(16 April 1823 – 19 January 1902) was a Canadian religious sister who led a group of the members of her congregation to the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

There, under her leadership, they established a network of schools and healthcare to service the American settlers in that new and remote part of the country.

At that time, her father, a carriagemaker who had accompanied her, is said to have remarked to the Mother Superior, "I bring you my daughter, Esther, who wishes to dedicate herself to the religious life.

Bishop Blanchet gave them two acres on the St. James Mission Claim, and on this land a small group of multi-purpose buildings sprang up.

Over the next few years, it housed the convent, novitiate, and infirmary, an orphanage for both boys and girls, a boarding and day school, rooms for the elderly and insane and the first St. Joseph Hospital.

[6] In the early 1870s, Mother Joseph began planning a permanent home for Providence of the Holy Angels on the property she had purchased earlier in Vancouver.

She designed and supervised construction of Providence Academy, bounded by Tenth and Twelfth, "C" and Reserve Streets.

A stickler for detail, Mother Joseph often inspected foundations, rafters and bounced on planks to ensure their support.

She almost lost all of her proceeds from a recent tour in 1866 when she and her stage stopped suddenly by armed men and robbed at gunpoint.

A bronze statue of Mother Joseph, created by Felix W. de Weldon, was given to the collection of the Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.

The campaign to add Mother Joseph to the US Statuary hall met great opposition in 1977 and almost stopped.

[13] Ultimately, Felix de Weldon received the commission by the Mother Joseph Foundation to create the statue.

[17] Mother Joseph was responsible for the completion of eleven hospitals, seven academies, five schools for Native American children, and two orphanages throughout an area that now encompasses Washington, northern Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.

Today the Province of Mother Joseph, which covers the Sisters of Providence of that region, honors her faith and pioneering spirit.