First Academy Building, St. Mary of the Woods College

Description:	Drawing of the The First Academy Building, St. Mary-of-the-Woods by Juliet A. Peddle, Terre Haute Artist and Architect. The First Academy Building, St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Drawn by Juliet A. Peddle, Terre Haute Artist and Architect.The first Academy Building at St. Mary-of-the-woods was located approximately where the front part of the present Foley Hall now stands.This building was erected for the Sisters of Providence who came to this country from France to establish their order here. This order was founded in France in 1806. By 1840 the group had increased in size and strength so that they were now in a position to send missionaries on to other fields where their services might be needed.The diocese of Vincennes seemed to be fertile soil for such an enterprise, so a little group of six missionaries headed by Mother Theodore left their parent house in France and made the long and perilous Journey to the backwoods of Indiana to establish their work in the new land. It was not an easy trip under the best of circumstances, but for Sisters who had lived very sheltered lives to cross the ocean and journey to the wilds of a country whose language and customs they did not know was a real undertaking and a test of their courage and faith. It took them from July 16 to Oct. 22, 1840, to reach their destination.They had understood that the new foundation was to be located in Vincennes, which was the cathedral town of the diocese, and were at first dismayed to find themselves sent to this isolated spot in the woods, and even the house where they were to live not completed. Due to a fire earlier in the year the original frame church was gone and the priests cabin, 15 feet long and 13 feet wide, was serving both as the church and his home. It was a situation to test their courage and faith, but they met their problems as they came along, and the present institution is a witness to the fact that they succeeded.For their temporary needs Joseph Thralls let them use one room and the attic of his house. They were rather crowded and not very comfortable, but were able to manage until a better arrangement could be made.Their new home they wanted to see as soon as possible. Mother Theodore says in her diary, The day after our arrival we went to look at our new house now building. Like the castles of the knights of old you cannot see it until you come up to it. Do you think, however, that it is built on the model of Father Buteuxs? No, indeed. It is a pretty two-story brick house 50 feet wide and 24 feet deep. There are five openings in front. The first stone was laid Aug. 17, and it is already roofed Today they began plastering, but there are yet neither doors nor windows; all is being done little by little.By spring when this building was completed, which was desirous to house them, they decided to use it for a school and purchase the Thralls house, which they would enlarge and adopt for their own needs. Though many obstacles were encountered during the ensuing years the enterprise grew, and in five or six years it was apparent that some additional accommodations must be provided.Accordingly, they added wings to the two ends of the original Academy Building as shown in the thumbnail sketch. This was completed in 1847 and served the community in that form until 1869 when it was taken down and replaced by a new larger building.As in the case of the early church there is no entirely satisfactory picture remaining to use of the Academy Building and it is necessary to combine evidence. The above drawing follows more or less the early pencil sketches in an old notebook in the archives of St. Marys and a photograph of an old watercolor.Under the circumstances it is difficult to be sure that all the details are correct, but one characteristic which all of the early drawings have in common is the French flavor to the design which, reflects the origin of the institution and is different from the usual style of architecture employed for buildings in this period.
Origin:	01/01/2005
Contributor(s):	Peddle, Juliet, 1899-1979
Source:	http://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/rose/id/852
Collection:	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Logan Library
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
Copyright:	Copyright Undetermined
Subjects:	Architectural drawings Architecture Universities & colleges Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Architecture

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