Dominican Sisters of Racine Siena Center

The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Dominic of St. Catherine of Siena was founded in Racine, Wisconsin, by Mother Benedicta Bauer and Mother Thomasina Ginker in 1862. Mothers Bauer and Thomasina had been sent to by their home community in Regensburg, Germany, to found congregations charged with educating the children of German immigrants in the United States, and moved to Racine after the area around Green Bay proved too harsh for a permanent community. During the 19^th century the community of Dominican Sisters lived on St. Claire Street and later 12^th Street in Racine, where they constructed a frame chapel, and later brick facilities in 1870. The Siena Center building on this site was completed in 1966, and boasts a 102-foot tall bell tower, with canoe-shaped stained glass windows by Jean-Jacques Duval. In addition to the motherhouse, the campus that abuts Lake Michigan currently includes a retirement home and retreat center.