Ursuline Academy (Great Falls, Montana) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Ursuline Academy
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Looking southwest at the north entrance of Ursuline Academy
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| Location | 2300 Central Avenue, Great Falls, Montana, U.S. |
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| Built | 1912 |
| Architect | George Shanley |
| Architectural style | Collegiate Gothic Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 91001447 |
| Added to NRHP | September 26, 1991 |
The Ursuline Academy is an old building in Great Falls, Montana. It used to be a convent (where nuns live) and a Catholic school. Ursuline Sisters, a group of Catholic nuns, built it. It was finished in 1912. At first, it was called the Ursuline Academy Boarding and Day School. It was a school for children aged five to 12.
The building became known as the Ursuline Centre in 1971. Ursuline sisters still lived there. They rented out classrooms and kitchen areas for meetings and retreats. By 2012, only one Ursuline sister lived at the site. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 26, 1991. This means it is an important historical place.
Contents
Building the Ursuline Academy
Early Missions and Schools
In March 1860, Jesuit priests started St. Peter's Mission. This mission was near the Sun River in Montana. They moved the mission a few times to find a better spot. In January 1884, a bishop invited the Ursuline nuns to join the Jesuits. He wanted them to help teach Native Americans.
Mother Amadeus led five Ursuline nuns to St. Peter's in October 1884. They quickly opened a boarding school for girls. This school was for both settlers' children and Native American children. The Jesuits gave the nuns a farm to help them. They also promised to pay them to teach boys.
The Ursulines built a large stone building between 1882 and 1887. This building was their school and convent. They believed in teaching music and art, along with reading, math, and science. They even built a three-story opera house at St. Peter's in 1896.
Moving to Great Falls
In 1908, the wooden Ursuline school at St. Peter's Mission burned down. The Ursuline nuns decided to move their main activities to Great Falls, Montana. Great Falls was a growing city, founded in 1883. The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls strongly supported them.
The Great Falls Townsite Company offered the nuns two city blocks. The Ursulines chose an area on a small hill. It had a good view and was not too close to the busy downtown.
Designing the New School
Mother Francis Siebert was in charge of designing the new building. It was named Ursuline Academy. The city closed some streets to create a large, unified area for the nuns. A well-known local architect, George H. Shanley, designed the building. He used a style called Collegiate Gothic Revival.
Shanley gave some of his payment back to the sisters. The community also donated money, and loans helped pay for the building. The Anaconda Copper Company gave the bricks. The first stone was laid in September 1911. Construction started in October 1911. The school opened for students on September 3, 1912.
The Ursuline Academy was built on the northwest side of the property. The main entrance was on the north side. The eastern part of the property had large gardens.
Special Rooms in the Academy
Two special rooms were ready when the academy was finished. The Green Parlor was for entertaining guests and hosting tea parties. It had green rugs, soft furniture, and green window curtains. This room also had an old French harp from 1840. It belonged to Mother Angela Lincoln, a relative of Abraham Lincoln. There was also a baby grand piano made by Steinway. A student's father gave her the piano as a graduation gift.
The other special room was the Bishop's Parlor. This was a private suite for the bishop and important visitors. It had a sitting room, bedroom, and bathroom. The sitting room had dark oak furniture and bookshelves from St. Peter's Mission. The bedroom had dressers made of cherry wood.
History of the Building
School Growth and Changes
The Ursuline Academy first accepted only girls. When it opened, there were 40 girls living there (boarders) and 25 day students. Another 30 students took music lessons part-time. In 1920, the Ursuline Sisters started Ursuline High School. It was also in the academy building.
More students joined, so a separate gymnasium was built in 1925. The school started accepting boys in 1927. An annex was added to the gym for boys to live there. Boys and girls had separate classes, playgrounds, and yards.
The Chapel's Art
In 1927, the Ursuline Academy chapel was painted. The chapel was part of the original building and was blessed in 1912. The Stations of the Cross on the walls were made in the 1890s. The lectern (a stand for reading) was from St. Peter's Mission.
Three large paintings by Sister Raphael Schweda were added behind the altar in 1927. One shows Saint Ursula leading virgins into heaven. Another shows Saint Angela Merici (who started the Ursuline order) with young women. The third painting shows cherubs and angels. Female students from Ursuline Academy were models for the young women in the paintings.
The chapel also has eight stained glass windows. Statues of Joseph and Mary stand next to the altar.
Art Studio in the Tower
For 50 years, the room on the fifth floor of the tower was an art studio. Mother Raphael used it as her classroom. Only art students were allowed there. She carried buckets of water up to the room every day because there was no water. Mother Raphael also painted backdrops for plays and made special clothes for Catholic priests.
Later Years and New Schools
The Columbus Hospital School of Nursing opened in 1898. During World War II, many more students joined. These nursing students slept in the Ursuline building with the boarding school students. In 1950, Ursuline High School joined with two other Catholic high schools. They formed Great Falls Central High School. This new school opened on the Ursuline property.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Ursuline Academy also had a candy store. One of the sisters made the sweets. As more modern schools opened in Great Falls, fewer students came to Ursuline Academy. The elementary school closed in 1966. The high school closed in 1973. The Great Falls Public Schools bought the building in 1975.
Ursuline Centre Today
After the high school closed, Ursuline Academy stopped being a school. In 1971, it changed its name to Ursuline Centre. The Ursuline sisters continued to live there, using it as a retirement home. The building's purpose changed. The sisters started renting it out for meetings and retreats. The old dorm rooms became guest rooms, and the school kitchens provided food. Part of the building was also rented as a day care center.
In 1997, the Ursuline Centre Historical Foundation was created. This group helps manage the building and the retreat. They also help the nuns keep the building in good shape. A fundraising effort to fix the building started in 1998. By September 2002, they had raised $1.3 million. The foundation first fixed the roof and replaced the building's 501 windows. In 2006, the electrical and plumbing systems were updated.
By September 2012, over $3 million had been spent to fix and restore the building. The boiler and electrical system were replaced. Work on the outside of the building was also happening.
About the Building
The Ursuline Academy is a four-story building with a five-story central tower. It is made of stone and brick. The outside is decorated with terra cotta. There are eight gargoyles on top of the central tower. In 2012, the Great Falls Tribune said these were likely the only working gargoyles in Montana. The land around the building is now smaller than it used to be. This is because the high school and its football field were sold in 1974.
Mother Raphael Schweda painted many of the religious pictures inside the building. The chapel still looks much like it did when it was finished in 1927. Mother Raphael's old art classroom on the fifth floor is now an art gallery. It shows many of her paintings, including portraits and religious art.
The building's Amadeus Library is named after Mother Amadeus. It has a large collection of old books and musical instruments. It also keeps historical records for the Ursuline order in the Pacific Northwest.
The long hallway on the second floor is now called the Heritage Gallery. It has photos of graduating classes, pictures of nuns and students, and old diplomas. At the end of this hallway, in a former girls' dorm room, is the Heritage Museum. This museum shows the history of the Ursulines in Montana and at Ursuline Academy. It also has many Native American beadwork items and dresses. These were given to the Ursulines by tribes in Montana. The museum also displays old clocks, hand-carved chairs, and detailed tables. Many of these were made by the sisters at St. Peter's Mission. A painting of St. Peter's Mission by artist Ralph DeCamp is also in the room.
Original chimes are still on the second floor. They could be heard throughout the building. Each sister had a different signal played on the chimes to call her to the main office. The chimes also called the sisters to chapel and marked the start and end of classes.
The Ursuline Academy's meeting and retreat center can host up to 100 people. They can stay in dorm rooms on the third and fourth floors. Different groups can use the facility at the same time. The center also has a kitchen and staff. There is a 260-seat auditorium with a stage on the second floor. As of 2011, the Ursuline Academy also had a preschool and day-care center.
Other Buildings on the Site
In 1932, the Ursuline Sisters worked with the Sisters of Providence. They planned to open Great Falls Junior College for Women next to the Ursuline Academy. This was a two-year college. The college building was planned for the northeast corner of the property. However, money problems during the Great Depression meant the building was not finished for many years.
To start classes, the college opened on September 8, 1932, inside the Ursuline Academy. It was a college for the diocese, not controlled by either group of nuns. It started with 14 students. In 1937, it became a college for both boys and girls, called Great Falls Junior College. By 1950, it had moved out of Ursuline Academy.
After some changes in the Ursuline order in 1958, the sisters decided they could no longer support the college. The Ursulines gave up control of the junior college in 1960. The Sisters of Providence moved it to its current location. It is now known as the University of Great Falls.
