Mother Mary Joseph Woulfe
In 1771, French Ursulines from Dieppe were welcomed to Blackrock in County Cork, Ireland. From that school and convent came the Foundress of the Ursuline Convent in Springfield Illinois. Mother Mary Joseph (Harriet) Woulfe was born in Ireland in 1815 and educated by the Ursulines in County Cork. During her time at the school, she determined that she wished to be an Ursuline. Harriet was sent to France to discern her vocation.
In 1834, Bishop John England of Charleston, South Carolina, went to France to solicit nuns for his diocese. Harriet Woulfe joined the group. They arrived on December 10, 1834 in Charleston. The clothing day for Harriet Woulfe was May 19, 1835 in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1852, Bishop England died, and was replace by Bishop Reynolds. This Bishop confiscated the property used/owned by the Ursulines.
The Ursulines left and went to Covington, Kentucky. In 1847, they opened a school on Bank Street in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1854, the convent was dissolved. Six Ursulines went to Brown County Ursulines, three went to New Orleans, two back to Ireland, not to Cork but to Sligo.
Ursulines in Springfield
The Right Reverend Damian Juncker was consecrated first Bishop of the Diocese of Alton, Illinois in 1857 (the see of the diocese was moved to Springfield in 1923). On August 24, 1857, seven Ursuline sisters arrived in Springfield at the invitation of Bishop Juncker. Led by their superior, Mother Mary Joseph Woulfe, these sisters were recruited from the Ursulines of Brown County, Ohio.
An old chronicle indicates Mother Mary Joseph made an immediate favorable impression by playing the piano one morning in the St. Nicholas Hotel parlor, thus giving visibility to their arrival and beginning an excellent tradition in music that lasted for 150 years.
Sixteen days after their arrival in Springfield, the Sisters opened the Ursuline Academy in St. Joseph for girls. They held their first commencement ceremony in 1858. That same year, the purchased the Franklin House and moved in August. In September, the opened a “free” school — St. Angela’s — in addition to the Academy. St. Angela’s would be the only “parish” school for girls in the city until 1867.
In February 1859, the convent was legally incorporated as the Springfield Ursuline Convent of St. Joseph. In the mid-1860s, the Ursulines purchased 6 1/2 acres of Allen’s grove on North Fifth Street. In August of 1865, ground was broken for the building of the convent and Academy, with the first Mass celebrated two years later on September 25, 1867 in the new convent.
The Academy
Ursuline Academy flourished. The chapel was built in 1895 and the Conservatory of Music (St. Ursula’s Hall) in 1908. By 1927, nearly 2,000 students were being educated by Ursuline Sisters at the Academy and at local parish schools. In 1928, Ursuline Academy stopped offering kindergarten through eighth grade, but of course the Ursulines were active and teaching in several local parishes.
In the 1930s, celebrities including the famous von Trapp family performed in Ursula Hall. In 1958, the addition of a gym and more classrooms in the Sixth Street building was completed. The Fifth Street building would forever be known as the “Old Building” with the Sixth Street building given the moniker “New Building.” In 1964, Mueth Hall, the convent infirmary was built and, two years later, Hanlon Hall, for the Sisters’ private rooms was added. In 1969, the Springfield Community of Ursulines had 72 members.
Ursuline Academy opened its doors to young men with the 1981-1982 academic year and maintained its traditions of excellence in academics and fine arts. At the arrival of the 21st century, the Serviam motto remained vital to Ursuline’s community spirit and curriculum as laypeople were assuming more roles in administration and teaching.
The Sisters themselves modeled service in what became a wonderful tradition: On the feast of St. Angela Merici, the Sisters used their special recipe to bake cinnamon roles for all of the faculty and students, and it was hard to find a better cinnamon role anywhere in the region.
The Academy had a number of important structural revisions in its last two decades. In 1987, the Academy hired its first lay principal, Dr. Tom Thomas. In 1997, the Academy and the Convent became separate corporate entities.
In 2003, Springfield College in Illinois (formerly Springfield Junior College), which was founded by the Springfield Ursulines in 1929, entered into a partnership with Benedictine University of Lisle, Illinois. In 2005, SCI bcame the Academy’s administrator. That was the same year the Ursuline Sisters moved from the convent they had occupied since the mid-1800s. The Sisters’ preparation for moving became a sacred time as they examined artifacts and books and other the items the community had had for decades. Some of the Springfield Ursulines moved to a house on the property of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis’ Motherhouse and were welcomed with warm generosity and hospitality.
In May 2007, the Board of Trustees of Springfield College/Benedictine University announced the closure of Ursuline Academy at the end of the 2006-2007 academic year. A “Senior Experience” was offered by SCI/Benedictine for the rising seniors in the class of 2008 that would allow those students to complete their education under the auspices of Ursuline Academy. Fifteen students took part in the program and became the final graduating class of the Academy.
The Foundation
United by faith and the common bond of Ursuline Academy, alumni, parents, and friends of the Academy came together to form the Ursuline Academy Foundation. Initial efforts concentrated on keeping the Academy open for future generations. Despite their best efforts, the Academy’s announced closure would take effect.
SCI/Benedictine offered a “Senior Experience” to any rising senior that wished to participate and graduate from Ursuline Academy. In May 2008, the fifteen students who took part became the 151st and final graduating class of Ursuline Academy officially ending the educational legacy began by Mother Mary Joseph and the six other Ursulines in 1857.
In 2011, the Ursuline Academy Alumni Association was incorporated into the Foundation. The Ursuline Academy Alumni Foundation operates as an organization dedicated to preserving the Serviam tradition instilled in so many generations through the Acadmey by the Ursuline Sisters. The Foundation seeks to preserve the bonds of family among the Academy’s numerous alumni and encourages continued service to community in the Ursuline spirit.
The Foundation also continues to promote Catholic education through the establishment of a Scholarship Fund which is presented annual to students attended Catholic educational institutions in the community.
Its Board of Directors is comprised of alumni and friends of the Ursuline Academy community who serve voluntarily to promote the values and preserve the traditions of Ursuline Academy in Springfield, Illinois.