Convent of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd for Colored Girls donation form, undated

File — Box: 1, Folder: 28

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This form, produced by the Convent of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, allows the donor of 25 cents to become a Sacred Heart Client for a year, which entitles the donor to the spiritual benefit of a monthly mass in their name. The donation benefits the Sisters of the Good Shepherd School for Colored Girls in Baltimore, Maryland.

The form describes the charity's work as "preventing and reclaiming souls from paths of wretchedness and sin" as they "[save] unfortunate colored girls."

Dates

Creation: undated

Creator

Sisters of the Good Shepherd (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is housed off-site and requires 48-hours' notice for retrieval. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Biographical / Historical

The House of the Good Shepherd for Colored Girls in Baltimore was a Catholic charity that received Black girls and young women who had been committed to the institution by legal authorities or their families as delinquent youth, in order that the inmates might be reformed before their term of commitment ended.

Billie Holiday was admitted to this institution on two different occasions.

Sources: 1. Fessenden, Tracy. "'Colored Magdalens,' House of the Good Shepherd for Colored Girls, Baltimore, ca. 1930s." Object Narrative. MAVCOR Journal 6, no. 3 (2022), doi: 10.22332/mav.obj.2022.10.