Sacred Heart College - Gradatim Yearbook (Belmont, NC)

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attempted to establish themselves in several different locations in North Caro- lina before they made their permanent foundation of Motherhouse and Academy in Belmont. In 1869. in answer to an appeal from the newly appointed Bishop James Gibbons to the newly created Vicariate of North Carolina, three Sisters of Mercy from the infant foundation in Charleston. South Carolina, came to Wilmington. North Carolina, to undertake the conducting of a Catholic school in that city. The Sisters of Mercy of Charleston were not strangers to the people of Wilmington, for a few years previously they had braved sickness and possible death when they came to Wilmington to nurse the victims of yellow fever which then ravaged that city. Bishop Gibbons ' appeal for Sisters for his school was answered in the persons of Sister Mary Augustine Kent, Sister Mary Charles Curtin. and Sister Mary Baptist Sheehan who came to Wilmington on October 11. 1869. These three Sisters were the founders of a new institute destined to take root in this State. They were the pioneers of Catholic learning in North Carolina. They formed the nucleus of the Sisters of Mercy of Belmont. Between the arrival of the Sisters in Wilmington and their coming to Belmont, there elapsed several years before the occurrence of that providential event which led to their permanent establishment at Sacred Heart. In 1891. Bishop Haid, first Abbot of Belmont Abbey, wrote to Mother Augustine in Wilmington bringing her the news that he had been informed of the sale of a piece of property between the Monastery and the town of Belmont. The Bishop had desired for some time to have a religious Community of women to conduct a school for girls near the Abbey. The zealous Sisters were eager to work in unison with the Bishop ' s desire, and though unable then to finance the purchase, they complied with the wishes of Bishop Haid and accepted the offer. Encouraging letters about the proposed purchase were received from the Prior of Belmont Abbey. Father Felix, who then and in the years that followed, showed a kindly, fatherly solicitude for the welfare of the Sisters and in all that concerned them. Negotiations were completed, the property was purchased, and immediately plans for a school building began to materialize. On February 3. 1892. the first peg of the Belmont house was driven into the ground. On September 1, at 4:30 in the afternoon, Sister M. Catherine, as Superior, Sister M. Cecilia. Sister M. Agatha. Sister M. Xavier. and Sister M. Clare arrived in Belmont to begin this new foundation. Interesting, amusing, and inspiring are the events chronicled by the Community Annalist of those first days at Sacred Heart. The house was not quite finished when the Sisters arrived. Not at all comforting was the realiza- tion that their first night was to be spent in a house without doors, out in the woods, and in utter darkness: Sister Catherine had forgotten her candles and matches. For the dedication on September 8, Sisters and workmen vied with one another in their efforts to be ready for the big day. When at last the day arrived, the whole house was cleared of all evidences of preparations,

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Very Rev. Father Felix hintemever. o.s.b.. v.g. Ecclesiastical Superior 1892-102-4 HISTORY Jubilee Year of Sacred Heart Convent and Academy, we salute you! Glorious Golden Year that touches with radiant hue the foundation of our beloved Academy, we greet you! Joyfully, jubilantly, proudly we address our Alma Mater and eagerly request that she tell to us. the graduates of this, her Golden Jubilee Year, something of her glorious past, her joys and sorrows, her strivings and triumphs, through all those happy, fruitful years. Gathered closely around her, we listen attentively the while she gives us this story that has been fifty years in the making, this story whose principal characters are the revered past and the esteemed present teachers of our beloved Alma Mater. It is a story of self-sacrifice, of constant spending of the energies of life that others might tread the higher paths. It is a story of benevolence, sympathy, and zeal. It is a story punctuated by manifold hardships and even impending threats of failure. It is a story of the boundless charity of the Sisters of Mercy of Belmont, North Carolina. My dear Graduates of our Golden Jubilee Year, almost every beginning is replete with obstacles and discouragements, doubly so if the instruments are meager and the natural forces, material and personal, inadequate. Such, in truth, was the beginning of the Community of the Sisters of Mercy who

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all furniture was displayed to best advantage, and a flag of the United States was unfurled from the roof. Ceremonies were delayed till the arrival by train from Charlotte of Sister M. Gertrude, Sister M. Joseph, Sister M. Veronica, and Sister Margaret Mary. At three-thirty in the afternoon the distant thumping of drums heralded the approach of a brass band procession from the Abbey. Students, lay-brothers, and priests were on their way with the Bishop to attend the dedication ceremonies. In suitable order all proceeded through the house accompanied by the nine Sisters bearing lighted candles. When all the rooms of the three-story building were blessed, the procession returned to the Chapel where the Bishop delivered an inspiring address and a fitting welcome to the ' good, holy Sisters. ' Later, in the main hall, the band played on and did not take its leave until its members gave three rousing cheers for Sacred Heart Academy. Here at Belmont, in September 1892. Sacred Heart Academy opened wide its doors. Here for the years to be she was destined to instill true wisdom, to infuse true knowledge, and to mould truly Christian characters. In the school annals are recorded the interesting facts and outstanding events of those first years at Sacred Heart. The first session registration was twenty-one. twelve boarding pupils and nine day students. The first student enrolled was Mary Applewhite of Cronly, North Carolina. At the first distribution of prizes, Mary Goforth of Belmont, N. C now Sister Mary Ignatius of the Benedictine Sisters of Bristow. Virginia, received the honor of the school as an English graduate. In 1894, Saint Mary ' s Dramatic Asso- ciation, with Sister M. Agatha as president, presented entertainments in honor of Father Felix and the Bishop. In 1895, outstanding musicals were given as well as the presentation of Father Felix ' s play. Pontia, the Daughter of Pilate. ' Later with Sister Cecilia as president, the students presented a number of plays including Witch of Rosenberg. ' ' A Dress Rehearsal. ' and Tyrolean Queen. ' In June 1908. the first issue of The Sacred Heart Echoes was pub lished. The Echoes of that time was a quarterly publication. An unforgetable feature of those early and the later years at Sacred Heart was the part Father Felix played in the educational and recreational life of the students. From the time the Academy was established until the time of his death in 1924, Father Felix taught classes at Sacred Heart. But it was not in the class-room alone that the girls learned to know and appre- ciate Father Felix. In their weekly hikes, their frequent outing excursions, and their seasonal nutting expeditions, he was their friendly guide and most delightful companion. Gentleman, scholar, and priest, he was dearly loved and genuinely revered for his kindly, sympathetic nature, and his whole- hearted interest in all that concerned the students. The passing of the years brought many changes to Sacred Heart — changes in the personnel of the teaching staff, changes in the members of the student body, changes in the very face of the school and the campus.