SHCJ & Rosemont College: The First Years

SHCJ & Rosemont College: The First Years Establishment of Rosemont College & The First Students

For some years, the SHCJ, its alumnae, and its devoted friends were planning to locate an additional high school on the Main Line, a section of Philadelphia suburbs long known for its convenience and beauty.

Cardinal Dougherty had recommended that the Sinnott estate be used as the site for a college and assisted Mother Mary Francis Tolhurst, SHCJ Superior General, in obtaining permission to borrow and spend the necessary sums to purchase the property.

On June 28, 1921, permission was received from Cardinal Gasparri, Secretary of State at the Vatican to purchase the Sinnott estate.

On Aug. 1, 1921, with the formal permission and blessing of the Cardinal, the Sisters negotiated the purchase of the property.

In the next few months, the refurbishing and equipping of the many rooms transformed the large French Renaissance house into the Administration or Main Building housing the Chapel and Classroom space.

Reverend Mother General recommended that Reverend Mother Provincial (Mother Marie Joseph Dalton, pictured here) would reside at Rosemont during the first year and be its Local Superior.

Work on the new college continued throughout the summer of 1921, until everything was ready to welcome Rosemont’s first students.

Life on campus centered around the Main Building, which served as both classroom and dormitory.

History and English were the most popular majors; French, Mathematics, and Chemistry were offered later.

Since the hockey field was not completed until the following year, student sports were hosted at the Holy Child Academy at Sharon Hill’s. Annual retreats were held at St. Leonard’s Academy.

The first students to arrive were Annie Sweeney, Helen McCarthy, Mary Lembach, and Helen Blake, from the School of the Holy Child at Suffern. Next came Pauline Horstmann and Mary Kerrigan, from St. Leonard’s Academy. The Misses de la Chapelle arrived from Cuba. Lastly, Catherine Wolff, also a student from the School of the Holy Child at Sharon Hill, PA, arrived. (Pictured here are Helen Blake and Patricia Stevenson, the College's first two graduates - The Class of 1925)

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