St Marys Academy - Blue Star Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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The Administration Building of Saint Mary’s Academy at Forty-first and Red River Streets, where Sisters of the Holy Cross will continue the work they began seventy-five years ago in Austin, Texas.

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upon which to build a school with the facilities adequate to care for the many girls eager to acquire a Catholic education. The spot p u r c h a s e d by the Congregation was one of the most historic in Texas. When Austin became the capital of the Re- public of Texas this ground had been appropriated for the residence of Mirabeau B. Lamar, second president of the Republic. Many epoch making events had taken place in the white frame building on the hill overlooking Austin. In later years the property was p u r c h a s e d by Governor Peter Bell for his residence. The sisters bought the plot from Mrs. Mary Duffau. Because the new Saint Mary's Academy was expected to become one of the outstanding schools for girls in the South, an imposing edifice of Texas stone was planned for the ground on the hill. In the summer of 1885 the four-story building was completed. For eleven years the academy continued to grow, but is rapid strides were not confined to spiritual and scholastic spheres alone. A large north wing had been added to the school in 1901. The year 1908 saw recognition of Saint Mary's superior instruction in the form of affiliation with the University of Texas. By 1913 the registration had reached a mark that is still a peak in the history of the school, and in the Fall of that same year the Alumnae Association was organized. A half-century of endeavor to bring Christ into the lives of countless girls through the medium of a Christian education was completed in 1924, the Golden Jubilee year. The high esteem in which the academy was held not only by its local friends but also by all who had felt its influence, no matter how indirectly, was demonstrated on the occasion of the Jubilee. Telegrams poured in fromallover the country. TheSisters of the Holy Cross received a cablegram of benediction from the Sovereign Pontiff himself. These evidences of regard were fitting tribute to the efforts of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, some of whom had actually given their lives in the service of Saint Mary's Academy. The depression of the 1930 s left its mark on Saint Mary's as it did on numerous other institutions throughout the land. But the academy survived the trials of those years because of the beautiful faith of sisters and pupils alike. Indeed, the hand of

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God seems to have been raised in benediction over the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross since the beginning of their work in Austin. On a Sunday in April of 1947 citizens of Austin reading their morning papers were amazed to learn that Mother M. Rose Elizabeth, Superior General of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, had purchased for the Congregation the former E. H. Perry estate. On the ten acre plot in northeast Austin is a residence of Italian Renaissance architecture built of grey stucco and roofed with red tile. Terraced gardens surround the two main buildings. Through the lower part of the campus runs a small creek bridged by a picturesque arch of stone. These new quarters, although beautiful, were not spacious enough to provide » adequate room for all the faculty and students. Therefore, in February of 1949 it was announced that construction would begin immediately upon three new buildings. There will be a chapel, a convent, and a classroom building erected on the campus. The buildings, which are still under construction, will be ready for occupancy in the Fall of 1949. It seems fitting that Saint Mary s Academy should begin a new program expansion during this year, the Diamond Jubilee year. In these new buildings the Sisters of the Holy Cross and their students will begin to shape the remaining twenty - five years which must elapse before the academy reaches its centenary. The seventy-five years be tw e e n the first small class in the cabin near Saint Mary’s Cathedral and the present academy have been years of struggle and years of triumph. The work is not yet completed and will not be until there are no more girls to throng the halls of Saint Mary’s. The sisters will continue to give their utmost in the effort to educate all the girls who come to them in the ways of a Mary- like life. Because the Sisters of the Holy Cross have given Austin a school whose excellence is material as well as spiritual, they deserve the praise and commenda- tion which their friends give them. Because throughout seventy-five years there has always been a sister to teach an eager mind, to soothe an uneasy spirit, or to love a lonely heart, the Sisters of the Holy Cross unreservedly deserve the love that each student, young and old, bears for them and for Saint Mary’s Academy of Austin, Texas.