The four Oblate Sisters who answered this call – Mother Teresa Victoria Messonier, Sister Gabriel Oliette, Sister Genevieve Newman, and Sister Michael Huff – faced daunting challenges. Under the direction of Sister Baptista Roberts, who served as principal for nearly 50 years, the sisters provided education through the high school level, teaching Latin, French, and other advanced subjects – providing remarkable opportunities for education to Black children in the late 1800s. The Oblate Sisters of Providence left Leavenworth in 1960 and the orphanage was closed after a growing national movement to place children in foster care instead of orphanages.