Dedicating her life and her fortune to philanthropy, Katherine Drexel (1858-1955) founded a Catholic order of sisters, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, to work for Native Americans and African Americans.

Katherine Drexel was born in Philadelphia on November 26, 1858, the second daughter of Francis Drexel, a highly prosperous banker, and Hannah Langstroth, a Quaker. Hannah died five weeks later; her father married Emma Bouvier in 1860. They were devout Catholics, and both gave a great deal of their time and money to philanthropic activities. The children were educated privately and were encouraged to conduct a Sunday school for children of the employees at their family's summer home. The family travelled extensively in Europe and took a 6,000 mile trip through the American West in the private railroad car lent her father by James J. Hill, head of the Great Northern Railroad.

Drexel's full social and philanthropic life was jarred by...