Elizabeth Lange's place and date of birth is uncertain. Her death certificate states that she was 98 years of age at the time of her death. The Catholic Mirror of 1882 mentions Elizabeth Lange as a slave. Oral tradition and the early 19th century records show Elizabeth Lange as a free person of colour. It is not known why or how she came to Baltimore. Oral tradition tells us that Elizabeth Lange spent time in Charleston, Norfolk and finally in Fells Point in Baltimore, Maryland. It is known that she worshipped in the Lower Chapel of St. Mary's Seminary. She was a friend of Monsieur Moranville, who was pastor of St. Patrick's church in Fells Point. It is believed it was to this priest that Elizabeth Lange first mentioned her desires to consecrate her life to God as a religious. Until the foundation of St. Frances Academy and the Oblate Sisters of Providence, there are only three direct records of her secular life: her enrollment in the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary in 1813, her enrollment in the Confraternity of Mary, Help of Christians, and in 1815 her enrollment in the Holy Scapular Confraternity.

Elizabeth Lange did write her autobiography, entitled PROVIDENCE MOMENTS written in two parts, by pen. The first part of the biography was written by her artifacts, those material objects which give us clues as to the kind of person she was. The second part of her autobiography was written by the religious and educational institutions which she left behind. Together they form the autobiography and legacy of Mother Mary Lange.

On July 2, 1828, four women of color met in a rowhouse in Baltimore to pronounce simple vows. When the ceremony was over, a new order of nuns was born within the Catholic Church. This community composed of free Black women, living in a slave holding state, came into being as a direct result of the Santo Domingo uprising in 1791. Because the slave revolt focused on property as well as plantation owners, many free mulattoes fled the island. Some of the refugees sought safety on the nearby islands in the Carribean, other set sail for America.

Among those who fled the island was Elizabeth Lange. Oral tradition states that she sailed to Cuba, then Charleston and finally to Baltimore. It was in this antebellum city that Elizabeth Lange gathered the women around her who were to defy the exisiting institutions and bring into being a school and religious community for women of color.

When Elizabeth came to Baltimore, she had four strikes against her: she was a Black in a slave holding state, a woman in a man dominated society, a Catholic at a time when it was not popular to be Catholic, and she spoke French in an English city. But Elizabeth Lange was a spiritual and spirited woman. Her background and determination helped her to cope with these obstacles. The early works of the Oblate Sisters grew out of Lange's willingness to serve the church and to serve her people.

At the time of Elizabeth's entry in to Baltimore, there were many Black refugees from Santo Domingo. There children were growing up in a slave society. Their traditions were being passed on to the youngesters as best they could. Seeing the lack of educational opportunities available for Black young ladies, Elizabeth Lange decided to take action. Fortunately, Providence provided Elizabeth with friends and benefactors who, like herself, were foreign to American soil and themselves victims of violence from other revolutions. Such persons knew well the meaning of cultural transition.

That Elizabeth Lange, known in religion as Sister Mary, was a spiritual woman is evidenced by the fact that in her early years she sought spiritual direction. Her director turned out to be no other than the President of St. Mary's College. That she was an educator is indicated by the fact that she started a school with the support of her friends - a school for free Black girls. That she was a refined person is seen in the inclusion of music, classics and fine arts in the curriculum. School records from the 1830s and 40s show the students involved in choirs, concerts and recitals. Elizabeth encouraged her students to strive for excellence. The student competed for medals and awards in various subjects. Their yearly examinations were given by faculty members from St. Mary's College in the early years and later by the Jesuits from Loyola College. In 1828, it is recorded that Elizabeth took in three children to be educated free, Later, when news reached the sisters that two little girls were motherless, Elizabeth went to the house and brought the children to the convent. One year after the establishment of the order, the sisters began taking in widows and elderly women in need of a residence.

During the cholera epidemics in Baltimore, Sister Mary Lange and her Sisters worked in the almshouse caring for the Black inmates.

Elizabeth Lange's business skills are recorded in the account books and ledgers of the school. The annals show payments of those benefactors who provided scholarships for the students. The diaries show the method of payment, one entry called for a meeting to discuss new accounting procedures.

Elizabeth Lange's school provided vocational training for students. Household arts were a part of the curriculum. Young ladies were taught school skills as future homemakers. In the educational field, Elizabeth's pupils went on to found their own schools, especially in the District of Columbia. The girls were taught fine sewing and embroidery. Their skills were put to use in the business of making vestments for church services.

Scripture and religious instruction were offered to the young ladies as a legacy to pass on to others. Elizabeth opened her church doors to all for Masses, benediction and other spiritual gatherings. However, Elizabeth;s church was for Black Catholics and the last six pews were reserved for White persons.

Hardships of a special nature entered Elizabeth's life in the 1840s. The director died. Many of her French friends moved elsewhere. The financial picture was so bad that Elizabeth took in washing and ironing to support the Sisters and orphans. The then Archbishop of Baltimore was a native Marylander. His family were slaveowners. Seeing the poverty of the sisters, he ordered then to disband. Elizabeth Lange said "No!" During the mid 19th century, one can imagine how "shocked" the Catholic population was when a Black woman refused to obey a White Bishop. Public opinion was on the side of the Archbishop, yet, the Archbishop did not use his power to dissolve the community. Elizabeth Lange was a determined woman. That determination was a combination of faith and hope which provided her with the courage to act with conviction. She used this power to create new opportunities for Black people.

What were the works of Elizabeth Lange? We know of her private school in the 1820s, of her academy in 1828, and of her religious foundation in 1829. But there was also an orphanage, a widow's home, spiritual direction, bible school, vocational training. The early sisters did home visiting, conducted a night school so that adult Blacks could learn to read and write. When the Civil War was over, Baltimore was flooded with an abundance of Black war orphans. Elizabeth Lange gathered sixty of them and began a new era of working with destitute children.

Looking back at history, one knows Elizabeth Lange as a religious pioneer. A careful study of her life, shows Elizabeth as a social radical - a religious radical. It was not easy to be a free Black teaching within the confines of the Catholic Church. At that time in history, there were theologians arguing in Rome that Black people have no souls. On this side of the Atlantic, there was the Archbishop telling Elizabeth to disband her community and become servant girls. After the death of the first director, the sisters had no one to minister to them spiritually. Deaths in the community were frequent. Elizabeth, humanly speaking, had grown weary and tired. A striking blow came when one of her original four members abandoned the order. Sister Theresa, a blue-eyed blond Mullato, left Baltimore for Monroe, Michigan. Sister Theresa established a school and a new order of nuns. Bother institutions founded by Sister Theresa became White organizations. Within a year, another of Elizabeth Lange's Sisters left for the greener pastures of Michigan. Was the pain of being a free Black woman in slave Maryland too great to bear? Did the nuns who left find it easier to cross the color line and move geographically and physically into the White world? A third nun had intended to follow the path to Michigan. However, while preparing to move westward, she received a letter saying, "Do not come for you are too dark of colour."

There were Catholics who thought it disgraceful that Black women should wear a "holy habit." There were those who physically threatened the sisters. Elizabeth Lange knew triumph, but she also knew ridicule. There were two incidents when an angry mob broke down the front door. In the 1860s, while teaching in Philadelphia, the Sisters were repeatedly forced from the sidewalks. Elizabeth, at times, experienced many setbacks. Apparent failure and every success were steps in the accomplishment of His work. Elizabeth did not despair nor despond. She had the combination of faith and hope. She knew that He who cares for the lilies of the fields and the birds of the air, would provide for her and her Sisters and her students.

Information on Elizabeth Clarisse Lange came from two sources: (1) Providence Moments,The Biography of Elizabeth Clarisse Lange, and (2) By Her Work Shall You Know Her, both by Sister Mary Reginald Gerdes, OSP.