At the time of the Venerable Polycarp's death in 1859, there were over 400 Brothers in France alone staffing some 70 schools, an increase of sixty during his leadership. He had, moreover, at the invitation of Bishop Michael Portier of the Diocese of New Orleans, extended their presence to the United States, a new field of labor for the Institute, at Mobile, Alabama. The first Brothers arrived there in January 1847. Within twenty-five years, the Brothers in the United States had grown to such an extent that they had been established as a separate Province of the Congregation. 1854-2004