I suspect Bob of Brookfield, who is a Lutheran minister, may already know more about all this than I'll ever know. But I've just become curious as to why "Deaconess" is included in the title of so many hospitals and related institutions throughout the USA. I just quickly checked the Internet and didn't find much on this. But it seems that among Protestants-- especially German Evangelicals and Lutherans-- non-monastic "deaconesses" have, since the early 19th century at least, assumed much of the ancient role of Roman Catholic nuns, especially in the tending to the sick and the poor. I suspect that the ca. 1900 Deaconess orphanage mentioned by Pam is not necessarily the predecessor of the more modern Evangelical Deaconess Hospital that Gordon says was formerly located at 16th St. and W. Wisconsin Ave. Also, both are probably unrelated to the old Milwaukee Orphan Asylum (at North & Prospect streets)-- which, like Forest Home Cemetery (where Bob often spooks living visitors), seems to have had ancient ties to St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Finally, to Pam, etc., PLEASE check out the Milwaukee street maps at, for example, http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py -- there you'll see that Prospect and 16th don't intersect. ........ John (in Chicago) Now I must get ready to drive up to Milwaukee's IrishFest, the world's BEST and biggest annual Celtic gathering. There you'll also see lots of local color-- but you can usually identify these folks, who frequently try to balance large chunks of cheese on their heads while stumbling around guzzling Sprecher's Oktoberfest (in August??), Cream City Ale, Hamms, Miller's Red Dog, or Pabst Blue Ribbon (instead of Guinness Stout, Harp Lager, or Bud Lite. Finally, to Pam, etc., PLEASE check out the Milwaukee street maps at, for example, http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py -- there you'll see that Prospect and 16th don't intersect. ........ John (in Chicago) PS: the old 1880s home (razed?) of famed brewer Frederick Pabst that I said yesterday was at 828 Chestnut should be translated (according to Milwaukee's post-1929 address system) as about 828 W. Juneau Ave. ============================================ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04651a.htm The CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA says the following: << Outside the Catholic Church the name of deaconesses has been adopted for a modern revival which has had great vogue in Germany and to some extent in the United States. It was begun in 1833 by the Lutheran pastor Fliedner at Kaiserswerth near Düsseldorf. His first inspiration is said to have been derived from the Quakeress Elizabeth Fry, and through the celebrated Miss Florence Nightingale, who organized a staff of nurses in the Crimean War and who had previously been trained at Kaiserswerth, the revival at a later date attracted a good deal of attention in England. The main work of deaconesses is the tending of the sick and poor, instruction and district visiting, but with more subordination to parish needs than is usually compatible with the life of an Anglican sisterhood. In the United States more particularly, community life is usually not insisted upon, but a good deal of attention is given to training and intellectual development. >> =============================================