Sor Isolina Ferré Aguayo (5 September 1914 – 3 August 2000) was a Puerto Rican Roman Catholic religious sister. Known as the "Mother Teresa of Puerto Rico", she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her humanitarian work.
Ferré Aguayo was born in Ponce to a wealthy family. She was one of six siblings, Jose, Carlos, Hernan, Rosario and Luis, Puerto Rico's former governor. When she was 21, Ferré traveled to the United States where she commenced her novitiate. After five years, she completed the solemn vows. As part of her religious work, Ferré traveled back and forth between Puerto Rico and the United States, serving as an abbess in Cabo Rojo and New York City.
During this time frame, she attended various universities in the United States, studying sociology and arts. After working as a member of New York City's Committee Against Poverty, to which she was appointed by Mayor John Lindsay, Ferré decided in 1969, to set her permanent residence in Ponce, specifically in the low-income sector of La Playa. There she founded a small hospital and a school/resource center named Centro de Orientación y Servicios de La Playa de Ponce. The school/resource center would later become Centros Sor Isolina Ferré and opened numerous outlets throughout Puerto Rico at large. Ferré Aguayo is a member of Mu Alpha Phi sorority.
Early life Ferré was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to Antonio Ferré and Mary Aguayo. Born into a wealthy family of recent European background, she was one of six children. Her siblings included Luis, José, Carlos, Rosario, and Hermán Ferré.Mendoza et al. Throughout the years, the Ferré family owned several companies in Puerto Rico, ranging from factories to newspapers. However, she was inclined towards a religious life from a young age. Her father was Catholic, but left the church when, at the request of a dying friend, he joined the Freemasons.Ramos et al., p.43 The other members of the family attended a church named Iglesia de la Monserrate located in Hormigueros.
Her mother used to spend her time in benevolent activities, often donating toys to orphaned children.Ramos et al., p.45-46 Her mother contracted Filaria, which limited her social and personal activities, therefore Saro, Ferré's older sister, became responsible for the upbringing of the younger children. When she was three years old, Ferré entered a religious school named Colegio de las Madres del Sagrado Corazón, where she became interested in the habits practiced by the nuns. Ferré traveled throughout Ponce with some of the family's employees, becoming familiar with the neighborhoods and their inhabitants.Ramos et al., p.50-53 When she was young, Ferré believed that poverty was a voluntary economic state of being however, during her adolescence she realized that it wasn't so and that she was wrong in her way of thinking.Ramos et al., p.54-55 During this timeframe she practiced tennis and cycling, and taught Catechism.Ramos et al., p.64
Religious career Novitiate When she was sixteen years old, Ferré enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico's campus in Río Piedras. She subsequently moved to the Orden De Las Siervas Misioneras De La Santisima Trinidad (Congregation Of The Missionary Servants Of The Most Blessed Trinity, MSBT), where she resided while studying. While in the university, Ferré developed an interest in opera and literature. She continued practicing tennis, eventually practicing with Rebekah Colberg. Shortly after completing her first semester, Ferré returned to her home, where she was informed that her mother was in critical condition. Her mother died the next morning, moments after her son Luis arrived from the United States. Ferré resumed her studies with intensity and during this time she also worked and played tennis. Her health was affected because of her strenuous activities and after she went to her doctor and had a radiology done, she was told that she had damage in her lungs and was recommended that she take one year of rest.Ramos et al., p.66 The condition worsened and she moved to Adjuntas briefly, until the symptoms completely disappeared one month later. Jose Ferré (her brother) became a member of Luis Muñoz Marín's government. He told her about the details of Operation Bootstrap and Operation Serenity.Ramos et al., p.67 Interested in this second project, she organized a group of delivery boys and shoe shiners and founded a candy distribution system. Ferré and some friends also preached to workers in sugar plantations, often visiting their houses in the evening.Ramos et al., p.69 She left her family's house to join a convent shortly after her 21st birthday, after receiving permission from her father.Ramos et al., p.60 Before entering the convent, she decided to swear a chastity vow. After arriving in Philadelphia, she spent her first year involved in a series of religious activities, including some "spiritual exercises" where she was only allowed to speak in the confessional.Ramos et al., p.82 Her first mission took place in the small town of Norton, Virginia. There she met with the priest of a community of Polish miners and together they performed a series of domestic labors.Ramos et al., p.83 She continued working on other missions, receiving occasional visits from her siblings. She eventually joined a Novitiate in New York City. In this convent, she was one of the few novices that knew how to drive an automobile and served as the convent's driver.Ramos et al., p.92 While in New York, Ferré felt symptoms of appendicitis, and was rushed to a Philadelphia hospital.
Work as a nun and Mother Superior Five years after serving in the missions, Ferré swore the solemn vows.Ramos et al., p.93 She was subsequently transferred from Long Island to Cabo Rojo per request of Ponce's Bishop. Upon arriving, she was received by a procession. As part of this mission, She and the nuns organized baseball teams and sewing schools.Ramos et al., p.101-102 She continued working in this convent for 11 years, until she was promoted to abbess. As Mother Superior, Ferré remained in Cabo Rojo for six more years, which is the time limit that a Mother Superior can work within the a mission before receiving another assignment. She was then sent to Hato Rey, where she was assigned to a religious school.Ramos et al., p.108 Here she replaced part of the institution's materials with new ones, using part of a savings account created by the previous directory. Shortly after she contracted Sepsis, and was removed from the position. Some time later Ferré traveled to the Bronx, where several of the nuns that studied with her in Philadelphia resided. This congregation focused their attention in discouraging street crime. One day, Ferré was forced to dress a gang member in nun's clothing, to confuse the members of a rival gang. Due to her actions, she was promoted to abbess of the convent.Ramos et al., p.121-122 She led the other nuns in an effort to revitalize the city's landscape. New York's governor Nelson Rockefeller, awarded her the city's "Republican Woman" recognition.Ramos et al., p.127 The community elected her as their official representative in New York's "Committee Against Poverty", but she declined the offer and granted the position to another Puerto Rican resident. She did this because Mayor John Lindsay had previously appointed her as his personal representative. Ferré focused her work in promoting education among street gangs. The convent, interested in promoting community acceptance regardless of religion, was originally called "Dr. White Catholic Center" was renamed "Dr. White Center".Ramos et al., p.128 During this timeframe she continued her education, briefly attending Holly Family College and completing her bachelor's degree at St. Joseph's College for Women. After a stint as a teacher in Philadelphia, she was sent back to New York in order to complete and further her studies. Ferré completed a sociology master's degree at Fordham University, submitting a thesis based in the strengths and weaknesses of Puerto Rican families that faced conditions of discrimination and poverty after migrating to the city.Ramos et al., p.146-147 Her final work in the United States took place in Chicago, where she coached a group of Puerto Rican community leaders.
Founding Centros Sor Isolina Ferré In 1968, she returned to Barrio La Playa in Ponce where the Ferré family had built a dispensary to treat vesicular conditions.Ramos et al., p.157 She was operated and remained in rest for a month, spending this period visiting adjacent barrios and reading. Ferré then began promoting community restructuring by rehabilitating several buildings with the help of her brother Jose. She was responsible for the opening of a small clinic and school named Centro de Orientacion y Servicios de La Playa de Ponce (Ponce Playa Orientation and Services Center), dedicated to providing educational opportunities, extracurricular activities, and day care services to low-income families. With the cooperation of a Methodist reverend, she also founded an industrial sewing school. They also formed a baseball team named Las Latas Stars and an equestrian club.Ramos et al., p.166 Ferré promoted cultural events, reestablished traditional celebrations and organized activities focused on theatrics, ballet, modeling and sports. Seeking to address a personnel deficiency in nearby petrochemical factories, Teodoro Moscoso suggested to them the creation of a welding school. The institution was built adjacent to Puerto Rico Iron Works, a company that belonged to the Ferré family, and which remained active until 1972.Ramos et al., p.172 This initiative was followed by a photography laboratory, which served to illustrate El Playero, a local magazine.Ramos et al., p.175
Ferré and the community of La Playa designed a proposal to work with juvenile delinquents, by suggesting that they should be placed under custody by their community and that they should be treated with respect instead of as criminals. The program was based in a system designed by Charles Grosser named "Advocacy", eventually becoming known as "Advocacy Puerto Rican Style".Ramos et al., p.177 This method gathered interest from community leaders in the United States, who were interested in establishing similar programs. The program also gathered interest from politicians, to which she suggested the creation of the Centro Diagnostico y de Tratamiento de la Playa de Ponce (Ponce Playa Diagnostic and Treatment Center). Ferré and the community received a grant of one million dollars to build the institution, which was built in a lot in barrio El Ciclón.Ramos et al., p.178 While attempting to eliminate prostitution, Ferré rented a building which was once used as a bar, opening a technological center at that location.Ramos et al., p.179-180 In 1975, the Center faced some financial losses, following a fire and a flood, when Hurricane Eloise passed hit Puerto Rico.Ramos et al., p.181-182 By this time a series of small centers had been founded, as part of an initiative that was denominated "religious urban guerrilla". Due to this the organization's work continued uninterrupted, temporarily moving their operations to a location in an adjacent barrio.Ramos et al., p.225