The Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary was established in 1916 in Savannah, Georgia, by Elizabeth Williams (Mother Mary Theodore) and Father Ignatius Lissner, S.M.A., for the education of children of color. The public school system was racially segregated. The Motherhouse was moved to Harlem in New York in 1924, as part of the Great Migration of more than a million African Americans to the North and Midwest before World War II. The congregation operates St. Benedict Nursery in Harlem, and St. Edward Food Pantry on Staten Island. As of 2011, the Sisters number 17.