Our History

Authored in the main by Sister Mary Ellen Gleason, longtime historian and archivist at Saint Elizabeth, this book compiles a detailed history of CSE from its founding. The College of Saint Elizabeth is the first permanent four-year liberal arts college for women ever established in New Jersey. In over two hundred photographs, many of them published here for the first time, we can follow the story of the first hundred years of this Catholic institution, founded in 1899 by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth.

Today the founding organization continues to sponsor and participate in the growth and development of the college. As we look back with them over their first century, we can see the progress achieved through dedication to women's education and the full participation of women in society. The establishment of graduate departments in education, health care, theology, and management has helped establish Saint Elizabeth as a strong, growing community of learning in the Catholic liberal arts tradition.

Follow Saint Elizabeth University's history from the 1800s to present. Learn about our major milestones, historic achievements, and significant events that make our university what it is today!

"We graduates and Associate members of the College and Academy of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station, Morris County, New Jersey - in order to strengthen the bonds which unite us to  our Alma Mater, and to promote in every way possible the cause of Christian Education, do hereby organize an Alumnae Association,  for the government of same, do ordain and establish this revised form of the original 1896 Constitution." ~ Preamble to the Constitution of St. Elizabeth Alumnae Association ~ 1916. Learn about the history of our distinguished alumnae/i leaders!