Mother Frances Antonia Lampel founded the School Sisters of St. Francis in Graz, Austria in 1843. The early sisters ministered as teachers of girls training them to be good Christian mothers.
In 1888, a new branch of the congregation was established in Bohemia by three Zahalka sisters, Sister Hyacinth, Sister Jacoba and Sister Adalberta.
In 1911, Mother Hyacinth Zahalka came to the United States to seek ministry among the immigrants in Pennsylvania. In 1947, a province of the congregation was established in Pittsburgh, PA. As the numbers grew, a new province was formed in Bethlehem, PA in 1957.
The Pittsburgh and Bethlehem Provinces reformed into one province, the United States Province, in 2007.
