The Ursulines: New Orleans; St Martin; Galveston; Dallas; Kirkwood; Cleveland; Toledo; New York City

The Order of St Ursula (OSU), whom we know and love here in the US, originated from one of the first secular institutes in the church, the Company of St Ursula, or the Angelines:

 https://companyofstursula.org/who-we-are/our-foundress-saint-angela-merici/

The monastic version of the Ursulines were cloistered by St Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, Italy. He had requested members of the Company of St Ursula to teach in his See. 

There is conflicting information regarding the enclosure of the group, however. One says that the Sisters themselves requested enclosure, and reconfiguration as a monastic order. Another says St Borromeo forced them to "take advantage of their Bull" (papal document) that the Company of St Ursula had received upon Papal approval, and enclosed them. The event was after the Council of Trent, which mandated the enclosure of women religious. 

(A bit of a disclaimer as we go forward: I am not trying to reproduce Dehey here, I am posting with the intention of "where are they now?" That being said, I am not implying that the Ursulines of New Orleans founded the community located in X when I speak of the different sites. Now back to the tour). 

According to Dehey, the first convent in the United States was that of the Ursulines in New Orleans, Louisiana. Unfortunately, the website for the convent-museum is down, so here is the history from the oldest school for girls in continuous operation in the US, the Ursuline Academy of New Orleans: 

https://www.uanola.org/about/ursuline-heritage

The Ursulines then set down roots in St Martin, Brown County, Ohio. According to this page, the Brown County congregation is "nearing completion":

https://chatfield.edu/news/ursulines-act-preserve-character-brown-co-property/

The Texas locations of Galveston and Dallas are listed next. The Galveston convent was known as "The Queen" before it was damaged-beyond-repair by Hurricane Carla in 1961. An alumna writes about her alma mater:

https://www.galvnews.com/opinion/guest_columns/article_3e09c07d-8019-511e-a9a5-f9d10504a390.html

The Ursuline Academy of Dallas is still going strong. Here's their history page:

https://www.ursulinedallas.org/mission/heritage

The original Ursuline Convent in St Louis, Missouri, now houses the St Joseph Croatian Catholic Church. Their history page: 

http://www.stjosephcroatiancatholicchurch.com/about/

The Sisters removed the convent and school to the Kirkwood area:

 https://www.ursulinestl.org/

Arcadia Academy is now a venue:

https://www.arcadiaacademy.com/history

The Cleveland, Ohio, foundation eventually moved to Pepper Pike, and established Ursuline College:

https://www.ursuline.edu/why-ursuline/our-heritage

The Toledo, Ohio, Ursulines had this incredible campus built, pictured in Dehey:

https://www.collingwoodartscenter.org/ 

Eventually, the sisters moved here:

https://www.ursulinecenter.org/about-us/history/

One congregation of Ursulines opened the Academy of Mt St Ursula in New York City. They moved to the Bedford Park area of the Bronx, and have been there ever since:

https://www.amsu.org/who-we-are

The Sisters have converted their Convent into green living space for seniors recently:

https://www.cny.org/stories/ursulines-convent-reopens-as-green-housing-for-seniors,5538

Here ends The Ursulines, Part I. 

Where to Buy the Tomes

 The Dehey tomes have gone into Print-on-Demand, or POD. This brings with it a caveat -- clarify with the bookseller before purchasing a Dehey POD. The 1913 edition is around 500 pages, as opposed to the 1930 revised edition, which is north of 900 pages. 

Bookfinder.com will show a more complete list of available Dehey books, but, please remember my previous paragraph when contemplating a purchase.  

The easiest way to follow this blog is to go straight to the bookseller who reprinted the 1930 revised edition: 

https://stathanasiuspress.com/product/religious-orders-of-women-in-the-u-s-by-elinor-tong-dehey/

I have two of the St Athanasius Press reprints. One is a first edition.  The leatherette covers are different due to the publishers used by the press at the time (according to the bookseller). 

Preliminary research has led me to offer this link for the sake of those who taught or cared for us in earlier days:

Support Our Aging Religious (SOAR!):  https://soar-usa.org/

Please be generous. SOAR! receives the donations, then disseminates the funds via grants. The religious congregations are responsible for making application according to need. 

Blessings, Gemma

What is the "Dehey Tour?"

 The Dehey Tour is an inspiration to adapt into a "convent crawl" the book "Religious Communities of Women in the United States". The author was Elinor Tong Dehey, and the first edition was published in 1913.  Her second edition, a larger and more organized tome, was published in 1930. 

An online religious life historian doesn't like Dehey's works. One of the problems cited after Vatican II was the sisters not knowing their congregational history. In the historian's opinion, Dehey falls short. 

The histories may have been somewhat lacking, but used copies could sometimes go for hundreds of dollars online. I don't think one bookseller knew what they had on hand when they listed the 1913 edition for just $10. (The book now resides with me).  Abebooks recently had several copies of the 1930 edition for around $50 apiece.  St Joan of Arc Books reprinted this edition, and their copies are often more expensive than the original. I have a copy of both. 

After that bit of a disclaimer, a return to my original purpose. I had originally wanted to see what had happened to the convents that had been standing in 1930. It's been an eye opening experience. A great majority, however, are still in existence. 

I hope to follow the historical timeline Dehey set out. She began with the New Orleans Ursulines.