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April 15, 2026
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Download official Extensions PDFReturn to issue contextCELEBRATING 175 YEARS OF THE SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME DE NAMUR IN
CALIFORNIA
HON. SAM T. LICCARDO
of california
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Mr. LICCARDO. Mr. Speaker, I rise along with my colleagues, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren and Congressman Kevin Mullin, to honor the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, an International Apostolic Congregation of Catholic Sisters, on the historic occasion of their 175th anniversary. The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur believed that educating young women could transform the world. Modern development economics has confirmed their guiding intuition: the very nations that most rapidly accelerate living standards have focused on widening access of women to education and careers. Their vision and network of schools now stretch across continents, generations, and countless lives—continuing to empower women and girls.
and Francoise Blin de Bourdon, founded the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to provide schools for girls in what we now know as Belgium. Julie's guiding spirit reflected a simple and bold vision: “Hearts as wide as the world.” She believed in a God whose goodness knew no limits. Their congregation of sisters grew, as did the reach of their schools.
Namur to the Pacific Frontier to open schools and orphanages for the Clatsop Native Americans. While Julie and Francoise never saw America, six of the Notre Dame Sisters boarded the Indefatigable ship in Belgium, endured a months-long voyage to Astoria, Oregon, and carried out their vision of serving children in need.
California Gold Rush. Then, in 1850, typhoid swept the region, and the Sisters assumed nursing duties, caring especially for the orphans left in its wake. The following year, two Sisters traveled from Oregon to San Francisco to welcome four new members of their congregation from Belgium. Archbishop Joseph Alemany, O.P., saw that these women could provide what California needed and asked them to open schools in San Jose.
built a school from salvaged structures: a frame house for living, an adobe classroom, and a barn transformed into a kitchen. On August 4, 1851, Notre Dame College opened on Santa Clara Street, offering day, boarding and college programs to girls of every background—Mexican, Irish, French Canadian and Native American. The Sisters lived simply, raised vegetables, kept a cow, stretched every dollar, learned Spanish, and expanded opportunity when education for girls remained far from guaranteed.
True to Julie's spirit, no child was turned away. The school grew, the curriculum evolved, and in 1868 it was chartered as the College of Notre Dame—the first college for women in California, which many celebrated as “the best school for young women in the West.” In 1923, the college moved to the Ralston Mansion in Belmont. Originally founded as a women's institution, the college became coeducational in 1969 and now operates as Notre Dame de Namur University.
Street campus to its present location at Second and Reed Streets. Over the following decades, Notre Dame opened schools across California—in Marysville, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Alameda, Redwood City, Petaluma, Carmel and Watsonville—and eventually expanded into Oregon, Washington and Hawaii.
throughout the world. Today, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, U.S. East-West Province, sponsor or co-sponsor 19 ministries across the United States. The Congregation has a global presence, serving on five continents, in 16 countries, and across 23 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
in San Jose, California, Saint Julie's prayer has come to fruition, and her vision continues to guide their work. I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating this monumental anniversary and commemorating the legacy of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in California.