A Fond Farewell By S. Georgia Kitt
W
e say farewell to a key facility that has served the congregation for more than 90 years. Sisters are moving from and deconstructing a most faithful servant, Seton Hall. The following article highlights how Seton Hall has served many in its lifetime. We say ‘goodbye,’ appreciating the building’s years of service and the many Sisters who found this site the center of where/how they ministered as Sisters of Charity.
Seton Hall was home to the College of Mount St. Joseph from 1927 until 1962.
seemed in charge of everything to do with food, bustling about the dining room. We loved the incredible sweet rolls, especially the ones dripping caramel and butter, baked by one of the many displaced persons who had found refuge through the Sisters at the Mount.”
1960-1970 In the late 1950s the Sisters of Charity were looking to develop an enlarged area for a college campus and enhanced physical facilities due to increasing enrollment. With the naming of S. Maria Corona Molloy as president of the college in 1959 plans moved ahead; a new campus across Delhi Road became a reality in the 1960s. The cramped quarters in the college’s last year (1961) in Seton Hall served 761 students with 342 being boarders. The all-new College of Mount St. Joseph-on-the-Ohio opened the fall semester of 1962. As the college vacated the space in Seton Hall, formation groups, young women considering a vocation to religious life, lived and studied there in addition to working toward their degree across the road. Groups of young women entering the Sisters of Charity between 1959 and 1968 called Seton Hall ‘home.’ S. Pat Malarkey, as a member of the Band of 1964, fondly remembers the fun gatherings on the Seton Hall roof. “It was a long walk up those stairs, especially carrying the party supplies – and with long skirts – but it was worth it all. The
1920-1960 Establishing a college for women at Mount St. Joseph came to life in the early 1920s. The College of Mount St. Joseph became a reality the very year women received the right to vote, opening its doors in September 1920. The work of excavation for Seton Hall to serve the college community began in March 1926, with one request: “Don’t touch a tree!” The first class that convened in Seton Hall was in journalism in March 1927 and that summer retreats and classes were offered there. S. Victoria Marie Forde recalls that when the young Junior Sisters came home for the summer from the school missions, they were assigned to clean the areas where the college girls had lived during the school year. As a reward from their hard work, they went off to the roof for an evening of square dancing with music and their own caller. Mount graduate Betsy Gabriell ’58 adds, “[I] remember S. Margaret Agnes and her absolute passion for accuracy in all things, Dr. Orlando and his baton, and Fr. Robillard and his mindblowing theology classes. I also well remember Jarvis, who 10
S. Pat Malarkey (back, third from left) and her Band members were some of the first in formation to live in and explore Seton Hall, including its infamous rooftop views. I n t e rc o m
