Convocations celebrated

by Stacey Pineau (BPR ‘95)

Friendships formed in the 1990-91 academic year among the young women who lived in Mount Saint Vincent University’s former Vincent Hall residence endure even now, more than 30 years later.

“Deciding to begin and eventually complete my science degree at Mount Saint Vincent University has remained one of the most life-changing decisions I have ever made. I moved into Vincent Hall where I made friends that have remained by my side through all life’s twists and turns,” says Sylvia Quinn, a Grade 7 and 8 Teacher at Riverside Education Centre in Milford, N.S. “The various paths we have followed since have continually been braided back together over more than 30 years.”

Vincent Hall was once located in the Mount Saint Vincent Mother House – a huge building (at one time the largest in Atlantic Canada) that stood at the very top of the hill at MSVU. For a time, the facility housed both the MSVU students who lived in the residence portion of the building and the Sisters of Charity who resided elsewhere in the facility. Vincent Hall closed sometime before fall 1993 and the Mother House was closed in 2008 and demolished the following year.

“My time at Vincent Hall was the beginning of my journey here at MSVU,” says Paulette Cormier, now an assistant professor and tourism program coordinator at the university. “It was at Vincent Hall where I met a group of amazing women who have become lifelong friends and colleagues.”

While the group’s friendship began thanks to their chance assignment of residence accommodations in Vincent Hall in their Some 1990-91 Vincent Hall residents gathered in the fall of 2021 to catch up and reminisce. They were each gifted a set of wind chimes crafted by Stacey Harrison, who used glass in MSVU’s colours and repurposed hardwood flooring that was saved from Vincent Hall prior to the demolition of the Mount Saint Vincent Mother House. From left: (front row) – Stacey Harrison (BTM ’95), Sylvia Quinn (BSc ’99), Paulette Cormier (BEC ’94, MAE ’10); (middle row) Cheryl Fricker (MEd ’16), Catherine McBride (BBA ’94), Stacey Pineau (BPR ’95); (back row) Alison Stark (BBA ’95, CAC ’08).

first year of university, it has grown into a long-term relationship they all treasure.

“I have always known that our friendship is special,” says Stacey Harrison, executive director of the Colchester-East Hants Hospice Society. “As Stuart McLean once shared in his story Jimmy Walker of Foggy Bottom Bay, there are some friends that we may not see often, but we never really lose touch with. I know that no matter what life throws at me, this amazing group of friends will always have my back.”

Harry A. Cochrane, Halifax Photo Service, Ltd.

Founded in 1873, the Mount will mark a momentous anniversary in 2023 - its sesquicentennial! We’re so excited about our anniversary planning and we couldn’t wait to get started!

After 150 years, we can only assume our alumni and friends have accumulated an amazing amount of Mount memories and special stories. For the anniversary, we want to collect and share these stories online and in a special anniversary edition of Folia Montana.

We invite you to be part of this wonderful project by sending in your special Mount memories online through alumni.msvu.ca/MountMemories150 or by emailing us directly at alumni@msvu. ca.

Thank you for helping us celebrate this special anniversary. FM Mount Saint Vincent Academy basketball team, 1959. 1st row: Dorothy Johnson, Gail Smith, Emily Langley, Martha Laurence, Isabel Fougere, Barabara Howitt, Marilyn Gaudet 2nd row: Shirley Paul, Margaret Dunphy, Carol Anne Spurrell, Johanne Hoppe, Charlotte Pavy, Roseline Theriault, Gillian Murphy, Lorraine Hadder, Carol Chisholm (Archives)

When Penelope

was 11, she followed in her family’s footsteps and was enrolled at Mount Saint Vincent Academy (MSVA) – one of the few boarders from Halifax living on campus. She spoke with Folia Montana about her early memories of the Mount – including the devastating fire of 1951 – and how the Mount helped prepare her for life ahead.

Going to the Mount Academy was a tradition in Penelope Russell’s family. “Indeed, Mount Saint Vincent has influenced my family history for five generations.”

Russell’s great-grandmother Ella Bauld was a student here in 1874. She and Russell’s great-grandfather George W.C. Oland had 12 children. Many were also educated at the Mount – both boys and girls.

In the early 1900s, Russell’s grandmother Herlinda de Bedia and her sister Fide were Mount students from Cuba. Her grandfather Sidney Oland told Russell that it was love at first sight – at least for him. It took three trips to Cuba to convince Herlinda to marry him. They exchanged vows in Cuba in 1912.

Their children, and their children’s children, continued to be educated at the Mount, including Russell’s son Paul.

Russell arrived at the Academy as an impish, seventh-grade student. She brought her favourite teddy bear with her: a white polar bear with ruffled fur and glass eyes, tapered paws covered in velvet, and fur that was smooth as silk from all her stroking.

“It was strict here,” says Russell. “There were rules, and you were expected to obey them. I didn’t always. I was ‘campused’ a lot. This meant I didn’t get to go home on Sundays.”

One particular infraction was going into a restricted area in winter and falling into a semi-frozen pond. “It could have been serious,” Russell says. Fortunately, everything turned out well. “I was given a stern talking to – after the sisters gave me Motherhouse (Archives)

Russell’s family being highlighted in yearbook a warm bath and made sure I was okay.”

While rules were enforced, life at the Mount was fun. Russell recalls year-end dances and a graduation prom – but the dresses had to be vetted for modesty. Shoulders had to be covered, and the skirt needed lots of tulle and netting.

Russell credits her teachers, the Sisters of Charity, with reaffirming the values of her parents, developing her religious devotion, and helping to prepare her for life outside the safety and security of the Mount. “My teachers essentially formed my life. They gave me the skills I needed as a woman to go out into the world.

The Mount prepared women to feel comfortable in their own skin and to be confident enough to tackle the challenges ahead, Russell adds. “We were not afraid to have our voices heard.”

MSV Academy graduation prom, circa 1960

Photo by H.P. Snider, Halifax

In January 1951, a devastating fire broke out resulting in the destruction of the entire Mount Motherhouse, which at the time, was just one large building. The students had to assemble in the recreation room of the East Wing. From there, they were directed to St. Mary’s Cottage, a place Russell had never been before. “We were sitting on beds like a pajama sleepover, but we couldn’t see out of the windows.”

“It was the coldest night in 25 years,” she recalls. “Water froze when firefighters sprayed. They wanted to draw water from the Bedford Basin, but that would have meant stopping the trains. CN was unable to allow that to happen.

One thing that did happen: Taxi drivers turned their meters off so people could get to safety and parents could pick up their children.

At about 4 a.m., an RCMP officer came for Russell and walked her down to the highway, stopping traffic in both directions. She remembers her surprise when she saw her father waiting for her. “Five girls came with me back to my house. Dad fed us tomato soup.”

The fire left the Mount community understandably devastated. The students had nowhere to learn. In a time of great need, the people of Halifax were quick to step in and offer help. Spaces were offered where classes could be conducted until the new academy building was completed in the fall.

In September, the Mount students moved into the new, temporary building. There were unfinished classrooms above the chapel, with no heat or lights. It meant that all study ended at 4 p.m.

“We washed and dressed in a large room with lockers around the walls and wooden tables with our own white enamel washbasins. We had great water fights,” says Russell. After the washing – and the water fights – all the students would march down the hall and empty their basins in the one small bathroom available for their use. “The Novices across the hall lived with the same restrictions,” says Russell. We look forward to sharing more stories like this on the road to celebrating the Mount’s 150th in 2023. Below are two excerpts from a poem Penelope Russell wrote and read at an an assembly for the 50th anniversary following the fire of 1951. The full poem is available on the alumni website at alumni.msvu.ca.

My first memories – always calm, firm, never panic! The lights on, someone calling I’m in my alcove – in my bed A fireman with a firehat pulls my curtain open Told to “Get up, get dressed, quickly, quietly” … Discipline sets in I think, “Dress in your uniform, Tie your brown oxfords, Don’t bother with your closet. – Leave your new English coat. I have to take my Mother’s Kenwood blanket – she’ll ask me for it!” … As I pull the blanket off the bed … hesitation …

I watch my teddy bear fall to the floor They’re calling – firmly I look to the floor – my bear, lying there, by the chair Leave!...NOW! I turn…I walk toward the door… Down and round the brown staircases… No running… quiet, calm No teddy bear.

One week – I’m back at the Convent of the Sacred Heart A bit of a celebrity – but not for long Three weeks – Now it’s the Gainsborough Hotel – Hubbards The Sisters are quick to set up the Junior School Sister Victoria – always fun, mischief, sneaking out the kitchen door All in one classroom – upstairs above an annex Surprising laundry on the clothesline! Concerts in the parlour – I play the piano, we sit on the floor Walks back to the Blue Bonnet margarine factory at the railroad siding Wonderful picnic on a large estate Swimming in our clothes. Happiness and order.