZ:
“I shuddered when I looked down into [the children’s] playground; a mass of bricks from the chimneys marked the spot where many would have been killed had the quake come a little later.”