Mother Eugenia Quirk, SSJ – An Early Crowdfunder
Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania
Mother Eugenia Quirk, SSJ, was the fourth superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania and served the congregation for 31 years (1886 – 1917). She was also the first superior of the congregation born in the United States. At a time when World War I was raging and the Erie Diocese growing, Mother Eugenia is said to have led her congregation into the 20th century.
Much of Mother Eugenia’s legacy is synonymous with the establishment of Villa Maria Academy. In 1889, Fr. Thomas Casey, Vicar General of the Erie Diocese, gave the Sisters a parcel of land specifically for the establishment of a school to provide young women with a Christian education. The sisters accepted the land, and the mission broke ground for the school on March 24, 1891. Villa Maria Seminary, as it was first known, opened its doors in 1892; the name was later changed to Villa Maria Academy for Girls.
The school’s curriculum was based on the needs and interests of young women at the time and included:
- Languages: English, French, German and Latin
- Polite Literature
- Botany and Astronomy
- Logic, Algebra and Bookkeeping
- Natural Philosophy
- Plain and Fancy Sewing
- Arts: Painting, Drawing, Crayon, Music
- Stenography, Telegraphy and Typewriting
Villa Maria Academy was known for excellence and was referenced in a 1914 Erie Evening Herald article. “Villa Maria Academy has become one of the leading educational institutions standing pre-eminently at the head of women’s academics.”
During Mother Eugenia’s 31-year tenure, she oversaw tremendous growth and expansion of the congregation and its ministries and, as a result of the growth of the Erie Diocese and the addition of numerous parish schools, the Sisters were increasingly called upon to staff the schools. Many of the sisters’ ministries underwent expansion during Mother Eugenia’s term, including Spencer Hospital, Saint Vincent Hospital, and Saint Mary’s Home. An addition was even planned for Villa Maria Academy, though finances were a concern. Mother Eugenia’s solution was to encourage each sister to ask 20 relatives or friends to give five cents a week for one year, or $2.60, and to ask an additional ten people to do the same to fund the building project. More than $100,000 was raised, making Mother Eugenia, by all standards, one of the earliest known crowdfunders.
Mother Eugenia’s early crowdfunding effort is the inspiration behind the Women Religious Archives Collaborative’s 2026 end-of-year campaign, Make the Vision a Reality. We are asking our supporters to make a gift of $20 and ask 20 of their friends and family to do the same.
To learn more about this campaign and join the crowd, visit https://givebutter.com/wrac-capital-campaign