calsfoundation@cals.org
February 5, 1851
Twelve members of the Sisters of Mercy order in Ireland arrived in Little Rock (Pulaski County) after Bishop Andrew Byrne went to Ireland in search of an order of sisters to promote Catholic education in Arkansas. The day is now known as Mount St. Mary Academy’s “Founders Day.” Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock is Arkansas’s oldest educational institution and the state’s only all-girl secondary school. Today, Mount St. Mary educates about 550 high school students.