One hundred thirty years ago, on March 31, 1889, a humble Italian nun was greeted upon her arrival in New York by the unpleasant news that her accommodations were not ready and her plans to establish an orphanage were in danger of being scrapped. Despite obstacles and opposition, Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini and the seven nuns who arrived with her were undeterred, forging ahead to serve the poorest among the Italian immigrants in Little Italy.

Within months, the orphanage had opened and within three years she had founded her first hospital in the United States. At the time of her death in 1917, she had founded 67 institutions: schools, hospitals and orphanages spanning across the United States, Europe, and Central and South America.