On Nov. 11, 1858, the Sisters of Charity first arrived in Leavenworth, Kansas. Their goal was to establish a new religious community to serve the needs of the frontier people of Kansas. They came with three missions: education, care of children, and care of the sick. Within days they were teaching children. By March of 1859 they had established a boarding school for young women: St. Mary's Female Academy.

As Kansas grew to statehood, the sisters expanded their ministry of education and established Saint Mary College- first as a junior college in 1923, and then as a four-year baccalaureate institution in 1930. Saint Mary became residentially co-ed in 1988, and in 2003, it became the University of Saint Mary.