Lauralton Hall: Empowering Women for Life

Lauralton Hall Empowering Women for Life

Lauralton Hall Empowering Women for Life

By Michele C. Marill

Lauralton Hall Empowering Women for Life

Copyright © 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Lauralton Hall

Lauralton Hall

200 High Street Milford, Connecticut 06460 203.877.2787 www.lauraltonhall.org

Author Michele C. Marill

Editor

Rob Levin

Project Director

Lisa Hottin

Executive Director of Development

Project Coordinator

Laura Norris '05

Publication Committee

Antoinette Iadarola, President, Trudy Dickneider '64, Kathleen Donahue '80, Margaret Rooney, '51

Project Manager

Renée Peyton

Design

Rick Korab

New Photography

Mario Morgado

Creosote Affects

Copyediting

Bob Land

Proofing

David Baker

Book Development By Bookhouse Group, Inc. www.bookhouse.net

Lauralton Hall.

The Mansion’s spiral staircase.

Antoinette Iadarola, PhD

Truth and Mercy

A True and Loyal Spirit

Our Hearts Will Ever Be to Lauralton Loyal and True

Pursuing Their Highest Potential

Rooted in the Mercy Tradition, Reaching New Heights in the Twenty-First Century

Students walk up the sidewalks on campus after arriving in town on the train.

The Academy of Our Lady of Mercy, Lauralton Hall, shares a global ministry of the Sisters of Mercy— about forty secondary schools trace their origins to a daughter of Ireland, Catherine McAuley, who founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831. Since its inception, the education of women and young girls has been a priority of the order.

This book celebrates the success of one of those schools, Lauralton Hall! Institutions, like people, are shaped by the experiences, individuals, and events that fill their past. The forces that sparked the founding of Lauralton Hall began when the Sisters of Mercy wanted to establish a school offering young women the means to pursue serious study at a time when women’s educational options were limited and the Suffragette Movement was in full swing. This book traces the history and heritage of Lauralton Hall from its founding in 1905 on the Pond/Taylor Estate to the present.

Told in captivating text and pictures gleaned from the archives and dozens of interviews by alumnae, faculty, and staff, the story is one of change and continuity played out in the 110year history of the school. And the story of those 110 years suggests that the Mercy spirit has not just survived but thrived during times of change, as seen in the recent articulation of the mission statement:

“Inspired by the Mercy Tradition, Lauralton Hall empowers young women to pursue their highest potential through lifelong learning, compassionate service, and responsible leadership in a global society.”

As you read the narrative, view Lauralton Hall as a stage with many generations of important players: the Sisters of Mercy, faculty, staff, administrators, trustees, parents, and alumnae. All have played a critical role in creating a legacy of a vibrant, faith-filled learning community, of an enduring collegeprep school for young women that will continue to evolve and be transformed for generations to come. We are grateful, for we know that today we stand on the shoulders of giants.

I hope you will enjoy this trip through the history of a dynamic and extraordinary school: Lauralton Hall!

Antoinette (Toni) Iadarola, PhD President and Head of School

Lauralton Hall Empowering Women for Life

It’s easy to imagine how Lauralton Hall looked to the four Sisters of Mercy more than a century ago as they made their way along the Post Road through the colonial-era town of Milford, Connecticut, past clapboard homes, and up the long entranceway on High Street.

On either side, the lawn spread out like a vast, grassy carpet. An arboretum of lindens, maples, elms, beech, and willows gave the estate a sense of leafy seclusion. The Sisters may have remarked on the mansion’s odd asymmetry, with a square tower, a round tower, and a mansard roof.

When they opened the front door, the foyer looked much as it does today, with a grand spiral staircase, walls of richly dark Brazilian mahogany, and a carved panel above a fireplace, where cherubs illustrate a story of friendship.

Built in 1864 as an estate for Charles Hobby Pond and later embellished by financier Henry Augustus Taylor, the house is majestic. Lauralton students often feel as if they’re going to school in a castle, where they can settle into a nook or perch on a windowsill to study and glance at the outbuildings—an old carousel, the Victorian carriage barn, the water tower.

But the Sisters of Mercy, with Mother Mary Augustine Claven at the helm of the Meriden, Connecticut, community, were not trying to re-create a fairy tale or provide a respite for aristocratic ladies. They were committed to the education of girls and young women for the betterment of society.

A 1916 advertisement for the school reveals how well they succeeded, even in an era when women had few rights or opportunities:

“Although its span of existence is but a decade, this high-class school has sent forth many cultured women who are now filling important positions in High and Grade schools, banks and business houses. The Music Department is especially fine. It is affiliated with the Von Unschuld University of Music, Washington, DC. Several of the graduates are brilliant organists and music instructors.”

In that same year, alumnae traveled to St. Louis to rally for suffrage at the Democratic National Convention. They

Members of the Alumnae Association attended the Democratic National Convention in 1916 as delegates rallying for women’s suffrage.

paused to pose together in wide-brimmed hats adorned with sheer trim and silk flowers, some with white gloves and pearls. By appearance, they belonged to the Victorian era, but these Lauralton women were intent on moving the country into modernity.

With thousands of other women from around the country, they lined both sides of the street leading to the St. Louis Coliseum, carrying yellow parasols and sporting yellow sashes. Their act was even more courageous in the face of stiff opposition to women’s suffrage in the Catholic Church. Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore warned that, by entering the political arena, women would lose their dignity and neglect their domestic duties. The alumnae, taught to be respectful but also to strive for excellence, were certain that God had endowed them with capabilities for much more than household tasks. Suffragists in St. Louis made note of which convention delegates voted for or against a platform plank supporting women’s right to vote, and The New York Times likened the suffragists to the legendary knitting women of the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution. Their mere presence on the political sidelines was unnerving to the powerful men in the room. Fast-forward to modern times, and it only takes a glance at the alumnae roster to see how Lauralton women continued to shape their world. They became scientists, doctors, and top corporate executives—artists, authors, architects, and attorneys. Winnie Corbally 1913 was an aide to Helen Keller. Patricia Noonan McQueeney 1945 was an actress and model who became the longtime manager of actor Harrison Ford. Rosa DeLauro 1960 is a member of the US House of Representatives from Connecticut’s Third District. Winifred Hamilton, PhD 1965 was the first woman to be appointed school superintendent in Stamford, Connecticut. Capt. Patricia Miller 1968 held executive officer posts in the US Navy and served with the US Central Command during Operation Desert Storm. Jennifer R. Smith, PhD 1992 is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, and Joanna Lee 1999 is Vice President of Marketing for J. Crew.

Over the years, many Catholic single-sex schools have become coed, but Lauralton Hall thrives on its mission of educating young women. You can get a sense of the empowerment in the Youth and Government debates and the Environmental Club, where students speak with passion. You can feel it in the intensity of Advanced Placement Physics and in the study of Virgil in Latin. You can hear it in the pounding of drums in the percussion ensemble and the squeal of athletic shoes and swoosh of the ball on the basketball court. In every class, the smartest person is a girl. The greatest chemist is a girl. The Class President is a girl. The fastest runner is a girl. The lesson of Lauralton Hall is that girls can soar to whatever heights they can imagine. And for the rest of their lives, they will have a devoted sisterhood at their back.

Truth and Mercy

What Faith Desires, She Attains

In 1864, Milford was a small but proud town, a way-stop between New Haven and Bridgeport that had attracted more than its share of heroes and adventurers. George Washington dined in the Clark Tavern, and a town guardian of the peace once asked Aaron Burr to halt his travel to Philadelphia and stay in Milford until the Sunday Sabbath was over. Captain Kidd, the infamous pirate, set anchor in the harbor where, many years later, “forty-niners” sailed off to seek fortune in California.

But when Charles Hobby Pond brought his family to Milford from Brooklyn, New York, he was seeking a quieter and more pastoral life. His ancestor, Peter Pond, had been an explorer, and his uncle and namesake, the elder Charles Hobby Pond, had sailed the seas in the family shipping business and served stints as Connecticut Lieutenant Governor and Governor. Pond, just thirty years old, had traveled to South America and Europe as a trader in war material, but he felt the pull to return to Milford, where his mother and unmarried sister lived. He purchased forty acres of undeveloped land just a short stroll from the town green and began to construct a grand twenty-room mansion.

A Measure of Devotion Mother Mary Augustine Claven Worked Tirelessly for Lauralton

LH-009-Sister Mary Augustine Claven descreened

Mother Mary Augustine Claven gazes from her portrait with a look both serious and serene, capturing the dimensions of her devotion. She carried the solemn responsibility for creating a new school for girls—the first Catholic college-preparatory school for girls in Connecticut. Yet, at heart, she was a teacher with a deep affection for her students.

Mary Ellen Claven was born in 1859 and entered the community of the Sisters of Mercy in 1883. After teaching in several schools, she became the Mistress of Novices, Rev. Mother Assistant, and in 1900, Rev. Mother for the St. Bridget’s Convent in Meriden.

Mother Augustine wanted to fulfill Catherine McAuley’s vision to educate girls and young women, but not everyone agreed with her plan. “Like all the creative, progressive souls the world has ever known, Mother Augustine met with obstacles and difficulties,” an alumna from the class of 1913 wrote in a memorial in 1921. “At first, she alone could see the advantage of such an undertaking. Others seemed to hesitate and doubt, thereby forcing Mother Augustine to put her plans aside for a time.”

Even when Lauralton Hall became an immediate success, the school remained a work in progress for Mother Augustine. At one moment, she might be calming a young girl who was tearful and homesick.

Mother Mary Augustine Claven.

At another, she was patrolling the grounds and making sure that neatness and order prevailed.

Today, Lauralton Hall has many dedications to

Mother Mary Augustine Claven. The Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, a replica of the shrine in France, was built in her memory. The auditorium carries her name. And the school’s highest honor, the Claven Award, recognizes women who have demonstrated outstanding service and achievement.

A tribute in the 1922 yearbook, the year after she died, sums up her commitment to Lauralton Hall: “She realized that the benefits of good education extend to generations yet unborn, and she used every available means to the advancement of this glorious work.”

Much of what he envisioned still exists today as one of the few remaining examples of Victorian Gothic manor homes in the area. Lauralton Hall girls now kick soccer balls on the expansive lawn, and carpools traverse the long, winding drive from the front gate to the mansion. Charles Hobby Pond built his estate to impress, and he is still succeeding.

The house was sturdy and practical, massive and irregular. Red brick accented the granite masonry, and a square tower rose from the gray slate mansard roof. On a clear day, from a window in the tower, the green vista of Charles Island was visible in the Long Island Sound—and so Pond dubbed his new home Island View.

He hired an English architect to design formal gardens, with box hedges surrounding flower beds. By 1870, this Victorian farm was a lively place. Charles and Mary Pond then had five children and a contingent of mostly Irish domestics, laborers, and gardeners.

The Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes on the southeast side of campus.

Behind the mansion, there was a water tower and a carriage barn large enough to contain stalls for five horses.

Pond took his family with him on his last trading mission to England, Prussia, and Russia, but his health declined and he died of rheumatic fever a year after he returned to Milford in 1881. Three years after his death, his widow sold Island View to a man who would add to its grandeur.

By the 1880s, America’s wealthy class flocked to summer retreats. Henry Augustus Taylor, a railroad investor and financier in New York City, imagined the historic town of Milford as the next great seaside haven. He began leasing Island View for the summer and bought it in 1889, a year after his five-year-old daughter, Laura, died. He renamed the estate Lauralton Hall. (His mother

continued on page 8

Charles Hobby Pond.

Island View.

Barn Raising Lauralton Preserves Its Past While Looking Ahead

Girls step across the threshold of the mansion, backpacks slung against their shoulders, one hand on a cell phone, the other on the knob of a mahogany door that opens into a grand hall with a sweeping spiral staircase. They are at a juxtaposition of the past and the future.

Lauralton Hall is a school that prepares young women to embrace all that the twenty-first century has to offer. But it does that with a deep commitment to preserving its historic campus.

Restoration of the 1864 Carriage Barn began in 2013. Built in the Second Empire style, the barn has a

The Carriage Barn and Water Tower are historical landmarks in the state of Connecticut.

mansard roof with dormer windows and a cupola. The slate roof has been replaced, new copper gutters added, and the structure has been stabilized. When completed, the Carriage Barn will become the Center for the Visual and Performing Arts, a much-needed multiuse space for music, theater, dance, and art exhibits. It will repurpose a historic structure for modern needs.

Historic preservation is difficult and expensive. For many years, the Carriage Barn was just a place to store lawn and maintenance equipment. The building began to deteriorate; slates were falling from the roof.

Dr. James Mooney and his wife, Mildred Pinto Mooney 1950, launched the fundraising with a gift of $150,000, and the first renovation proceeded

with grants from the state of Connecticut’s Historic Restoration Fund and the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation. The Edward E. Ford Foundation provided a challenge grant of $50,000, and Lauralton worked to raise another $150,000 in donations.

The Carriage Barn began to take shape just as the city of Milford celebrated its 375th anniversary. Lauralton’s master plan also calls for restoration and reuse of the water tower, one of the only such structures remaining in North America, and the old laundry building. “It’s a wonderful property, and they have really taken very loving care of it,” says Richard Platt, the retired city historian.

By the fall of 2014, the exterior renovation of the Carriage Barn was completed.

During restoration, the cupola was removed and refurbished as the roof was being replaced.

continued from page 4

was also named Laura, so the name honored them both.)

The Taylors added many rich Victorian flourishes: a round tower with mullioned windows and an aerie at the top, a grand entry with mahogany-paneled walls, Corinthian columns, and a spiral staircase that rose toward a stained-glass skylight. There were also a classical veranda and porte cochere, and French doors that opened to a conservatory, or greenhouse.

This house was for entertaining—and for displaying wealth, family honor, and a distinctly Victorian taste for embellishment. Brightly colored Dutch tiles edged the fireplaces. Fleurs-de-lis and laurel wreaths adorned the paneling and plaster walls. An aphorism above a fireplace said, “East and west, home is best.”

An enormous chandelier lit the library.

In the dining room, a poem of the postElizabethan poet and ordained priest Robert Herrick was carved into an oak panel: “As wearied pilgrims

continued on page 12

Morning light streams through the stained-glass windows in the Chapel, casting a glow like a halo upon a depiction of the infant Jesus. Quiet and empty, the Chapel allows a respite from the bustle outside the doors, where girls move briskly from one class to another.

The Chapel offers a place of refuge and private worship, of camaraderie, loyalty, and celebration. Girls gathered here spontaneously after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in nearby Newtown in 2012, as they did in 1963 after hearing of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. They come here as juniors for the ring ceremony and as seniors for their graduation liturgy. Alumnae marry here, scattering rose petals along the aisle and attaching white ribbons to the pews.

Some students spend a few quiet moments in the Chapel if they are nervous about a test or just need a moment of reflection.

Thirty-seven stained-glass windows along the sides depict scenes in the life of Christ, and lower medallions feature twenty-eight saints, educators, and Catholic thinkers. Three windows above the marble altar portray the three patrons of the school: the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin, and St. Joseph. To the right of the sanctuary is a panel for the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, Mother Catherine McAuley.

Heart and Soul The Chapel Is the Spiritual Center of the School

The Mother McAuley window in the Lauralton Chapel.

Older alumnae recall when the Sisters would pray at the prie-dieu beside the panel of windows, seated according to when they joined the religious order. Every year, students were mostly silent during three-day religious retreats in the Chapel, often led by visiting retreat masters. In the adolescent search for a sense of meaning, for a path from the self-centeredness of childhood to the responsibilities of adulthood, faith played a central role.

Students originally wore veils in the Chapel and later switched to beanies that they carried in their pockets. In 1963, the seniors began wearing chapel veils instead of beanies, which was meant to be a sign of status. But

with Vatican II, such formalities soon disappeared, as did the bronze altar gate, which became the legs of the credence table.

The Chapel, built in 1917, underwent a major renovation in 1982, an effort made possible by dozens of contributions. The most famous donor was the singer Frank Sinatra, who provided reredos, a decorative altarpiece. In 1996, the family of Helen Meloy Schwalje 1941 funded a renovation of the seventy-two-year-old Austin pipe organ in her memory.

Today, the Chapel remains a place where girls lower their heads in prayer, raise their voice in song, and experience the rich spiritual legacy of Lauralton Hall.

An early view of the Chapel before the altar rail was removed and the altar faced the congregation.

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once possest / Of long’d for lodging go to rest / So now having rid my way / Fix my button’d staff and stay.” It was actually part of an epitaph, but with the last two lines missing, it evokes home and hearth.

The Taylor coat of arms was carved above a fireplace with the motto Consequitur Quodcunque Petit (One attains whatever one seeks).

These were grand years for the Taylors in their adopted home of Milford. Henry Augustus Taylor Jr. and his siblings built the Mary Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church in tribute to their mother, and Henry Taylor funded the construction of the Taylor Memorial Library. It cost $25,000, the equivalent of about $700,000 today. The New York Times declared it “one of the handsomest libraries in the State.”

“Taylor was one of the outstanding philanthropists of Milford,” says Richard Platt, a retired city historian and a descendant of early settlers, including the Ponds.

But by the turn of the century, Taylor and his second wife, Elizabeth Corey Taylor, had died, and

A young girl comes home to the original Lauralton.

his heirs were left to argue over his estate. The mansion lay vacant.

Perhaps it seems surprising that the Sisters of Mercy would be drawn to a property so ornamented, such an icon of Victorian materialism. The order was founded by Catherine McAuley, a woman who was orphaned as a child and who felt drawn to help the poor of Dublin. In her middle age, when her guardians died and left her with a comfortable inheritance, she brought together a small group of women who shared her concerns. They spent hours each day providing food and instruction to the poor. Catherine McAuley was a devout Catholic, so when the archbishop asked her to formalize her community, she created the Sisters of Mercy.

They opened the House of Mercy on Baggot Street in Dublin as a shelter and school for women and girls in 1827. One of Catherine McAuley’s wellknown sayings reflects the central commitment of the Sisters of Mercy: “No work of charity can be more productive of good to society or more

Mother Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy.

conclusive to the happiness of the poor than the careful instruction of women, since whatever station they are destined to fill, their example and their advice will always have great influence, and wherever a God-fearing woman presides, peace and good order are generally to be found.”

In 1843, the order came to America led by Sister Frances Warde—first to Pittsburgh, then to Chicago and Providence, Rhode Island, and on to Hartford, Connecticut.

Near the turn of the century, the Sisters at St. Bridget’s Convent in Meriden offered the Sisters of Mercy a site for a boarding school for young women.

The Rev. John Russell, an influential pastor in New Haven, advised them to turn down the offer but to look for a location along the important southeastern corridor of the state.

The task fell largely to Mother Mary Augustine Claven, a devoted teacher who had become the Mother Superior of the Meriden community. She had long wished for a school for girls, in the spirit of Catherine McAuley.

“No work of charity can be more productive of good to society or more conclusive to the happiness of the poor than the careful instruction of women...”

Catherine McAuley

When the Rev. Peter H. McClean of St. Mary’s Church in Milford showed her the Taylor estate, she was struck by its beauty—and by its potential. The bedrooms could be refashioned into classrooms and dormitories. The leafy grounds would provide space for exercise and an atmosphere for reflection. The Sisters could even grow some herbs and vegetables in the garden and greenhouse.

Two years later, Rev. McClean finally negotiated a sale for $35,000 for the forty-acre estate, which included a few smaller houses that had been workers’ quarters. The purchase took place on February 27, 1905, with the approval of Bishop Michael Tierney of Hartford. As a condition, the Sisters agreed to keep

the name that memorialized Laura Taylor, and the new school became the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy, Lauralton Hall.

The Sisters removed the ornament atop the round tower and replaced it with a cross, giving a new spiritual aspect to the mansion. The square and round towers came to symbolize truth and mercy. Even the Taylor motto took on a new meaning. The Sisters added a word to give Lauralton a version that remains on the school’s seal to this day: Fides Consequitur Quodcumque Petit (Faith attains whatever it seeks).

On June 30, 1905, the first Mass was celebrated to mark the Feast of the Sacred Heart. A notice in a local newspaper reported that the Sisters of Mercy were establishing a “Young Ladies’ Academy” in the “delightfully situated manor estate” of Henry A. Taylor.

“Every effort is now being made to make as educational facilities the best possible, and certainly for comfort and beauty it cannot be surpassed,” it said.

The Sisters worked feverishly to clean, furnish, and prepare the building. They had a few short

Lauralton Hall’s Mansion and St. Joseph’s Building.

months and growing expenses. But donations came in from across the state, from relatives, friends, and supportive parishes.

Twenty-five girls began the school year on September 11, 1905. As word spread of this new opportunity, more girls applied. The Sisters broke ground on an addition on the Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, 1906, just six months after they had opened the school. At the Diamond Jubilee of the Sisters of Mercy in December, they dedicated the new dormitory and classroom building to St. Joseph and placed his statue in the highest gable.

Four girls became the first graduates in 1906: Anna Conran, Sarah Feehan, Agnes Kelley, and Gertrude Magner. They wore the latest fashion of the day: highnecked, floor-length white lace morning dresses and hair upswept in Gibson Girl style. Anna Conran would be the first Lauralton alumna to become a Sister of Mercy—Sister Mary Philip. Three other women who entered Lauralton’s first classes in 1905 became Sisters of Mercy, including Sister Mary Basil Russell 1908, who became principal in 1921.

By the time the Sacred Heart building (now known as Mercy Hall) opened in 1917, with its Tudor Gothic architecture, marble stairs, modern auditorium, dining hall, and expansive chapel with gilded moldings, Lauralton Hall had 120 boarders and additional day students, for a total enrollment of about 160, split between elementary and high school.

“The spacious academy affords every convenience for the health and comfort of the pupils. . . . It will be seen that Lauralton Hall is really an ideal location and an ideal school,” said a glowing report on June 2, 1917, in the Bridgeport Telegram

Life at Lauralton was disciplined and orderly, joyful and spiritual, academic and artistic. Girls as young as five lived in the dormitory; the youngest students slept in simple metal-frame beds in a room above the chapel, the “Angels” room, where they could be kept under the close eye of the Sisters.

Twice a week, the girls had homemade ice cream—made of milk from the cows grazing behind continued on page 22

Graduates of the Class of 1909.

The Sounds of Music At Lauralton, the Halls Come Alive with Song

Perfect harmony filled the parlor, wistful folk tunes and sacred songs rising in layers of soprano, contralto, tenor, and bass. The Trapp Family Singers had become a sensation in their tours of the United States, their long Austrian dresses a reminder of the rich traditions of the country they had fled at the cusp of World War II.

The von Trapp family sang at Lauralton Hall, which hosted them during an East Coast tour in 1941, and, in appreciation, they gave a private concert in the mansion. It was appropriate for Lauralton to host the family that would later inspire The Sound of Music. The Sisters of Mercy valued music as a vital part of a well-rounded education.

Even the earliest alumnae went on to musical careers. Genevieve Devin 1919 studied at the New York Conservatory of Music and became a “supervisor of music,” according to Lauralton’s first yearbook, published in 1922. Elizabeth Kelly 1915 performed concerts with a locally renowned soprano. “She sings with marked clearness and ease,” the yearbook said of the young woman who eventually emerged as a national leader in special education. Several young women became church organists.

Lauralton’s calendar is marked by melody. The Advanced Vocal Ensemble (once known as the Lauralettes), the Concert Choir, and the Freshman Choir perform at the annual “Christmas in Song” celebration, Fine Arts Festival, and spring recital, along with the Instrumental Ensemble. Musical theater is staged each fall with a professional quality.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Lauralton resonated with operettas—Hansel and Gretel, Captain Crossbones, Mam’selle Taps. The Choral Club joined in concert with the Yale Freshmen Glee Club and the Cheshire Academy Glee Club. Students sang in the renowned Jenny Lind Competition in Bridgeport, which even today provides a career boost for promising young sopranos. The winner in 1960 was Lauralton senior Trudy Thaler 1960, who went on to win the Metropolitan Opera Guild scholarship, and the runner-up was classmate Marcia King 1960.

Amid this melodic history, one teacher stood out: Sister Mary Helena. Each year, she took students on the train to see the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. It was a venture that inspired awe, a kind of reward for months of seeking to meet her high musical standards.

“She was a perfectionist and ultimate musician,” recalls Mildred Pinto Mooney 1950. “She never settled for anything less than perfect.”

So many years later, Mildred Friedberg Zolan 1943 still tears up when she talks about Sister Helena. Zolan became a boarder in her senior year so that she could practice four hours a day on the school’s Steinway grand piano and have weekly lessons. Just a light touch on her shoulder from Sister Helena at the start of her senior recital calmed her nerves.

“I loved her so deeply. Even after I graduated, I went back and took lessons from her,” says Zolan.

Lauralton continues to nurture the talents of young women, many of whom go on to careers of acclaim. Judy Tarinelli Lisi 1964 heads the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, Florida. She founded both the Shubert Opera Company in New Haven and Opera Tampa and served on the board of the Broadway League.

Joyce Kulhawik 1970 is an Emmy Award–winning entertainment critic based in Boston. Patricia Barbano 1981 studied at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and toured Europe and the United States in opera and musical theater roles.

A catalogue from 1935 expresses the mission most eloquently: “to awaken . . . an appreciation and love of the best in music.”

Brenna Donahue 2014 performs in the Fall 2012 musical production of Cats.

continued from page 18

the school. Cookies and cocoa were a special treat.

“We youngsters knew how much we were loved and what great hopes were had for us, so we enjoyed our lives and our learning,” Sister Mary Aubert Cafferty 1920 recalled at Lauralton’s Diamond Jubilee in 1980. She had entered Lauralton as a kindergartner in 1909.

Boarders were allowed to go home one weekend of each month, and they could receive visitors during specified hours every Saturday and Sunday afternoon. “Visits at other times interfere with the studies,” said school regulations.

Girls learned china painting, embroidery, elocution, and dancing. But even in its earliest days, the program provided academic rigor. Its secondary school offered four tracks: college preparatory, academic, commercial, and music. Lauralton was affiliated with the Catholic University of America and approved by the state of Connecticut. Each year, one graduate received a full scholarship to the College of New Rochelle in New York.

The youngest students at the school, the “Angels.”

“In retrospect, my four years at Lauralton were the most constructive toward the happy and fruitful life God has blessed me with this half-century since graduation.”

Sadie Cohane Dinnan 1920

Most of the teachers were Sisters of Mercy, who wore a black, flowing habit with a black rosary and ebony cross at the waist. The first directress, or principal, was Sister Mary Joseph Garvey, who expected her students to become exemplars of a cultured and faith-filled young lady.

“After God, Lauralton owes much of its worth to the cultural and intellectual efforts of Sister Mary Joseph,” a student wrote in a remembrance. “Endowed with a keen sense of the beautiful in music, literature, and art, Sister Mary Joseph inspired her pupils with a deep appreciation of the finer things of life.”

Hall responded with generosity; girls raised money for charity and war bonds. The school also kept vigilant with protections such as air raid drills and stores of emergency food supplies.

But Lauralton Hall remained a place where girls could grow into confident young women, even in the direst of times.

The world moved through its paroxysms—American boys dying in the trenches of World War I, farms drying up, and banks shutting down in the Great Depression. A generation later, the nation was attacked at Pearl Harbor, and the world was at war again. Lauralton

“Most of the Sisters who guided us through those adolescent years have passed on, but the code for living they instilled has guided my whole life,” wrote Sadie Cohane Dinnan 1920, when she became a Golden Girl at her fiftieth reunion in 1970. “In retrospect, my four years at Lauralton were the most constructive toward the happy and fruitful life God has blessed me with this half-century since graduation.”

Lauralton Hall Empowering Women for Life

A True and Loyal Spirit

Our Hearts Will Ever Be to Lauralton Loyal and True

A school is a mirror of its times. Young women in the early twentieth century were expected to behave with grace and decorum. Lauralton girls walked through the hallways in silence. Neatness was a virtue; untidy dorm rooms could draw a small fine.

“Loud talking, screaming, boisterous laughing, noisy use of Victrola and radio, betoken a lack of good breeding,” cautioned a student handbook from the 1940s.

How different that is from the exuberance on display today, where girls call to each other across the hallway or hug each other with shrieks of happiness when there is good news to share. Noticing a student who seems too quiet and pensive, a teacher is likely to take the student aside to make sure everything is all right.

Yet somehow, the current students do not seem so different from the generations before them. Their hopes and dreams have evolved as opportunities opened up for women, but their sense of shared purpose lives on.

“The spirit of Lauralton is dictated by its student body. No faculty member can create the spirit of the school,” says Sister Pat Rooney 1954, who served as Director of Development from 1979 to

1989. “You can’t create that kind of loyalty. It comes upon you. People feel it when they go there.”

Some call it the charism of Catherine McAuley, the founder who viewed education as a mission rather than a profession, and who created the community of women that became the Sisters of Mercy.

Add to that the natural arc of adolescence, when young women feel uncertain about who they are, what they are capable of doing, and what their future holds. Generations at Lauralton navigated fears and shared confidences with classmates who became lifelong friends and found their anchor in the ideals and insight they gained in the classroom.

What was their touchstone? Often there was a teacher who captured it all—the high standards and discipline of study, the kindness, and the sense of humor.

Sister Bartholomew was so full of life that the Class of 1954 dubbed her an honorary classmate. Sister Ellen Frances taught chemistry—and the rewards of perseverance on the basketball court. Sister Madeline, gentle and kind, became the Dean

Sister Corita with students in the 1960s.

Lauralton Hall has always been a sisterhood. But for many women, it is also a kinship of aunts and cousins, mothers and grandmothers, and in-laws—a full web of family connections.

The Russell sisters were the original legacy family. Sister Mary Basil Russell 1908 was one of the first twenty-five students to enter the school, and she eventually served two stints as Principal. Sister Mary Edmund Russell became Principal in 1938, and Sister Mary Kevin Russell 1915 and Margaret Russell were longtime teachers. All were nieces of the Rev. John Russell, who had helped found the school.

“Sister Mary Basil was very forthright and feisty. Sister Mary Edmund was quiet and elegant, but very supportive,” recalls Mary Sedensky Koehm 1946, who herself was part of a Lauralton legacy, including her daughter, Margaret M. Koehm, MD 1976, and four nieces.

She recalls Margaret Russell as stylish and elegant—and strict. “Margaret Russell was a stern taskmaster. You either loved her or hated her. I respected her because I liked Latin and she made me work,” she says.

It is hard to surpass the depth of commitment of the Russells, but for many students, Lauralton is embedded in family tradition. Of the Class of

Lauralton’s Legacies For Many, It’s a Family Affair

Left to right: Virginia Foley Valade 1954, Elise Valade Cassidy 1979, Quinn Cassidy 2018.

2017, for example, twenty-five are sisters of current students or alumnae, twelve are daughters, and eight are granddaughters of alumnae.

Bonds across generations create connections beyond the lifelong friendships that form at Lauralton.

Elise Valade Cassidy 1979 had two sisters who went to Lauralton; her mother, Virginia Foley Valade, graduated in 1954. Now her daughter, Quinn, is in the class of 2018.

“To this day, whenever I go back to Lauralton and walk through the doors, I feel like I’ve come home,” Elise says.

Eileen Casey 1981 went to school with cousins. Her grandmother, Margaret Fagan Casey 1932, was a beloved business teacher who also taught charm— instructing young women on how to be a “Lauralton Lady.” She had a deep affection for the school, and that has truly been her legacy. “We see it as a family school,” says Casey. “We always supported it.”

Today’s students are creating their own legacies. Meghan Dougherty 2015 was happy when her younger sister decided to follow her at Lauralton.

“I love knowing that once I go to college, once I’m far away, that she’ll be cared for by all these people that I know,” she says. “And there will be girls around her who care.”

of Students in the 1970s. That meant she was in charge of discipline—a job made easier because no one wanted to disappoint her.

In the 1960s, the impressive Miss Ann Culkin, perfectly coiffed and almost six feet tall, ran a week of charm school—a valiant effort to convince young women to stand up straight and refrain from the unsightly horror of chewing gum. For years to come, Lauralton alumnae would imagine the taut string, keeping their torsos in a perfect posture.

When Rosa DeLauro 1960 arrived at Lauralton in 1956, she recalls being served pizza on her first night—and being told to eat it carefully with a fork and knife. Life had a defined pattern for this last year of boarders at the school. DeLauro’s most memorable lessons came from the underlying values she saw projected around her. A concern for others. A quest for social justice. A

belief that hard work and deeply held convictions will lead to success.

“That is what helps to prepare us for the roles we take on in later life,” says Rosa, who was elected to the US House of Representatives from Connecticut’s Third Congressional District in 1990. “Lauralton was instrumental in guiding me for the future. It’s very, very much a part of what I do today and what motivates me.”

Despite its successes, Lauralton was not immune to the societal upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s. With Vatican II, the altar rails came down, and the Sisters gradually transitioned from their starched habits to regular street clothes. But, more fundamentally, questions arose about the future of Catholic education.

The Honorable Rosa L. DeLauro 1960.

Carol Moran Keating 1957 and Chaplain and Teacher Rev. Carl J. Sherer honor the graduates in the Annual Class Tree Planting.

The Catacombs were dim and scary, but that underground corridor was the quickest way to get from Mercy Hall to the senior lounge or art studio in the basement of the St. Joseph classroom building. Students would run along, glancing nervously at small, locked doors as they turned the corners.

Today, the bright lights of the Catacombs reflect shiny white paint. But the bumps in the floor and walls still inspire the same scary stories that Lauralton women have been telling each other for decades. Didn’t you know that’s where they buried the nuns?

“The seniors try to tell you stories to scare you, but they’re not true,” says Lea Mascola 2017, a freshman from New Haven, as she eats lunch with some classmates. They heard the same bit about burials, sometimes embellished with ghost sightings.

Lauralton’s historic spaces lend themselves to oft-told legends. Some girls enjoy the quiet nooks of the Catacombs as a place to study or gather with friends. Others avoid the underground corridor, at least for their first year.

A more comforting tradition involved the statue of Maria Goretti, the patron saint of young girls. For years, the statue would appear at school events, dances, and the prom, dressed in appropriate finery. This wasn’t

so much a prank as it was the constant presence of a spiritual symbol.

But one year, just before graduation, Maria Goretti disappeared. When it eventually was returned, the statue was placed in a more secure spot—to protect the protector.

Lauralton Legends The Mansion Has Its Share of Ghost Stories

Saint Maria Goretti.

Coeducation was the trend. New coed schools opened across Connecticut, and some boys’ and girls’ schools abandoned single-gender education. Lauralton was at a crossroads. Demand had been great in the 1950s for a Catholic girls’ college preparatory education, and the school phased out its grammar school and boarding program to make way for new classrooms. Now enrollment was declining.

In 1973, the school’s governance shifted from the Sisters of Mercy to a Board of Trustees, which could build support from business and community leaders—although the sponsorship of the Sisters of Mercy remained. In 1975, the Board hired Sister Peg Rooney 1951 as Principal, with the mission to reenergize and reposition the school.

Few people could claim Sister Peg’s deep understanding and affection for Lauralton. She came to Lauralton as a fifth grader in 1943, and she returned as a Latin teacher for several years in 1961. As Principal, her goal was to modernize while maintaining the essence of the school.

Students experiment in chemistry.

In 1975, the school still ran with no administrators beyond the Principal—no guidance counselor, no athletic director, no department chairs. So Sister Peg brought in a team, including Sister Mary Joan Cook and Sister Madeline Follachio. Sister Pat Rooney 1954 later became the school’s Development Director.

The new administrative team took on tasks large and small. They asked the McAuley Club, an auxiliary group of fathers of students, to paint the hallways. They raised money to refurbish the chapel. They rejuvenated the alumnae association and tapped into the enthusiasm of current students to appeal to prospective applicants.

“Some of the Board members used to call those ‘the Camelot years’ because so many things changed in her twelve-year tenure,” says Sister Pat.

Sister Peg added new sports teams— purchasing uniforms, equipment, and vans to transport students—and ushered the school into the Cross County Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CCIAC).

Lauralton became infused with new optimism. Girls in blue uniforms stepped off the train in Milford from towns around Connecticut, seeking an education imbued with a spirit of service and of friendship. The Sunday Post of Bridgeport featured Lauralton in a two-page spread, noting, “Catholic schools are closing at an alarming and discouraging rate—a blow to the entire education system in Connecticut. But Lauralton Hall . . . has been an outstanding success, maintaining its solid reputation and financial footing.”

Why did it thrive? Because it continued to meet the needs of young women while responding to the changing times, the newspaper concluded.

Lauralton’s Diamond Jubilee in 1980 truly was a

Members of the Class of 1959 pose on the Mansion steps.

Students in the Class of 1989.

time for celebration. In fact, the anniversary party lasted all year. In April, the Connecticut General Assembly issued a proclamation recognizing that, “For seventy-five years the Academy has maintained the highest level of academic excellence and has instilled in its students an awareness of social responsibility and spiritual values.”

The Archbishop of Hartford, the Most Rev.

John F. Whealon, celebrated with a Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving on September 12, followed by an academic convocation that honored the first five recipients of the Claven Award. Students wore period gowns at a turn-of-the-century ball at a country club in Orange in February 1981, the local Garden Club put on a flower show, and the Sisters of Mercy celebrated their own Mass and reception in May. The Jubilee ended in June with a formal ball at the Yale Commons in New Haven.

Lauralton had found a way to balance tradition and progress. As the millennium approached, it became more important than ever to keep up with the needs

Game-Changer Trailblazing Women Found Their Voice at Lauralton

To be a trailblazer means having the courage to be alone at the forefront. The first female chemistry professor. The first female attorney in a major law firm. The first woman to direct a major research lab. The first woman to serve as a school superintendent.

Trudy A. Dickneider, PhD 1964 remembers when she first started working at Superior Oil in Houston in 1981, a geochemist and the only professional woman in the office. She had gained her confidence at Lauralton, where a woman’s voice always mattered.

“I was very comfortable being the only woman in the room,” she says.

“I didn’t feel I had to apologize for myself. I didn’t think they were smarter than I was.”

The Sisters themselves radiated the value of being an educated woman, says Paula Lawton Bevington 1954, who graduated from Yale Law School, worked for the Peace Corps, and became a Fulbright Scholar.

“We were encouraged to aspire to go to good colleges and prepare ourselves,” says Paula. “It was assumed you would have a full life.”

Left to right: Jane Capecelatro Bove, Ellen Bourgon Kasper, Leanore Anastasio, Martha O’Leary Lunde, senior class officers, 1964.

Paula became the first woman associate at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, one of the leading law firms in Atlanta. She later worked with her husband in his energy engineering firm; today, she still works part-time in a development role with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society.

Betsy Higgins Gladfelter, PhD 1964 became fascinated by symbiosis while she was working on science projects at Lauralton. That interest evolved into a career, as she became an expert on coral reefs. In 1987, she was the first woman to become director of an international marine lab in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. Today, she is a guest investigator at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.

Rosa DeLauro 1960 became one of the first women to serve as chief of staff for a US senator when she took on that position for Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut. She was elected to Congress in 1990.

The passion and the values at Lauralton made a difference, the alumnae say. “I recognized that I had an obligation and a moral responsibility to others,” says Rosa.

“I do not believe I would have had the career I had if I had not gone to Lauralton,” says Trudy Dickneider, who received her doctorate at the University of Miami. “It’s a game changer.”

of the times while remaining true to the school’s core values.

The Rev. Cornelius Doherty, with his thinning hair, round glasses, and ready smile, personified this spirit of Lauralton. He was always a comforting presence— one moment gently teasing, another offering advice or consoling words. “He told us again and again what counted were the grades we would get in heaven, and he lived his life in such a way we wanted to get high grades there,” Monica Murray 1992 wrote in a remembrance.

Michelle Langewisch 1992 described how much it meant to her when Father Doherty visited her in the hospital after she was hit by a car, and the impact he had on her as a religion teacher. “He taught me that religion is very individual, that it’s about caring and believing in others as well as in yourself,” she said.

Yet Father Doherty also was a practical

man, and when he saw a need, he stepped in to help. He became a fixture in the library as he devoted his spare time to helping digitize the library’s catalog.

Father Doherty’s death in 1992 was deeply felt, but his influence remained. Lauralton moved forward with major projects to modernize. As Principal, Karen Yardley oversaw the conversion of the old gym into the Helen Meloy Schwalje Library Media Center, a gift of Joseph Schwalje in memory of his wife, Helen, of the Class of 1941. And as the school’s first President in 1993, Karen shepherded the planning, fundraising, and construction of the first new building since 1917—a state-of-the-art athletic center. It features retractable bleachers that seat 700 spectators, college-level basketball and volleyball courts, an exercise room, kitchen, and a lobby large enough to host special events. The athletic center also has classroom space, locker rooms, and coaches’ and trainers’ rooms.

Barbara C. Griffin, who became President in 2003, turned her attention to boosting technology—

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Freshly baked cookies fly off the counter in the Dining Hall during the lunch waves.

Crusading to the Top Lauralton’s Crusaders Have Spirit, Sportsmanship—and Success

The moment comes—on the basketball court, the diving platform, the runner’s block—to focus on a singular goal. To believe in the power to win. For guts and glory.

The Lauralton Hall Crusaders carried that confidence onto the basketball court at the Mohegan Sun Arena for the state finals in March 2014, buoyed by a sea of white-clad, cheering classmates. It was time to move beyond the crushing disappointment of the year before, when they lost the state championship in the final seconds of the game.

When the final buzzer sounded, they leaped into each other’s arms. “For us to get that win is just a goal fulfilled, a dream come true,” said senior forward Emma McCarthy 2014.

Winning a state sports championship would have been unthinkable for the young women who came to Lauralton many years earlier. The Sisters of Mercy always promoted physical activity as part of a holistic education, but early sports teams were intramural—white versus blue, or seniors versus juniors. Even when Lauralton teams began playing other local schools in interscholastic games, competitive opportunities for girls were limited.

The earliest gym was on the third floor of the St. Joseph classroom building. In 1930, a new gymnasium opened in the St. Joseph building, in a space that now houses the Helen Meloy

The crowd cheers for the basketball team, which won the CIAC 2014 Girls Class LL title at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Schwalje Library Media Center. In billowing bloomers, girls played field hockey, baseball, and tennis; and practiced archery on the grounds; and participated in dance, gymnastics, volleyball, and basketball in the gym. If you ran out of bounds in basketball, you were likely hitting a wall.

Then came the watershed. In 1972, Title IX of the Education Amendments barred sex-based discrimination in any educational program or activity. Colleges began to build new women’s teams and to recruit female athletes.

“The world opened up for women’s sports,” recalls Chris Healey 1967, who worked as an Assistant Athletic Director at Yale University and took a position as Athletic Director at Lauralton in 1980.

Today, Lauralton offers sixteen sports; ice hockey is the latest addition. A state-of-the-art athletic center opened in 2001. The school is planning to develop an artificial turf field as part of its Comprehensive Campus Master Plan.

Lauralton has had many standout athletes. Eileen Richetelli-Crozier 1990 won five NCAA individual titles as a diver for Stanford University, took a gold medal at the 1991 Pan American Games, and was an alternate at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Laura Valade Collins 1988 played soccer for Yale University and the semiprofessional Boston Renegades.

In addition to the basketball championship, Lauralton has won eight state swimming championships, three state softball championships, and one state skiing championship.

Lauralton has always encouraged students to enjoy the team spirit, sportsmanship, and fitness that come from sports—even if they aren’t star athletes. For example, Coach Jairus Gilbert introduced cross country to Lauralton with a “no-cut” rule. Dozens of girls would run, many of them just for the exercise and camaraderie.

Laura Valade Collins ran cross country at Lauralton. At the time, the school didn’t have a soccer team; she played in a statewide league. But she gained an important underpinning.

“The traditions and the values are like a moral compass they instilled in you,” she says. “They are such influential years in your life. It helps define who you are, growing up as a young woman.”

Softball players ready to take to the field.

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providing wireless Internet access, laptops for every teacher, and improved computer stations. She initiated a project to renovate science labs, and she added rigor to the curriculum with more Advanced Placement classes. She was able to arrange for Lauralton performances to take place in the Parsons Government Center Auditorium in Milford, raising the profile of the school’s arts program.

But the most important change of all came from the burgeoning opportunities for women in virtually every field. Lauralton alumnae had always pushed the boundaries as they made their way in a maledominated world. But now the boundaries were disappearing. “There were all kinds of possibilities for these girls, and it was wonderful to see,” says Karen Yardley, whose daughter, Molly Yardley 2009, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and entered the US Army Adjutant General Corps.

In celebration of its centennial in 2005, Lauralton hosted a dinner reunion for all alumnae. They

students travel from their hometowns to arrive in Milford on the Metro North trains.

Lauralton

“Our hope is that ten, twenty, thirty years from now, our graduates will say there was something very different, something unnatural about Lauralton, and that that difference made a difference.”

—Rev. Cornelius J. Doherty

Hallways in Mercy Hall are filled with activity between classes. Latin teacher Dr. Clement Kuehn and students prepare for their next class period.

appreciated the way the school had modernized— but they also could see so much that remained the same. The navy uniform with a white shirt. The majestic “golden” staircase in the Mansion. The gingko trees behind it, where girls would often meet up with their friends. More important, the feel of the school—the charism—was still there.

By 2005, enrollment had grown to 460. The copper beech, planted by the Class of 1908, stood as a lush sentinel at the roundabout, a living symbol of the school’s deep roots and ever-widening reach.

In his explanation of “The Vocation of a Catholic School,” Father Doherty spoke of the importance of Christian values and the belief in the miraculous. A Catholic school needs to cherish that foundation, he said. “Our hope is that ten, twenty, thirty years from now, our graduates will say there was something very different, something unnatural about Lauralton, and that that difference made a difference.”

Lauralton Hall Empowering Women for Life

Pursuing Their Highest Potential

Rooted in the Mercy Tradition, Reaching New Heights in the Twenty-First Century

Today’s students hold the world in their hands, the equivalent of museums, archives, and libraries in a device smaller than a piece of paper. But amid the technological transformation of education, Lauralton Hall remains in harmony with its past, even as it reaches toward the future. It is a place of respect and caring, of building lifelong bonds and a love of learning.

Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy, often spoke about responding to the needs of the times. She believed in striving for excellence. Her words are as relevant today as they were in the 1800s: “To teach well, kindness and patience, though indispensable, will not suffice without a solid foundation and a judicious method. Education and accomplishments of the highest order are very desirable.”

In the twenty-first century, that is still the aim of Lauralton Hall—to give young women a strong educational framework anchored in the core values of the Sisters of Mercy. Technology enables students to explore the world, reveal history, study anatomy, and communicate in ways that once were unimaginable. They delve deeply into a curriculum that includes college-level work through Advanced Placement and University of Connecticut–certified courses. They can even take online classes with other young women from around the country and the world.

But the educational leadership at Lauralton Hall appreciates that technology alone cannot shape tomorrow’s leaders. It is the entire experience that matters—the richness and structure of the curriculum, the design and feel of the environment, the traditions that bind students to each other and to those who came before them.

Inside the historic buildings of the 150-year-old campus, the space has been creatively reconfigured

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Schooling the World Across the Globe or Close to Home, Students Learn They Can Make a Difference

Traveling in Guatemala, Lauralton girls were wide-eyed as their vans bounced along pockmarked roads past a stunning vista of mountains and volcanoes. It was winter break, and they were headed to a tiny village with no electricity or running water. Their mission: to “School the World.”

This International Service Program, created by Lauralton alumna Kate Curran 1981, builds schools in the impoverished Central American country. The girls carried toys and school supplies and even toothbrushes in their suitcases, all badly needed items. But they didn’t yet imagine what they would receive in return.

“They expected to go to Guatemala to change people’s lives, but they found they themselves were changed,” says Spanish teacher Pat Doerr, who serves as coordinator and chaperone.

When the students arrived, the villagers came out to the schoolyard for a greeting. They stared at the girls in an awkward, lost-in-translation moment. Then the Lauralton group pulled out some piñatas, popsicles, soccer balls, and beach balls and communicated in the universal language of childhood.

During the week, Lauralton students painted and poured concrete sidewalks, read to children and taught basic English words, shadowed a Guatemalan woman, and swept dirt floors. By the end of the week, Lauralton girls were wearing traditional Mayan skirts and performing a Mayan dance with Guatemalan children.

Little William, a five-year-old, clung to Maddie Peloso 2016, and she felt a connection to the hopes and dreams of people who struggle even with basic necessities. “It’s like nothing I’d ever experienced before,” she said afterward. “It really changes your perspective.”

Lauralton students with Guatemalan children during the School the World trip in February 2015.

School the World is a dramatic and life-changing experience, but it is just one way that Lauralton students seek to make the world a better place.

Lauralton Hall’s commitment to service runs deep in the roots of Mercy education.

In the school’s early years, students raised thousands of dollars through Mission Crusades and donated clothing, medical supplies, and religious items for missions around the country and the world. Today, “Good Cause Dress Down” days are a popular way to help charities through small donations.

Every student must perform at least seventy-five hours of community service during their four years at Lauralton, but for many, that is just the beginning. In 2013, 121 students gave more than 100 hours of their time during the school year, which earned them the Frances Warde Service Award, named after one of the first Sisters of Mercy. That represents more than 12,000 volunteer hours from those students in one year alone.

There are other avenues for giving as well. In 2013, Lauralton’s National Honor Society collected a record 1,653 cans in a Souper Bowl can drive to support local food pantries, and students helped fill two semitrucks with donations of furniture, clothing, toys, and other Christmas gifts bound for an

impoverished area of West Virginia as part of Project Appalachia, an initiative of the Benedictine Grange monastic community.

During Global Solidarity Week, an initiative of Catholic Relief Services, students learn about extreme poverty around the world and efforts to improve literacy among girls and women in countries where girls often are denied a formal education.

“In a holistic education, you’re educating both the mind and the heart,” says Dr. Iadarola.

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to accommodate today’s needs. Rows of desks in front of a blackboard are now often replaced with tables or lab benches that encourage group work. An Internet Café provides a convenient spot for group collaboration while individual students in the Catacombs, a classroom, or even under the gingko trees tap into the campus-wide WiFi.

Lauralton has refashioned the school day to better fit current needs with block schedules and seventy-minute classes. The extended time allows teachers to develop richer lessons, work on creative projects, and conduct lively discussions. Twenty-first-century pedagogy has ushered in the “flipped classroom,” as faculty optimize their classroom time for in-depth discussion and handson activities.

The historic buildings have served each generation of Lauralton students, and the school continues to adapt them. Dr. Iadarola is dedicated to embracing the rich historical legacy of the estate while bringing forth state-of-the-art facilities.

“We’re preparing our students not just for today but for tomorrow. . . . We’re preparing them not just for making a living but living a life that’s worth living.”

—President Antoinette Iadarola, PhD

That is the essence of the Carriage Barn project.

On the outside, the Carriage Barn is being restored to its Victorian glory. On the inside, it is becoming the modern Center for the Visual and Performing Arts. Its interior brick walls and exposed steel beams will evoke the past, but the center’s multiuse space will provide an ideal setting for performances and exhibits.

As a balance of preservation and progress, the Carriage Barn project is an example of the direction that Dr. Iadarola brought to Lauralton when she became President in 2009. Excellence and innovation drive her vision for the school. The faculty supports that vision, bringing it to life in the classroom.

Dr. Iadarola spearheaded a process to develop a Comprehensive Campus Master Plan that will take Lauralton into the coming decades. The plan, developed after meetings with the school’s key stakeholders—students, faculty, alumnae, parents, and others—is a road map for the adaptive reuse of facilities into a contemporary learning environment. Some elements have already come to fruition. For example, the Center for Guidance and College Planning opened in Mercy Hall in 2012, with a conference area that boasts the latest audiovisual capabilities—well equipped for visiting college

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“For over 100 years, the Sisters of Mercy and the faculty and staff have established a long tradition of academic excellence in arming young women with the knowledge and the skills they need to succeed in college and then go out and build just societies,” she said while launching Lauralton into a new era of distinction and achievement.

Sisters of the Ring From Matriculation to beyond Graduation, Lauralton Bonds Endure

Wearing their uniforms for the first time, the class of 2017 marched together into the gym to the ceremonious strains of bagpipes. Their teachers, standing solemnly in academic gowns, awaited them. Their families watched from the bleachers.

“You hear your name, and it’s like a graduation, but it’s entering somewhere,” explains Ivy Tebbetts 2016, describing the Matriculation Ceremony.

Tebbetts was a little nervous about coming to Lauralton because she didn’t know anyone. She didn’t realize how many other new students felt the same way. The 127 freshmen in her class came from twenty-six Connecticut towns—from nineteen Catholic schools, twenty-four public schools, and four private schools. One-quarter of the class is non-Catholic, and 18 percent are students of color.

By the time Tebbetts had shaken the hands of President Antoinette (Toni) Iadarola, PhD, and Principal Ann Pratson, signed

the statement of Mercy values, and mingled with classmates at the Matriculation Ceremony, she already had some new friends. “That one day just opened my eyes to Lauralton,” she says. “I fell in love with the school, and I still am in love with the school.”

The Matriculation Ceremony, which began in 2009, marks entry into the Lauralton sisterhood. This is a place where girls can be themselves, where they dress alike but understand and celebrate their differences, where they share values and experiences and heartfelt feelings.

The symbol of that sisterhood is the Lauralton ring, an onyx octagon adorned with a gold Lauralton seal. Onyx is a stone that represents inner strength. Older alumnae remember receiving the rings as seniors on Mercy Day, a special feast day that honors the date—September 24, 1827—when Catherine McAuley opened a school for girls in a poor neighborhood of Dublin. After receiving a blessing in the chapel, seniors would give a yellow rose to a junior—a symbol of friendship—and the juniors would bestow the rings. Seniors then would twist each other’s rings and make a wish.

Today, juniors receive their rings from the Lauralton Principal or a legacy—mother, grandmother, sister, or aunt who attended Lauralton—in a

ceremony much like the earlier ones. They ask their friends to give a twist, counting up to 100 times in an enthusiastic version of the tradition.

As the students depart the next year, scattering to colleges and then jobs across the country, the ring continues to connect them. Students and alumnae often tell stories of discovering the Lauralton bond with a stranger in a faraway place when they spot the distinctive onyx and gold ring on someone’s finger.

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admissions officials. The Internet Café is adjacent to the center. Other improvements aren’t as obvious but are nonetheless important: a new sprinkler system, improved energy efficiencies, and updated landscaping.

In 2013, the Connecticut Audubon Society named the Lauralton campus a Healthy Habitat for Birds and Wildlife. The designation reflects the ongoing commitment of the administration as well as the work of the faculty and students in the Environmental Club, who removed invasive growth and planted a butterfly garden. Work also has begun on new playing fields to enhance the athletic program.

After submitting an application detailing the historic origin, architectural significance, and condition of each building on the campus, Lauralton gained a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. It was a great way to honor the school’s unique history and the stewardship of the campus by the Sisters of Mercy. But what excites Dr. Iadarola most is the future.

Dr. Iadarola meets with students.

The Comprehensive Campus Master Plan calls for the creation of new classrooms, a key aspect of the plan as Lauralton welcomed the largest class in its history with 127 freshman in the 2013–2014 school year. Changes in the walkways and parking will improve the campus flow, and the open space will take on a collegial quality with the development of Mercy Green.

President Iadarola sees it all as a continuation of the mission of Catherine McAuley, as Lauralton is always seeking to uplift the physical environment, the academic rigor, and the commitment to core values. It is a place that empowers young women for life. “We’re preparing our students not just for today but for tomorrow,” she says. “We’re preparing them not just for making a living but living a life that’s worth living.”

Education in an all-girls environment is more relevant than ever. A Time magazine

The twenty-first-century classroom is as big as the world. It reaches back into the archives of history and delves fearlessly into the future.

Lauralton students watch authentic newsreels from World War II and peruse documents from the founding fathers. They Skype with the author of a textbook and create a magazine using Joomag. Want to know how to create fake blood for a Forensic Science project? Just Google it!

Some schools ask students to shut down their devices when they enter the classroom. Lauralton Wireless World Technology Creates a Classroom without Limits

wants its students to turn them on—and harness the power of laptops, tablets, and smart phones. Students create presentations on Prezi and PowerPoint and design videos. They check their email or collaborate on projects in the Internet Café.

On a recent afternoon in Lisa Peterson’s US Government class, students have the textbook displayed on their laptops. For homework, they access reading assignments on Haiku, the school’s intranet, and they work on group projects by using Google Docs, which allows changes to be visible to everyone in real time.

They begin class by talking about current events—news they found online—and Halle O’Brien 2016 mentions an article she saw about providing WiFi to schools in disadvantaged communities.

She hadn’t realized that many schools don’t have access to wireless Internet. Technology is an important part of her education— and could put valuable information in the hands of students nationwide. “Imagine if everyone had WiFi,” she says.

Students seek out the window seats in the Mansion for studying and reading.

report noted that nationally, in 1984, 37 percent of computer science degrees were awarded to women, but three decades later, that number had dropped to 12 percent.

At Lauralton, students take Physics in their freshman year, and they quickly realize how accessible this science really is. Physics is taught as a way to explain the world around them. Many students move on later to Advanced Placement Physics, where they learn to write formulas that solve some practical-sounding questions: How hot is the aluminum bottom of the pot when I boil water? How long will it take for an inch of water to evaporate?

In Forensic Science, students discover that science can lead to a fascinating career. A class lab experiment might involve making fake body parts—blood out of cornstarch, corn syrup, red dye, and water, or skin out of flour, water, glue, and beige makeup—and then measuring the velocity and distance of blood spatter. In Environmental Science, students work in groups to solve problems.

“If you have the chance to speak on something you are passionate about, do it before you regret not saying anything.”

That was a bit of advice from Abby Janik 2014 on the eve of the annual Youth and Government (YAG) conference. As Editor in Chief for the mock legislative meeting at the state capitol, her job was to run a newspaper and a blog for the students from around the state. But she hardly needed to tell her fellow Lauralton classmates to speak up for themselves.

At Lauralton, taking a stand is popular. YAG attracts more than eighty students, making Lauralton one of the largest delegations in the state. The Environmental Club has grown large enough to subdivide into three groups—to promote sustainability, awareness, and creativity/fundraising.

Voices of Passion Lauralton Girls Have the Courage to Lead

Students model their own designs during the Trash the Runway eco-fashion show sponsored by the Environmental Club.

SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) educates classmates about the dangers of texting while driving and underage drinking. Spirited discussions take place in other clubs as well, from political awareness to Shakespeare.

By speaking up, Lauralton students have found they can make a difference. In 2012, Madeline Rudden 2012 managed to get “No-Idling” signs from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection to place on campus. Environmental Club members sort and maintain the recycling bins.

And there’s the ever-popular Trash the Runway fashion show, in which students create outfits out of repurposed items, such as duct tape, trash bags, and cans. Each girl shares an environmental fact, but there’s an underlying message, too: Things we throw away can be repurposed—with a little creativity.

Speaking out has earned Lauralton students recognition at YAG. In 2014, two juniors, Marissa Browne 2015 and Marissa Favano 2015, won Youth in Law, an appellate-style competition, for the second year in a row.

In a YAG blog post, Abby summed up the sense of empowerment that Lauralton nurtures: “When you have an opinion, share it. You never know how far your voice will take you.”

In one project, they must find a balance of alternative and traditional energy sources that is both cost-effective and environmentally sound.

Lauralton students graduate with the confidence to move on to college to pursue studies in the STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering, and math. That sets them apart from many of their counterparts in coed public and private schools. There is no stigma associated with being a woman who is good at math, no gender stereotypes with which to contend.

A 2009 study commissioned by the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools analyzed a survey of more than 20,000 freshmen women who graduated from private single-sex or coed schools. Girls’ school graduates were significantly more likely to rate themselves “above average” in math ability, computer skills, writing, public speaking, and overall academic

ability. They studied more, spent more time studying with other students, and were more likely to talk with teachers after class.

Lauralton students want to share their love of science with younger girls. Twice a year, the school sponsors a Science Olympics for middle school girls. In the spring of 2014, 120 girls in thirty teams from Fairfield and New Haven Counties participated in a competition that Lauralton students helped organize.

Meanwhile, Science Department Chair and Physics teacher Theresa Napolitano and Forensic Science teacher Jennifer Shea shared their innovative techniques at a workshop for the National Conference on Girls’ Education, which is presented by the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools. The key, they said, is to use real-life scenarios and a threedimensional experience with virtual and physical models to make science relevant and engaging.

Every year, Lauralton graduates enjoy the fruits of their hard work when they receive acceptances from the nation’s leading colleges and universities. Alumnae have the confidence to

Students and Science teacher April Oberempt Kelly 1985 work on an experiment during a lab period.

During the warm weather, students take advantage of the picnic benches on the back lawn.

move on to college with the knowledge that they are well prepared.

But they carry so much more with them from their Lauralton experience. On the drive from the front gate, banners display the Mercy core values: Compassion and Service. Educational Excellence. Concern for Women and Women’s Issues. Global Vision and Responsibility. Spiritual Growth. Development and Collaboration.

Those are more than words on fabric. They are true guideposts. Throughout the years, Lauralton has shown young women a world of possibility, and alumnae became trailblazers in their chosen fields. But their success was imbued with a commitment to building a better world.

“You can’t separate the mind from the heart. They go together,” says Dr. Iadarola. “Integrating these has been a very strong part of the educational philosophy of the Sisters of Mercy.”

Those values have been evident in the thousands of hours of service work that students perform each year. The Mercy spirit can be found in the peer

tutors, who help freshmen and sophomores adjust to high school life and cope with the pressures of high academic expectations. It shines as Lauralton women cheer each other on, comfort each other, and build a true sisterhood that lasts long past the hugs and tears of graduation day.

Lauralton’s outreach is global. The school hosts international exchange students and encourages enrichment and service trips for its students. Latin remains a popular subject, but students also can study French, Spanish, and Mandarin—languages that open them up to a world beyond the school’s walls.

Despite the passage of time, many elements of Lauralton life remain familiar to alumnae—the annual class retreats, the Father-Daughter Dance, the 100 Days Dinner for seniors. And, of course, the navy uniform.

“The essence of the school hasn’t changed,” says Ann Pratson, who retired as Principal in 2014 after thirty-five years at Lauralton. “What has changed is the delivery of education. The students haven’t

really changed. They are bright and energetic and kind and giving.”

From those early days more than a century ago, when simply educating young women for careers or college was considered progressive, Lauralton has evolved into one of the top independent Catholic college preparatory schools in Connecticut, an accomplishment achieved while staying connected with the Mercy spirit that makes it special.

Sometimes, Dr. Iadarola imagines what the first owners of the Lauralton estate would think about the present-day school. Undoubtedly, she believes, they would be pleased. “If I were Pond or Taylor today, I would say, ‘We’re proud to have sold that property to the Sisters of Mercy,’” she says. “‘Look what they’ve been able to achieve.’”

“If I were a Pond or Taylor today, I would say, ‘We’re proud to have sold that property to the Sisters of Mercy. Look what they’ve been able to achieve.’”

President Antoinette Iadarola, PhD

Administrators of Lauralton Hall

Presidents

1993

Karen Yardley

2003 Barbara C. Griffin

2009 Antoinette Iadarola, PhD

Principals

1905

1921

Sister Mary Joseph Garvey

Sister Mary Basil Russell 1908

1928 Sister Ephrem Shea

1930

1938

1953

1958

1969

1971

1975

1987

1988

1993

2015

Sister Mary Basil Russell 1908

Sister Mary Edmund Russell

Sister Mary Bartholomew Hines

Sister Mary Natalie Gildea

Sister M. Therese Clare Cunningham

Sister Grace Mannion

Sister Margaret Rooney 1951

Sister Mary Theresa Glynn

Karen Yardley

Ann Pratson

Cynthia Gallant

Graduates who entered the CT branch of the Sisters of Mercy (by year of graduation)

1906

1907

1907

1908

1910

1911

1915

1918

Sister Mary Phillip Conran

Sister Mary Eustelle Cashman

Sister Mary Celestine Norton

Sister Mary Basil Russell

Sister Mary James Barrett

Sister Mary Edith Shugrue

Sister Mary Kevin Russell

Sister Mary Herman Joseph Moore

1918 Sister Mary Maria Denise O’Neill

1920

1921

1922

1923

1924

1925

Sister Mary Aubert Cafferty

Sister Mary Rose Gertrude MacDonald

Sister Augusta Maria Altieri

Sister Mary Therese Connor

Sister Mary Elvira Notata

Sister Catherine Mary Griffin

1926

1927

1927

1928

1929

1939

1945

1945

1947

1948

1948

1949

1949

1951

1951

1951

1951

1952

1952

1953

1953

1954

1954

1954

1954

1955

Sister May Amanda Taylor

Sister Maria Borgia Henchy

Sister Mary Alexine McCullough

Sister Jean Marie Lynch

Sister Joan Marie Marks

Sister Mary Jane Card

Sister M. Catherine Ann Coburn

Sister Janice M. McFarland

Sister Barbara M. Duchelle

Sister Elizabeth M. O’Connor

Sister Rosemary M. Ryan

Sister Louise D. Kelly

Sister Dolores A. Liptak

Sister Rosemarie Chapdelaine

Sister Joan Marie Flynn

Sister Denise O’Connor

Sister Margaret A. Rooney

Sister Susan A. Carlin

Sister Mary Alice Kline

Sister Marilyn M. Canning

Sister Mary L. Healy

Sister Mary Beth Mannion

Sister Dorothy D. O’Dwyer

Sister Patricia J. Rooney

Sister Claire Zielinski

Sister Suzanne N. Deliee 1955

Sister Mary Elin Lane

Sister Lilyan M. Fraher 1955

Sister Mary O’Neill 1957

Sister Mary Elizabeth Deliee

Sister Colleen M. Doyle 1957

1958

1958

Sister Marylouise Fennell

Sister Mary Etta Higgins

Sister Ann O’Neill 1959

1959

1960

1962

1963

1964

1965

1968

Sister Margaret O’Neill

Sister Maureen M. Reardon

Sister Ellen E. Flynn

Sister Eileen S. Boffa

Sister Denise J. Casey

Sister Sue Ann Keefe

Sister Mary C. Morgan

Sister Kathleen Gravelec

1980

Betty J. Gerner 1963

The Honorable Ella T. Grasso

Elizabeth M. Kelly, PhD 1915

Edna Waters Miller 1941

Sister M. Herman Joseph Moore 1918 1981

Margaret Fagan Casey 1932

Winifred Maher Corbally 1913

Gail M. Fitzpatrick, OSCO 1956

Barbara Dondero Quinn 1952 1982

Margaret Stuart Boynton 1926

Mildred Mooney Davey 1950

The Honorable Barbara B. Kennelly 1983

Sister Mary Aubert Cafferty 1920

Mary Sedensky Koehm 1946

Joyce Kulhawik 1970 1984

Monica Kamykowski Costantini 1961

Edith Vioni Sullivan 1965

Rita Sullivan Summ 1935 1985

Mary Louise Foerth 1946

Joan Neverdousky Roach 1953

Sister M. Amanda Taylor 1926 1986

Jeanne Gildea Brannelly 1947

Sister Mary Alexine McCullough 1927

Eileen Guerin Pendagast 1951 1987

Alyson J. Brennan

Mary Jolson Kelly 1949

Wendy Bosak Montanaro 1965 1988

Marjorie Goodwin Judge

Sister Dolores Liptak, PhD 1949

Helen Meloy Schwalje 1941 (posthumously)

Ellen M. Tracy 1971 1989

Sister Marylouise Fennell, PhD 1957

Doreen MacAdams 1974

Marguerite Dunigan Weeks 1959

Mother Mary Augustine Claven Award

1990

Carleen Gunther Kunkel 1960

Sister Mary Janice May

Patricia A. O’Looney, PhD 1972 1992

Virginia A. Boyd 1958

Gloria Esposito, DC 1950

Virginia L. Kelly 1993

Margaret Devine Moore 1966

Sister Maureen M. Reardon 1959

Kathleen Spencer Sargent 1958 1994

Sister Judith A. Carey, PhD

Marianne Minutola Hennessey 1958 1995

Sister Eileen Boffa 1962

Sister Mary Jane Card 1939

Paula Lawton-Bevington 1954

Arlene M. Ronan

1996

Sharon A. Brennan 1965

Mary Pat Elwood 1975

Sister Lilyan Fraher 1955

Patricia Pallotto Schickler 1965

1997

Peggy McCormick Chernock 1965

Margaret “Mimi” Koehm, MD 1976

Judith Tarinelli Lisi 1964

1998

Joan Bock Brew 1941

Sister Winifred C. Hamilton, PhD 1965

Amy M. O’Neill 1976 1999

Gloria Dichello Hall 1953

Sister Mary A. McCarthy

Pamela Mozier White 1971 2000

Diane Trautman Chiota 1961

Patricia Picard Cormier, PhD 1956

Kathleen Kearns Donahue 1980

Sister Patricia J. Rooney 1954

2001

Patricia S. Bellinger 1979

Sherry A. Coyle

Patricia Noonan McQueeney 1945

Patricia M. Nowicki

2002

Georgia Douglass Dickinson 1968

Una Foley Redgate 1958

2003

Katherine Miller Chimini 1971

Marian Evans-Dillard, MD 1981

Sister Madeline A. Follachio

Nora J. Roach 1988

2004

Mary R. Cunningham

Daria Barbano Fitzgerald 1972

Sister Margaret A. Rooney 1951

2005

Laura Valade Collins 1988

Jaclyn Cody D’Auria 1970

Margaret Boynton Edwards

Lorraine Bissonnette Gagliardi 1962 (posthumously)

2007

Sister Marilyn M. Canning, MA 1953

Sherrill S. Cooke 1985

Julia M. McNamara, PhD 2009

Ann D’Addario

Jane Donnelly Daly 1954

Mary Rose D’Angelo, PhD 1964

Capt. Patricia Miller, USN (ret.) 1968 2011

Susan N. Birge, EdD 1969

Trudy A. Dickneider, PhD 1964

Elizabeth Higgins Gladfelter, PhD 1964

Teresa Money McLaughlin, APRN, MSN, AOCN 1986

Sister Dorothy Synkewecz 2013

Sister Eugenie Guterch

Mildred Pinto Mooney 1950

Marolyn Agro Paulis 1962

Linda Spoonster Schwartz, DrPH, MSN, RN, USAF (Ret) 2015

The Honorable Rosa DeLauro 1960

Sister Mary Etta Higgins 1958

Karin Devine Mayhew 1968

2005

The President’s Medal

Marion Barak,

The Maximillian E. and Marion O. Hoffman Foundation

2005 Pauline Baker Pitt, The William H. Pitt Foundation

2005

2006

Valerie McMahon Vincent 1958

Joseph Schwalje & Family

2015 Anthony and Michelle Guzzi, P2014

2015 Mary Ann Wasil, The Get In Touch Foundation

The Reverend Peter H. McClean Award

1982

1983

1985

1987

1989

1990

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

Donald P. MacAdams

Virgil C. Dechant

Thomas J. Cody

David J. Sullivan, Jr.

John J. Cotter

Patrick A. Pallotto

Anthony V. Milano

Richard A. Merly

John S. Santa

Peter Nagle

Robert J. Miller

Joseph L. Schwalje

Robert J. Brennan, Jr.

2001 The Honorable Frederick L. Lisman

2002

2003

2004

2009

Stephen R. Fogler, Jr.

Robert J. Chimini

Frank R. Matthews

Robert D. Scinto

2011 The Honorable John P. Chiota

2011

2013

Robert O’Keefe

James P. Mooney, MD

The Reverend Cornelius J. Doherty

Distinguished Service Award

1997 Reverend Gerald Dziedzic 1999

Theresa Cole Lawler 2000

Mary Sedensky Koehm 1946 2002 Jairus C. Gilbert, Sr.

2009 Margaret Fagan Casey 1932 (posthumously)

2013 Kate Linsley Rogers 1967

Athletic Hall of Fame

2012 Nora Anderson Barber, DDS 1995

2012

2012

2012

2012

2012

2012

2014

2014

Laura Valade Collins 1988

Eileen Richetelli Crozier 1990

Jairus C. Gilbert (posthumously)

Mary Money 1976

Sister Margaret Rooney 1951

Karen McGroary Yardley

Amy Lindblom Andre 1995

Colleen Lynch Furlow 2003 2014

Jennifer Kelly Greene 1979 2014

Chris Farren Healey 1967 2014

Jacqueline Catanese Klahold 1996 2014 Alyce Merwin 1943