St Margarets Academy - Dayseye Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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St. Jottph't Provmtidldtf St. Pdul. Minn. Province of St. Paul As a steamer plied up the Mississippi 'mid floating ice and landed at St. Paul on November third, 1851, it brought to Minnesota its first Sisters—four Sisters of St. Joseph—whom Mother Cclestinc had sent at the request of Bishop Cretin. The following day, the Sisters were at home” in their first Minnesota convent, a low-framed, two-roomed shanty. The vestry of the log church was soon converted into the first Catholic school room in Minnesota, the embryo of St. Joseph’s Academy. The arrival of two boarders necessitated a one-room addition to the tiny convent. Winter brought with it suffering and hardship. The convent with its paper-chinked walls was none too warm, and the furniture was meager and crude. Colorful blankets of the Indians occasionally seen in the streets were reminders that scalping days were still a dread of the pioneers in Minnesota. Despite the rigors of the first winter, spring brought the roll of boarders to eight and the day pupils filled the vestry as well as the church. Thus the school grew, a second building became necessary, and St. Paul’s first Cathedral became the Sister’s chapel. From these humble beginnings, prosperous institutions grew. Instruction of the Indians was started at Long Prairie and thus fulfilled one of the primary objects of the Sisters’ missionary endeavors in the United States. Some years later two nuns were sent from St. Louis to establish under the title of the Immaculate Conception the first Catholic school in St. Paul’s twin city, Minneapolis. In the year following, three Sisters supervised the district school at Mcndota, occupying the Sibley House, the old home of Minnesota’s first governor. The years that followed pioneer days marked the founding of schools, both for grades and high schools throughout the northern province; they saw the erection of St. Joseph’s Hospital, St. Joseph’s Academy, and the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul; of St. Mary’s Hospital, St. Anthony’s Convent, St. Margaret’s Academy, and the lovely new Academy of Holy Angels in Minneapolis besides parochial schools in charge of the Sisters of St. Joseph. The growing enrollment of Sisters in the order necessitated a new novitiate which was built in St. Paul about thirty years ago. A splendid Provincial House was erected on the adjoining site in later years. Mother Seraphine Ireland was a connecting link, it might seem, between St. Louis and St. Paul. It was in 1860 that Sister Seraphine made her vows and became a Sister of St. Joseph. Soon after her profession she was summoned to St. Joseph’s Academy in Carondclct where she taught until 1868. In that year she X Pane EUvtn

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the gruesome prison of Saint Didicr. Seven won the crown of martyrdom on the guillotine. After eleven long months of suffering and anguish the Reign of Terror spent its force. Mother Saint John and her companions were liberated to continue their noble work and slowly but steadily repaired the ruin wrought by an irreligious government. The heroic Sister St. John Fontbonne gathered together the scattered flock, lifted again the cross, invoked the protection of St. Joseph, and built anew for France and for the Faith.” To the spiritual heritage left by the Sisters of France, the pioneer Sisters of America added their own invincible courage and undaunted zeal. After forty-nine days on the ocean, they landed at gay New Orleans, journeyed up the river to St. Louis, and began their mission in the Hospital of the Sisters of Charity. Though Carondelet was destined to be the future home of the order in America, the first settlement was established in Cahokia and there the Sisters were treated to their first meal of American cornbrcad. As the annual overflow of the turbulent Mississippi rendered the place unhealthful, the Sisters were obliged to abandon their settlement and move to Carondelet. The first school started with an enrollment of thirty pupils, who paid tuition in the form of wood or provisions. At this time Bishop Rosati required more assistance and appealed to Lyons for Sisters to teach the deaf. Two Sisters were sent but were delayed on the way. Finally, after a tedious journey, they reached St. Louis in September and started the school for the deaf mutes and orphans. As their rough, weather-beaten convent, housing six Sisters, four mutes, and six orphans, soon proved inadequate, a new convent was erected under the guidance of Mother Celcstine, a cheery and lovable person. Rapidly the order flourished and spread throughout the land. As years passed, its convent walls sheltered eager students from snow-sheathed New England to the sun bathed slopes of the rocky coast; from the rolling prairies of the myriad-laked Minnesota and the grain-flecked Dakotas to the balmy South. The order is now widespread and harvesting fruitful returns in twenty-four dioceses throughout the country. Cha e! in the Mother Home of the Sifters of St. Joseph in Lyons. Mother Home of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Carondelet, Missouri

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was recalled to the Northern province where she remained the rest of her life. She was blessed with a loving, attractive personality kindred to that of her illustrious brother, Archbishop Ireland of St. Paul. She shared his praycrfulness, deep faith, and vision. Hers was a monumental work in the community which she served so long and faithfully. Her burning zeal for souls and her motherly solicitude and executive ability early singled her out for positions of responsibility that she was called upon to assume as superior of the Girls’ Orphanage and as provincial superior of the St. Paul province. St. Margaret's Academy For nearly thirty years have the brown stone mansions on the corner of Linden and Hawthorne been the scholastic rendezvous of Catholic high school girls in the business section of Minneapolis. In 1907, when the city population was spreading southward toward the Lake District, it seemed advisable to open a high school more centrally located. The high school department of the old Holy Angel’s Academy was then transferred to 1301 Linden when a spacious mansion was purchased and opened its doors as St. Margaret’s Academy. Three stately edifices comprise the institution. St. Margaret’s Hall, a brown stone structure, was formerly the McNair residence erected in the early eighties. The numerous fireplaces with their imported tiles and marbles and mirrors, the wide classic stairway with massive banisters, the heavy doors and carved wood work of rosewood, mahogany and walnut; the homey atmosphere of classrooms, the once spacious ballroom now converted into a book-lined library and assembly hall, the devotional chapel where the Eucharistic King welcomes to His Throne Room the frequent visitors of the day,—all these are dear to the hearts of St. Margaret’s girls. Another McNair building of brown stone is the present St. Theresc Hall converted into a class building and commercial department. The classrooms throughout are bright, airy, and inviting. St. Cecilia’s Hall, formerly the old Wilson home, is occupied by the music and the expression departments. Attractive studios, recital hall, office, and practice rooms create an environment conductive to productive effort in both the arts taught here. St. Margaret’s Academy was launched on its career under the able direction of Mother Rosalia aided by an efficient staff of seventeen Sisters. So noble an enterprise was certain to prosper. In 1908 the Academy was accredited with the University of Minnesota, and it is now a member of the North Central Association of Secondary Schools as well. Its graduates are found on the honor roll of success in scholastic, professional, and commercial fields; their names are inscrolled in college, in the musical and dramatic world, in Christian homes, and in religious communities. This year sixty-six graduates will receive diplomas and join the ranks of the alumnae almost 1700 strong. The alumnae is the pride of her school. Its spirit of loyalty and generous service is and ever has been an inspiration to the faculty and pupils of St. Margaret’s. Pane Twelve