Our History
Margaret Mary Healy was born on May 4, 1833. Her mother died when she was five and she came to the United States with her father when she was twelve years old. They made their way to New Orleans, where her father died. Now orphaned, Margaret Mary moved to Matamoros, Mexico. At the age of sixteen, she married John Bernard Murphy and the couple moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, where he became a successful businessman and eventually mayor of that city. Throughout her life, she ministered to those in crisis.
Upon her husband’s death in 1884, Mrs. Murphy began, specifically, to minister to youth in crisis.
On Pentecost Sunday, May 29, 1887, Mrs. Murphy attended Mass at St. Mary’s Church in downtown San Antonio. Father John Maloney, OMI read a letter from the Bishops of the United States, asking the Church to reach out to African Americans, for whom little education was available. Mrs. Murphy took this message to heart, commenting to a friend, "This will be my work someday; it is the great need of this time. The Holy Spirit has helped me to make this decision."
She sold some property in Mathis and with the proceeds Mrs. Murphy purchased property on the corner of Live Oak and Nolan Street in downtown San Antonio.
By September 1888, Margaret Mary had built St. Peter Claver Church and School…named for the then newly canonized Jesuit saint who devoted his life to helping slaves. By January 1989, sixty children were enrolled in the school which, by then, had completed additional classrooms.
Mrs. Murphy encountered great hardships in the early operation of the school. Funding, staffing and supplies were constant challenges. By 1892, two hundred students were enrolled. The school had grown into an academy with both day and boarding students.
In 1893 Margaret Mary founded the Congregation: Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate. On June 9, 1893 the first four Sisters made their public Profession of Vows at St. Peter Claver Church. Mrs. Murphy then became Mother Margaret Mary, Superior of the Congregation.
In July, 1896, Mother Margaret Mary retraced her trans-Atlantic journey more than a half century after her first voyage. This was the first of several crossings she made to recruit young Irish girls into the service of the congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit. She returned each time with women who wished to help fulfill her vision.
Prior to her death on August 25, 1907 Mother Margaret Mary and the pioneering Sisters of the order had established not only St. Peter Claver School, but additional educational facilities in Oaxaca, Mexico, and in Laredo, Texas.
The mission of Mother Margaret Mary was carried on by the Sisters through the following decades of the twentieth century. St. Peter Claver School flourished, becoming a well-known, prestigious academy for young Black students.
By the late sixties integration was beginning and the need for a school such as St. Peter Claver had greatly diminished. In 1970, the Sisters of the Holy Spirit reorganized the school, its program and philosophy. The vision of Sister Mary Boniface O'Neill, formerly the principal of St. Peter Claver Academy, resulted in the transition to the Healy-Murphy Center, named after Mother Margaret Mary Healy-Murphy.
The new vision was as clear as the one before - to serve the youth in crisis of the latter decades of the twentieth century - pregnant teenagers, dropouts and others unable to achieve success in traditional school settings. At first, night classes were offered but, despite a good reception from the community, the Executive Director, Sr. Mary Boniface, decided to focus the program on a day school - but a very different kind of day school. It was to become known as an alternative school. The central mission of Healy-Murphy Center is to identify the students' needs and to help them meet those needs. Students at Healy-Murphy Center now receive a wide variety of educational and personal support services.
Sister Mary Boniface O'Neill (1916-2003), the first Executive Director of Healy-Murphy, spent 60 Years of her life at St. Peter Claver Academy and Healy-Murphy Center… located at the same corner of Live Oak and Nolan Streets, where Mother Margaret Mary first implemented her vision of serving "youth in crisis." Sister Boniface, as she was affectionately known by students, staff and thousands in the community, had the courage to have her own vision and to combine it with the overall vision and concept which dated back to 1888.
Over the years the program has grown. One of the priorities of the Healy-Murphy Center continues to be pregnant and parenting teens. For that reason the Healy-Murphy Child Development Center was founded in 1972. The facility is licensed by the State of Texas and was one of only 17 schools in San Antonio to receive the award for Texas School Readiness in 2007, confirming that our students are ready to start school when they reach kindergarten. Having an on-site child development center has provided our young parents with a safe, nurturing educational environment for their children during the school day.
HMC School Community Beliefs
We believe that change is possible.
We believe that the traditional way is not the only way.
We believe in providing for the whole child
We believe in acceptance of each student as a unique individual.
We believe in the power of personal connections with our students.
We believe our students can succeed.
Celebrating the Life of Margaret Mary Healy-Murphy
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of Mother Margaret Mary Healy-Murphy, the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate welcomed the entire Healy-Murphy Center student body to the Motherhouse for a special celebration on September 7, 2007. The celebration began with a prayer service, followed by the reading of essays written by current students including Jessica Ravell. Jessica was one of two winners of an essay contest responding to the topic: "How the life of Margaret Mary Healy-Murphy has affected my life." To read her essay, click on the link below.
The celebration culminated with the presentation of a special gift of $500,000 to Healy-Murphy Center. Sister Boniface O’Neill was the last member of her family to die and this gift from the O’Neill estate will be used as seed money for an upcoming Capital Campaign at Healy-Murphy Center. Sister Boniface dedicated 60 years of her life to this ministry. She was the first executive director of Healy-Murphy Center and with compassion, strength, and a servant’s heart, gave direction to the school as it transformed from St. Peter Claver Academy to Healy-Murphy Center to meet the current needs of San Antonio youth. This gift from the O’Neill estate will assist in continuing the legacy in which both Mother Margaret Mary Healy Murphy and Sister Boniface honorably led the way.
A Mother to Children Not Her Own
Healy-Murphy Center serves the greater metropolitan San Antonio area. Our students come from all parts of San Antonio, representing every council and school district. Priority admission is given to pregnant and parenting students.
Learn more about the Sisters of the Holy Spirit at shsp.org.