Venerable Pierre & Servant of God Juliette Toussaint
(edited from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/toussaint-pierre-and-juliette/)
Pierre Toussaint, a New York society hairdresser, devout Catholic, and wealthy philanthropist, was born a third-generation elite house slave at the Bérard family plantation in Haiti. Pierre was brought to New York in 1797. Over the years in New York, he established a lucrative business.
Toussaint purchased his sister Rosalie’s freedom so that she could marry; then, in 1811, he married Marie-Rose “Juliette” Gaston, the daughter of former Haitian slave. He and Juliette adopted Rosalie’s sickly infant daughter, Euphemia, several months before Rosalie died. Unable to have their own children, they lavished their attention on the little girl and gave her a superb education. They were utterly devastated when Euphemia died of tuberculosis at 14.
Pierre and Juliette devoted their lives to charitable work. They opened their home to orphaned African American boys whom they raised, educated, and connected to apprenticeships and jobs. They provided food, clothing, and shelter to Haitian refugees. They bought freedom for many slaves. They donated generously to the first order of Negro nuns, the Oblate Sisters of Providence. They ministered to the poor and sick, black and white. Pierre, especially, was remembered for crossing barricades into a quarantined section of the city and nursing Yellow Fever victims.
The Toussaints helped build the first Catholic school for black children in New York. Their exemplary Christian lives led to a movement that began in the 1950s to have Pierre canonized. In 1996, Toussaint was declared Venerable by Pope John Paul II. Juliette is recognized as a Servant of God for her incredible virtue and holiness.