 While English was used in the upper chapel, the language favored in the lower chapel was French, as many of the congregation were refugees from Saint-Domingue.Joubert was introduced to two African American women who were members of the Lower Chapel, Elizabeth Clarisse Lange and Marie Magdelaine Balas, who and had run a small, private school for San Domingan children, but been forced to close for lack of funds.To further this effort, Eliza Anna Chatard, wife of a prominent Baltimore physician, agreed to solicit donations from her acquaintances.