# Enders Island

Enders Island is an 11-acre island located within the town of Stonington, just off the coast of the Mystic section of the town, in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The island located in the Fisher's Island Sound at the base of the Mystic River and is connected to neighboring Mason's Island by a causeway. Mason's Island is connected to the mainland by another causeway. The Catholic Society of Saint Edmund operate a retreat center and art school. Enders Island is also home to a bi-annual residency offered by Fairfield University to Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program students. The island is available to the public, with a chapel, surrounding views of the Atlantic, walking paths with flower gardens and a gift store.

## History

The island was referred to by various names before it became known as Enders Island: Willcock's Island, Dodge's Island, Barker's Island and Keeland's Island.
In 1787 (and likely also 1773) Dodge's Island was used to isolate patients for smallpox inoculation.
In 1910, Dr. Thomas B. Enders, the son of the president of Aetna Insurance Company, purchased the then-uninhabited island from the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and in 1918 he and his wife Alys VanGilder Enders designed and oversaw the construction of a private estate with a grand main house decorated in Arts and Crafts style. The grounds still feature the Enders' imported Italian tiles in the house and garden, and a surrounding wall of large boulders that serves as a windbreak.
Before her death in 1954, Alys searched for a suitable religious institute to take over the care of her island. She approached the Bishop of the Diocese of Norwich, which saw no use of Enders Island but referred her to Father Purtill, Superior General of the Society of Saint Edmund. Thus the island was willed, requesting that it be used as a retreat and place of spiritual training for priests in the diocese. An independent ministry was established on the island in 2003.
In 2018, the Society sought permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair a deteriorating seawall on its property. This led a group of Mason's Island private residents to sue with the aim to make the Society lose its rights to the island, thought to be worth tens of millions of dollars, so the island reverted to a group of 36 groups and individuals. Their argument was the Retreat Center fails to conform to the original intent when Mrs Enders bequeathed the property: its use as novitiate for the society and a place of retreat, and that it violates Stonington zoning laws. The report found the arguments were without merit; that "the use of the property is a preexisting, legal nonconforming use". As of 2024 the court case is pending.
A relic of Edmund of Abingdon, the saint's severed arm, is enshrined in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Assumption at St. Edmund's Retreat.

## Programs

The St. Edmund's Center residential addiction and recovery program began in the 1960s and is based on the 12-step recovery program with an emphasis on prayer and meditation. Its spiritual ministry hosts private and guided retreats for individuals, couples and groups.
The Sacred Art Institute at Enders Island was founded in the 1995 and offers classes and workshops to the public. With a focus on religious art formats and techniques, classes include iconography, stained glass, mosaics, calligraphy, wood-carving and manuscript illumination. The Institute also offers workshops in Gregorian chants with live recordings performed in the onsite Chapel of Our Lady of the Assumption.
Every other year, Fairfield University offers its Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program students a 10-day residency at Enders Island.

## Nearby islands

* Connecticut portal
* Mason's Island
* Ram Island
* Elihu Island
* Fishers Island, New York