Academy of the Visitation - Crescent Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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Bxshop Rosatm and the adusor cf tht communmty urged the Slsters to select a proper sxte and bulld a modern structure spaclous enough to accommodate the lncreasmg enrollment Money was ofTered as '1 loan to cover the erectxon of a four story buck ljllllfllilg one hundred fifty by thlrty two feet m slze wxth a frame Vklllg one hundred ten feet long 'md two stones hlgh An 1rch1tett and bullder was engaged to come VVest from Baltxmore to undertake the work of constructxon Smce no br1cks were to be had west of the Alleghames a kmln had to be set up and workmen employ ed to make the netes sary bmldmg materlal 'Xll tlns entalled dellys but finally the walls began to rxse I'he frame wmg was completed long before the mam buxldmq was ready for occupancy but ex tendmg ln the dmrettxon of the r1y er and bullt ot new boards It was damp and told and far less comfortable than the old hotel Both puplls and S1 teas stiff red verv stI'l0llSlN durmg the wxnter of 1836-ISS7 for nt yy as unusually cold and the hlh wmds found entrance between the unseasoned boards of the new buxldmg How eagerly all looked forward to the day when they could moye mto the hne buck academy buxld mg that was growmng slowly but surely to completmn' Xleanwhxlt cley er Brother carpenter from Perryyxlle and a carpenter m the employ ot brandpa Nlenard w ere buslly fashlonmg more ol the quamt four poster beds the small square yvashstands the str ught backed benches sturdy school desks and long refectoly tables all of well seasoned walnut that are stmll the prmde of the mstntutron mn the year of 1ts cen tennlal Xfter many months the school took Joy ous PONSCSSIOII of ns new quarters Phe 'ylcnard Academy named for thexr kmd patron had tost thxrty thousand dollirs a prnncely sum ln those early day s lhe records ot the Illmols and the XIISSOUYI Hrstorxcll bouenes declare that It was the finest and most completely equipped btnldmg ot 1ts kmd m the NN est ' bn: ' .' S I ' ' ' r C - -. . Y ' . V- y I . 1 ' ' . . ' . N . V n l x C . ' ' ,. ,, X t , f . 4 . If., - f . ., s 1 '- ' . 4 . , , Q H I K ti. x . . F ', ' C' f' ' . . , . . ' X , x lu . - 1 . 1 y v v - n r . ' v 1. w y v 1 v ' L .' ' l' ' .' ', ' S r . V . M, .. Y . V . . . A . - N i 1 s , - I ' s, ., , -. , , I , , , , . , ' - 1 , . . . . , . . ' . l , , J , ' . , - ' , '. ' ' , .. A . 1 , r v - . I ' 1 I v l v ' ' 5 1 , .Y . 1 , 5. . . Y U 1 4 - X ' . .. 4 '. . 7 Q , I .

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eleven months. No graduating medals were bestowed by the academy until 1836 when Mxss Sophie Menard received the first CRESCENT awarded by the institution Miss Menard was an accomplished musician and altogether worthy to head e long list of more than six hundred graduates of the Acade m of the Visitation many of whom have lived to receive e COMPLETED CRESCEINT bestowed upon those who or 5-ity years have been loval daughters of their alma Mater The Menard f-Academy ITHIN three x ears more than nity pupils were in attend mce at Kasltaskia Academy and new Sisters had come out trom Georgetown to RSSISI wrth the school Appllcatlons poured in from parents desirous of placing their daughters xx ith the Sisters In hls diary Father Benedict Roux quamtlw sums up his impressions as follows In 1833 on the 3rd of X1 xx there arrived in this place a noble little colonv com posed of nine nuns Leight religious and a postulant Nlxss losephme Barberj having started from the content of the V1 itatlon at Georgetown D C on the l7th of April of the same year The superior quality of their talents the refine ment of their manners the soundness of their religious prm sentiments their being consecrated to the -Xlmighty their desire to be useful to society by imparting, to voung ladies their unbigoted virtue their Information etc All this as semblage oi qualities strongly mcluctd lxasltasltia to faxor and support these heroines xx hose reputation atqulred by hard labor is flying abroad here and there through the btate of the Confederation 'md brings back to this infant establish ment young ladies of the lnghest respectability It is dallx prospermg and ll Proudence continue to shower nts bless ings upon it it will no doubt become one of the most brilliant academies of tom g ladies in the VN est frzr it . , . . . th . . - y . . . , . . th . ' ' f 'Y if ' u ' A U C' . . . , . ,, . Y . 7 ' ' ' , . ., . ' ciples, the amiability of their piety, the generosity of their S . Q, . . A . 3 . -1 I , v N - i , 1 1 . '- , . . , S r ' , ' ' C ' , , , ' . ' -P ' -

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