The first Sisters of St. Francis arrived in Milwaukee in 1847 and established a convent south of Milwaukee. They cared for the orphans of St. Aemilianus Asylum and when St. Francis Seminary opened in 1856 on adjacent land, they became housekeepers for that facility. The Motherhouse was temporarily removed to Jefferson and then to La Crosse. It was returned to Milwaukee in 1878 and a new structure was dedicated in 1888.

The Sisters then became active in Catholic elementary education and soon had charge of twenty parochial schools as well as the students at the orphanage and St. John’s School for the Deaf. Their first high school for girls, St. Mary’s Academy was dedicated in 1903. Additions to the Academy were made in 1922 and 1931. The Sisters of St. Francis also established Cardinal Stritch College, located in Fox Point.