Society of African Missions (SMA) > US Province : Historical Timeline

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AMERICAN PROVINCE'S HISTORY | SMA HISTORY | TIMELINE

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	SMA American Province Historical Timeline
	Our Story At A Glance

	1890's		SMA presence established in America by Fr. Ignatius Lissner, SMA (1867-1948), a French-born priest who came to North America to raise funds for SMA's African missions, but stayed to create USA missions.

	1907-1914		Fr. Lissner and fellow SMA's from Europe establish missions in Georgia

	1916		Fr. Lissner establishes the Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary an order of black nuns founded to staff the SMA parish schools.

	1920s		SMA expands into Illinois, Arizona, Los Angeles, and New Jersey.

	1921		The province acquires property in Tenafly, New Jersey to open a seminary. A major benefactor was Mother Katherine Drexel, who was canonized in October 2000. St. Anthony's Mission House is opened in November. It is the only racially integrated seminary in the United States at the time and the only one to accept black candidates for the priesthood.

	1923		On June 13, Fr. Joseph John is the first black seminarian from St. Anthony's Mission House to be ordained to the priesthood.

	1926		St. Anthony's Mission House closes as result of racial tensions.

	1939		SMA opens Queen of Apostles Seminary in Silver Spring, Maryland.

	1943		The SMA major seminary is moved to Washington, D.C. when a fire destroys the Maryland location.

	1941		The American Province is officially established on March 7, with Fr. Lissner as the first Provincial Superior and Tenafly as Provincial Headquarters

	1946		SMA establishes a college-level minor seminary also named Queen of Apostles Seminary in Dedham, Massachusetts

	1948		Fr. Ignatius Lissner dies on August 7 and is buried in the SMA section of Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Tenafly. The first missionaries of the American Province are sent to Africa (Liberia) in December.

	1961		Fr. Nicholas Grimley of the American Province is ordained bishop and designated Vicar-Apostolic of the newly-designated Vicariate of Cape Palmas in Liberia.

	1965		The newly built Provincial House in Tenafly is dedicated by Archbishop Thomas A. Boland of Newark on May 20.

	1967		This year begins the period in which SMA transforms its seminaries into Houses of Studies and residences for seminarians who attend their classes in nearby local institutions in the Washington, D.C. and Dedham areas.

	1970s		The independent local Church in Liberia becomes a reality with the ordination and appointment of indigenous hierarchy.

	1979		SMA assumes administration of Queen of Angels Parish in Newark, New Jersey. Located in an historic building, the parish was the first established (1926) for blacks in the Archdiocese of Newark.

	1980		A permanent African Art Museum opens at Provincial Headquarters.

	1981		A Catholic FM radio station jointly sponsored by SMAs of the American and Irish provinces, goes on the air in Liberia.

	1980s		A Media Department and Mission Education Department are added to the Provincial Headquarters. (Mission Ed closed in 1997).

	1983		SMA establishes a Department of Social Concerns to help Americans understand the potential and the difficulties faced by African peoples.

	1983		SMA joins a coalition with members of other religious congregations that serve in Africa to form the Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN)

	1986		Fr. Ted Hayden, SMA is called before a Joint Congressional Hearing of the Sub-Committees on Human Rights and Africa to testify on human rights violations in Liberia.

	1987		The SMA Formation Center is established in Takoma Park, Maryland.

	1988		Fr. James Hickey, SMA is jailed and deported to America for outspoken criticism of human rights abuses by the Liberian government.

	1988		The American Province accepts Ms. Theresa Hicks as the first layperson and first female to become a permanent associate of SMA.

	1989		The Provincial Assembly formally establishes its Lay Missionary program.

	1989		Civil war breaks out in Liberia on Christmas Eve. SMA missionaries work among the victims and the refugees who fled to Ivory Coast during what would be a seven-year conflict and its uneasy aftermath.

	1990		The Office of Justice, Peace, and Environmental Care is established.

	1991		The American Province observes its Golden Jubilee.

	1992		The SMA African Cultural Center in Dedham is dedicated by His Eminence Bernard Cardinal Law who presided in the opening ceremony.

	2001		Queen of Angels Church in Newark, New Jersey celebrates its 75th anniversary. The oldest black parish in the Archdiocese of Newark, the church has been administered by SMA since 1979.


	A History of the SMA American Province (<< back)