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Margaret Haughery (1813–1882) was a philanthropist known as "the mother of the orphans". Margaret Gaffney Haughery (pronounced as HAW -a- ree) was a beloved historical figure in New Orleans, Louisiana the 1880s. Widely known as "Our Margaret," “The Bread Woman of New Orleans" and "Mother of Orphans,"[1] Margaret devoted her life's work to the care and feeding of the poor and hungry, and to fund and build orphanages throughout the city.
An Irish immigrant widow woman of many titles, Margaret was also commonly referred to as the "Angel of the Delta," “Mother Margaret," “Margaret of New Orleans," the "Celebrated Margaret", "Head Mame", and "Margaret of Tully." A Catholic, she worked closely with New Orleans Sisters of Charity, associated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans.
She opened up four orphanages in the New Orleans area in the 19th century. Many years later in the 20th and 21st centuries, several of the asylums Margaret founded as places of shelter for orphans and widows evolved into homes for the elderly.[2]
A woman of great charity, Margaret became famed for her lifelong championing of the destitute. Some people considered her a living saint worthy of canonisation. Born into poverty and orphaned at a young age, she began her adult life as a washwoman and a peddler – yet she died a businesswoman and philanthropist and received a state funeral.
