Transition and Change

September 1957 – November 1959

Sally Seufert Holmes ’71

In just one decade, the Ursuline Sisters had so effectively grown the Academy’s student enrollment at 12 Arlington Street, Boston, that a larger campus became a necessity. With the encouragement of Archbishop Cushing, the Ursulines relocated to a 28-acre property on Lowder Street in Dedham. Sr. Angela Krippendorf, at the time a student at Arlington Street, recalls a questionnaire that the Sisters sent to parents to address the impending move. Subsequently, on September 27, 1957, the Sisters finalized the real estate transaction. And, as with the questionnaire, applying that same signature attention to detail, the Sisters began an assiduously executed two-year transition plan that would prove to be the cornerstone of Ursuline Academy’s success. Immediately following the purchase, a few Sisters from Arlington Street moved out to Dedham. On October 2, the first Mass was celebrated in the chapel, the former mahogany-paneled library now the consecrated heart of the Convent. That week, the Sisters opened a kindergarten in their parlor with nine children enrolled. That academic year, all other class levels would remain in Boston. During this nascent period, the Mother Superior, Mother St. Mark (Sr. Anne Sullivan), took a small group of Arlington Street students, including Clare Krippendorf (Sr. Angela), out to Dedham to tour the grounds and convent. Mother St. Mark drove the girls in a gray station wagon that she had acquired to shuttle the Ursulines between the two campuses. Sr. Angela pointed out the novelty of Mother St. Mark operating a car, as “nuns didn’t drive back then.” Upon arrival, the Mother Superior laid out a picnic on the lawn in the vicinity of today’s Reynolds Center. The students’ view took in the rhododendron-lined gravel drive curving past the red brick convent. To their left, on the field below, was the Sisters’ vision of a new school building.

“With the encouragement of Archbishop Cushing, the Ursulines relocated to a 28-acre property on Lowder Street in Dedham.… [and] began an assiduously executed two-year transition plan that would prove to be the cornerstone of Ursuline Academy’s success.”

1958

In Dedham, ground is broken for the new school on July 23, 1958. The Mother Superior, Mother Saint Mark, scoops the first shovelful. September: Ninth-graders move from Boston to Dedham, attending classes in the Convent, for a class size of 50. Kindergarten continues with 30 students. The tenth-, eleventh-, and twelfth-graders remain for another year at Arlington Street.

1959

September: Fifty ninth-graders move from Boston to Dedham, attending classes in the Convent. The existing kindergarten continues with 30 students. June: The last class graduates from Arlington Street. Sister Angela Krippendorf, later the Ursuline Provincial for the Northeast Province, was one of the graduates.

The Tea Room: The spirit of the original “Tea Room” and its use for lunch and gatherings was carried to 85 Lowder Street. Students gather for lunch in Dedham during the early years. 85 LOWDER STREET

Ursuline Dedham, circa 1958

DEDICATION: Billy Sullivan served as Master of Ceremonies for the Dedication.

1959

September: The new school building opens with a student body of 258, including kindergarten and grades 7 through 12. November: The Dedication ceremony held with 1,000 people in attendance. Cardinal Cushing presided over the dedication and blessed the building’s cornerstone.

1960

The Greensboro Sit-Ins take place. John F. Kennedy is elected President.