The Congregation of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart (FMSC) was founded in 1861 in Gemona del Friuli, Udine, Italy by Venerable Father Gregory Fioravanti, O.F.M., inspired by and with the collaboration of Lady Laura Laroux, Duchess of Bauffremont. In 1865, at the request of the Franciscan Fathers, three Sisters came to the parish of St. Francis of Assisi, New York City to serve the immigrants, the orphans, and the poor. The motherhouse is in Peekskill, New York. In 1933 the sisters founded Ladycliff College in Highland Falls, New York, next to the United States Military Academy at West Point. When the college closed in 1980, the Academy acquired the property. It now houses the Academy's museum. As of 2017, there was 700 sisters in twenty-two countries.