Honoring Sister Barbara Moore
November 28, 2022
As Black Catholic History Month comes to a close, I would like to recognize a very influential Black woman — Sister Barbara Moore — who has helped our school become what it is today through her leadership and vision. I consider Sister Barbara a living legend and a personal heroine.
Sister Barbara has long been a trailblazer and a symbol of hope. In 1955, she became the first Black woman to enter the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (CSJ), St. Teresa’s Academy’s founding organization. She also is a founding member of the National Black Sisters Conference. In the early 1960s, Sister Barbara earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from St. Teresa’s College, now known as Avila University, in Kansas City, Missouri. She earned a doctorate degree from the University of Washington in Seattle and has been awarded multiple honorary degrees.
Sister Barbara has devoted her life to civil rights and helping those in need, and continues to serve as a guiding force for women of color and all who aspire to advance racial equality.
in March 1965, Sister Barbara traveled to Selma, Alabama, where she participated in the historic civil rights march. At the time, she was a nurse supervisor at St. Joseph Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. She was one of two Black individuals in the delegation of 22 that traveled from Kansas City to Selma, which marked the Church’s foray into the civil rights struggle for racial justice. Sister Barbara also has traveled to Uganda to help Microfinancing Partners in Africa, a St. Louis-based organization that provides economic opportunities to single mothers and families.
Sister Barbara is an inspirational leader in healthcare and education, having served on the board of directors of each of the St. Louis Province institutions sponsored by the CSJ, and has shared her time and talents as a member of the St. Joseph Educational Ministry (SJEM) team. She also has served on many state and national boards and has been active in numerous organizations in the diocesan and healthcare sectors. In addition, Sister Barbara coordinated the perinatal care program at Samuel Rodgers Health Center in Kansas City, and was project director for Kansas City’s Healthy Start Program. Although she officially retired in 2015, Sister Barbara still works with Nia Kuumba, a spirituality center in St. Louis that promotes learning and fellowship for African American women.
To honor her accomplishments, STA established the Sister Barbara Moore Scholarship in the 2021-2022 academic year to welcome more Black students to the Academy. In 2021, I was delighted to visit her at the St. Louis Province Motherhouse, along with former STA Board Chair Ann (Tierney, ’84) Prochnow and former Director of Development Megan (Fitzgerald, ’89) Schaefer, to discuss establishing the scholarship in her honor. Sister Barbara Moore scholars become part of the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, creAtivity and Math) Certificate Program at STA, providing greater access to jobs in high-growth industries and advancing economic opportunities for these young women. Last year, Sister Barbara visited St. Teresa’s Academy to meet with the inaugural recipients of her namesake scholarship. The students found her to be quite the inspiration! I invite you to make a gift to this scholarship to honor Sister Barbara and her leadership.
Please take this opportunity to learn more about Black Catholic History Month and view the timeline of Black influence in the Catholic Church.
Thank you for being a part of this incredible and wonderfully diverse STA community.
God Bless,
Dr. Siabhan May-Washington
President
