FEATURE STORY
120 YEARS OF
FA I T H & J O Y Dominican Sisters providing education in West Tennessee
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chool has returned to full swing and this month we are celebrating Catholic education in West Tennessee. During this season, it is appropriate to celebrate the religious communities that have served our region and diocese. Among these communities are the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia (also known as the “Nashville Dominicans”). The Dominican Sisters have been a strong and welcome presence in this region since the late-19th century, and they continue to educate and form children here, faithfully and joyfully. The presence and ministry of the Dominican sisters began in West Tennessee after the bishops of our country emphasized the importance of Catholic parents sending their children to Catholic schools. At that point, the whole state of Tennessee was the Diocese of Nashville. In the western third of the state, what became the Diocese of Memphis in 1971, the first school at which the Dominican sisters taught was St. Mary’s School in Jackson. The sisters came in 1889, but taught just two brief years before being replaced by the Sisters
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FAITH West Tennessee | ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 2021 | WWW.CDOM.ORG
of Mercy. Then, in 1900, they returned as teachers and administrators, and they have served at the school ever since. That’s more than 120 years of service to this school and this region! The Dominican sisters also taught at St. Joseph School in Jackson, which was established in 1919 to serve Black children and families in the area. The sisters faithfully taught at St. Joseph’s until it closed in 1960, and when the student population was merged with St. Mary’s School. By serving in this capacity, these sisters exhibited their commitment to making great education available to all children, regardless of socioeconomic status. They have been examples of educating in diversity, for the sake of unity, for many years. Many parishioners and residents of Jackson and the surrounding area have attended St. Mary’s and been educated by the Dominican sisters. Maggie Poole Vucina, who still lives in Jackson, attended St. Mary’s through 1950, with nine other siblings. “We got a good, very thorough education,” she reminisced. She specifically recalled the memory of all the students attending daily Mass at the first school, in downtown Jackson. That lesson of faith remains with Vucina to this day, who still attends daily Mass.
