Katharine Drexel

Biography

Katharine Drexel (1858-1955) was an American heiress who devoted her life and vast fortune to serving marginalized communities. Born into Philadelphia's wealthy Drexel banking family, she inherited millions but felt called to religious life. Founded in 1889, Xavier University of Louisiana remains her legacy as the only historically Black Catholic university. She established schools, missions, and social services for African Americans and Native Americans across the United States during an era of severe racial discrimination. Taking religious vows in 1891, she lived in relative simplicity despite her wealth, directing her inheritance toward educational and spiritual advancement of oppressed peoples. Her prophetic witness challenged American racism from a Catholic perspective. Though she suffered a heart attack in 1935 that limited her active work, she continued advocating through prayer and counsel. Canonized in 2000, she became the first American-born citizen elevated to sainthood, recognized for converting personal privilege into prophetic service.