In 1854 Sisters were sent from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Bourg motherhouse in France to establish a house at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, in the Diocese of Natchez. In 1863 a novitiate was opened at New Orleans. After establishing a central house in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Sisters extended their ministry to the poor and suffering of Louisiana and Mississippi, opening schools, hospitals and an orphanage. Sisters from the New Orleans group went to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1893, where they created a boarding residence, known as the Sacred Heart Home, for young working women girls. It later became known as Fontbonne Home. In time, the sisters also undertook educational and other apostolic ministries in Ohio.