Mother Mathilda Beasley: Fearless Black Educator and Foundress

American Catholic History

Noelle & Tom Crowe

Religion & Spirituality, History, Christianity, Education

4.8 • 969 Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2026

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Episode 36 Mother Mathilda Beasley was born Mathilda Taylor in New Orleans, Louisiana in either 1832 or 1834. Her mother was enslaved, and her father was not known, though he may have been James Taylor, her mother's slave owner. She may have been baptized in the Cathedral of St. Louis in New Orleans, and she was educated as she grew. By 20 years old she was a free woman of color and had moved to Savannah, Georgia. There she worked as a seamstress and took the very risky step of educating the children of slaves. This was forbidden by George law, and it carried harsh penalties. After the Civil War she married Abraham Beasley, but when he died she donate all of her money to the Catholic Church — perhaps because her husband, though he was black, had made money in the slave trade. She went back to working as a seamstress, but she wanted to educate children and to become a religious sister. She eventually founded one of the first Catholic religious orders for Black women in the US, and it was the first in Georgia. She died in 1903 while praying before a statue of the Blessed Mother. Her funeral was packed with Catholics and Protestants alike.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to American Catholic history. If you like our podcast, be sure to rate us and give us a review wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Newell Heister Crowe. And I'm Tom Crow.
0:15.8	Today we're talking about Mother Matilda Beasley, who was born a slave but became a wealthy woman in post-Civil
0:23.0	War, Georgia, only to give it all up to serve the poor. To do this, even more effectively,
0:29.3	she founded the First Order of Black Nuns in Georgia. Mother Beasley is an interesting case. Not much
0:34.7	is really known about her life, but what is known as remarkable.
0:38.4	She really shows us what matters most in life, and it's not living a life of ease and comfort,
0:43.6	as much as I wish it was. I know, really. I mean, she could have had ease and comfort after she
0:48.3	inherited her husband's wealth, but she chose to just give it all away and work to earn a living
0:52.9	and to support orphans and the poor.
0:55.1	So let's start with what is known about her early life.
0:59.3	She was born Matilda Taylor in either 1832 or 1834 in New Orleans.
1:05.4	Her mother Caroline was a black slave woman who was owned by a man named James Taylor.
1:11.6	Insert.
1:12.4	Yeah, really.
1:14.6	Caroline's on my mind.
1:16.0	Oh, my goodness.
1:16.8	I know what?
1:17.1	I never made that connection.
1:18.8	Oh, man.
1:20.7	Goodness gracious.
1:21.7	We'll just leave that one right there.
1:23.4	The next line of that song came up.
	...

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