Education and the Blue Sisters, Language
Saint Joseph School, the first Polish Catholic school in the United States, opened in 1868. Though a number of instructors of varying quality were hired over the next few years, none lasted long. Father Zwiardowski, the parish priest and school administrator, concluded that nuns would be more suited as teachers. At his request, the bishop in San Antonio authorized the formation of a new community of sisters, the Order of the Immaculate Conception. Five Polish and two Alsatian women took their vows in Panna Maria. Father Zwiardowski designed their azure blue habits, which led parishioners to call them the Blue Sisters.In addition to Panna Maria, they taught in other communities, including the parishes of Saint Hedwig, Cestohowa, Meyersville, Bandera, and San Antonio’s Saint Michael. Although the people revered the Blue Sisters, the order was dissolved in 1881. Some of the Blue Sisters remained in Panna Maria, joined the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, and continued teaching at Saint Joseph School.
Language
In the first schools in the Polish communities, classes were taught in Polish. Although some who emigrated from the region of Upper Silesia in the 1850s might have known both Polish and German, most communicated primarily in a unique Silesian dialect of Polish.
