Mount Alvernia: History, Part 1 Pawsburgh photography 08.22.2023

It's been a year now since I first toured the Mount Alvernia campus in Millvale, former home to the Sisters of St. Francis. The first thing I did after my initial tour was some internet research - what a rabbit hole that was! Which is precisely when this became a passion project for me. They built the Motherhouse from 1897-1900. At the time, they numbered 100 Sisters but the building was built for 350, "beyond their wildest dreams" as one book phrased it! When they were able to move in, they were not able to stay there all year because no heating or lighting systems were in place yet, nor were they able to use the entire building. It's hard to imagine now, when it has heat, air conditioning, electricity, and running water!

I tried my very best to recreate this photo, but neither my camera nor my phone are the same format, plus there's a big tree in the way. I couldn't get the angle or the lighting just right! Still, it's a wonderful moment to marvel at. Note the cement artwork above the door. All that's left now is an inscription, "A. Pasetti 1899". Note also, the cross at the top used to be made of brick or cement. When they deconsecrated the property to sell, they took it down but it had been there so long, the imprint remains. They tried to cover it with red paint. At first I couldn't tell if the girls are from the high school or the Sisters, but I think they are novitiate (nuns in training) because I found a picture of the front with a sign pointing toward that door, stating just that! And I learned there are two stairwells because the novitiate and the professed were separated in the building and couldn't use the same hallways!

Another thing they removed was the original cornerstone! I understand deconsecration for secular use, however I have to disagree with this one. The original cornerstone of a building should never be removed (my opinion!)

Probably the saddest part of the entire place is how empty the chapel is now. One pew remains, but it isn't in this room anymore. The altar and stained glass went to a new home. The organ and its pipes did too, shortly after I took this photo. The mural of St. Francis' life was painted over. All the relics and Stations of the Cross removed, one of the alcoves painted white for some reason.

When I started posting my project on social media, people started coming out of the woodwork, so to speak! (And Mt. Alvernia has a lot of woodwork!!) The photo above is from my friend Ray, his great aunt (second from left) lived at Mt. Alvernia and is buried in the cemetery on site. The other three ladies are his aunts, Dominican Sisters. They also had four brothers who were Dominican priests, and two more brothers who married, as well as Ray's mother. The photo above was taken outside Mt. Alvernia.

I was gifted two books on the history of the Sisters of St. Francis and the timeline of their activities. These two photos are the front and back covers from their 125th anniversary in 1991. From inside, this is what I learned:

Three young women consecrated themselves to God under the Tertiaries of St. Francis by Bishop John Neumann of Philadelphia in 1855. In 1861, they were called to serve in Buffalo, NY and separated from the Philadelphia community there in 1863. In 1865, two Sisters from Buffalo came to Pittsburgh to seek financial assistance for establishing a hospital in Buffalo. But the need was so great in Pittsburgh, they were asked to stay. Three Sisters arrived in Pittsburgh to stay in 1866, when the first St. Francis Hospital was established. The hospital grew into a major health system, which today is Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in Lawrenceville.

They established their first school, St. Michael's, in the South Side in 1868. The Sisters staffed several schools in the area, and in 1871 they separated from the Buffalo order. The Diocese of Pittsburgh wasn't established until 1876. The Sisters of St. Francis continued to grow and serve the community, until the Motherhouse on the South Side was much too small. On December 28, 1894, they purchased 22 acres in Millvale Borough and Shaler Township, incorporated on March 2, 1895, and named Mt. Alvernia on May 8. Next they purchased seven additional acres of land and the groundbreaking was held on May 3, 1897, laying the cornerstone on September 19. It was noted that in 1898, the construction of the new Motherhouse was progressing very slowly! (Can you imagine, I mean it's huge and built like a fort! I can't figure how they would have built it quickly!) The new Motherhouse was blessed on June 1, 1900.

• From 1903-1922, the Pittsburgh priest retreats were held at Mt. Alvernia every summer.
• The first pipe organ was installed in 1904, and Andrew Carnegie donated half the cost!
• In 1911, a plot of ground on the Mt. Alvernia property was designated for a cemetery. The area was blessed on June 17, 1911, and the first Sister buried there only a month later. (I found this on my own when I went looking for the earliest stone!) Seventy members of the community had already been interred at two separate sites in St. Mary Cemetery on the South Side. They would be exhumed and moved to Mt. Alvernia in 1944, and a single monument listing their names was installed in 1945.
• In 1912, the Motherhouse was lighted by electricity for the first time by an electric generator! This opened up more of the building to winter habitation.
• Many improvements to the chapel were made in 1914. Statue-like Stations of the Cross were installed in niches along the walls, marble steps replaced wooden ones, and a large bell was installed in the second floor main stairwell and named "Anthony". It replaced a handbell that was used to announce community services. In later years, it would be used to announce the death of a Sister. Improvements were also made to the priests' dining room and the Sisters' refectory (dining hall) at that time.
• In 1923, the front steps were laid out in cement from the front entrance to Evergreen Ave. and an iron railing was installed. The front driveway was widened and bricked.
• A modern sound system was installed at the Motherhouse in 1938.
• A terrazzo floor was installed in the halls and a couple rooms near the refectory in 1943.
• A smaller organ replaced the old pipe organ in the chapel in 1949.
• Extensive renovations were done to the infirmary on the second floor of the Motherhouse in 1957. It was also the year they remodeled the basement for the high school.
• More renovations were done to the chapel in 1981. New lights, ceiling fans, and carpets were added as well as the gorgeous wainscot paneling that adorns the walls today. This explains why the woodwork is different colors! The life of St. Francis mural was painted that year and the stained glass was repaired and refurbished. In the ante-chapel, they updated murals, fans, and lighting as well.
• More renovations were done to the infirmary in 1984. The nurses' station was moved to a larger room and new furniture and steel cabinets were purchased.
• Archive Hall was established in 1985. A few people sent me photos of it! The bulletin boards remain with cleaner spaces where the photos used to be.
• The Day Care Center was officially opened in 1987. Today it uses much of St. Clare Hall and remains on campus.
• A cordless phone was added to the infirmary in 1989, which humors me, because one of the first things I noticed here was there's still a phone in every room! The infirmary was expanded in 1990. (The third floor has some rooms with call buttons left behind.) At the time of publication, they were still discussing what that was going to look like.