Alumnae event provides glimpse into Ursuline history
Ursuline girls enjoy swimming in the creek in 1950; one of the fathers even bought a canoe for the students.
January 27, 2010 • Erin G. '10
Filed under Features
In November, I had an opportunity to look into the lives of past Ursuline students. The family living in the house on Strait Lane that used to be Merici High School opened their home to the Ursuline community. The event was a special homecoming for alumnae who had gone to school and lived there when it served as UA’s main campus.
Before attending the open house, I met with Ursuline archivist Sybil Tucker and her classmate Sr. Mary Troy, who works in St. Joseph’s, to find out more about their experience as Ursuline students, alumnae and eventual faculty. It was kind-of like talking to two teenage girls about their favorite television show—they knew anything and everything about our long history and were very excited to talk about it.
The most important point they made was about how proud we should all be to be a part of this history. It’s the history of the Ursuline zeal that encompasses everything from the founding sisters’ determination to have a modern, beautiful campus to the class of 2010’s enthusiasm for intramurals. This historical transformative willpower is best illustrated by the ever-expanding and changing campus.
The sisters found the first Walnut Hill property (the house currently on Strait Lane) in July of 1942; they signed for the beautiful farm estate on September 7th of the same year. The house needed a lot of renovations—lots of cosmetic work, including the addition of seven dormer windows and six classrooms, as well as the conversion of all available space into room for students; all had to be completed in a matter of months. Renovations ended November 1, 1942 and the first day of classes was November 2.
“Every space was used,” said Sr. Mary Troy ‘51. The first principal, Sister Dolores Marie Ramsey, had her office in a closet. Because the house had to double as both home and school for the students, some classes were even held in the garage. Prefabricated classrooms, or ‘prefabs’ housed the math department—the first portables in Ursuline history. The close quarters helped to inspire unity among the girls and to fuel lifelong friendships.
Many of our current traditions were started at the original Merici High. They had class retreats and sleepovers at school and silent retreats and live Stations of the Cross during Lent, all held on the grounds. Seniors had their first Snowball in a large classroom in 1949, and the first Ring Ceremony was held in Merici (the first mention of class rings on record is in 1924). Lots of us have questioned the necessity of a rule against sunbathing on campus, and according to Mrs. Tucker ‘51 that handbook rule originated from Merici, too.
“Girls used to sunbathe on the roof, and our principal used to have to climb a ladder to get them to come down,” she said.
We haven’t kept all of the traditions of Merici High. Tuition is a little higher than the $35-45 a semester it used to be; and the uniforms have changed a lot. During the war, there were no uniforms because of a lack of supplies. A single pay phone in the sunroom was the only student phone on campus. The nuns were also a lot stricter than our teachers—if the dining room (all meals were eaten in a formal setting) got too rowdy, the nuns would impose silent lunches and read aloud from Emily Post’s manners guides.
Some things haven’t changed at all in the almost 70 years since Merici High was opened. The school has upheld its reputation for excellence in education; even the somewhat modest accommodations at Merici included a science lab. We have also kept up the close relationship with our brother school, Jesuit, which was forged during the Merici days.
“It was a place for having fun,” said Sr. Mary Troy.
After speaking with Mrs. Tucker and Sr. Mary Troy, it was easy to imagine the students and nuns that had occupied it. The home was beautiful. The homeowners have preserved the house’s character—a lot of the best qualities of the original house, like the flooring, fire places and staircase, have been preserved since it became a private residence.
At the open house, there were alumnae from every decade since Merici’s opening. It was amazing to see the interactions of all of the women; some from the same graduation year and some that didn’t even graduate in the same decade. Everyone there seemed to know each other, and they were all excited to see one another. It was just like being at a family reunion.
Like any reunion, the main activity of the night was remembering. Many alumnae shared their experiences and stories with me. Chelle Banks Boris ’62, boarded in the house and still has scars from falling down the stairs. Michelle Esunas Profanchik ’73 was in the 99th graduating class. The outdoor graduation ceremony was perfect that year, except for the large dust storm that moved through the area during the ceremony.
“We just made sure our hats were pinned down,” joked Ms. Profanchik.
Jean Merill Hill ‘62 described the strictly enforced dress code:
“We wore white nylons that had to be folded once and shoes a half size larger than our actual size. Our skirts had to touch the floor when we knelt down. At prom, our dresses had to be of an appropriate length and have two-inch straps.”
Needless to say, I learned a lot and really got to see our alumnae network in action. It’s great to know that even after we leave Ursuline, our classmates, teachers and the school itself will always be there to come home to. Each of us will become a part of this huge family, with our own stories to tell and with lifelong friends to share them with.
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