The evening times., 1899-05-15
HUNDREDS OF FAIR
ALUMNAE TO ATTEND
The Approaching Centennial
of Georgetown Convent.
Graduates to Create Special Fund
for Alma Mater.
To Rs. the Greatest Gathering in the
To BE the Greatest Gathering i'm the
History of the InstitutiOn-The
Perfected PrOgra III me.

AS the time approaches fer the celebra-
tion Of the centennial of the Academy Of
the Visitation, in Georgetown, it becomes
| apparent that the affair will be the great
est in the history of the institution.
| Daughters of the academy in all parts of
the country have received invitations to
! the century celebration and hundreds will
return to their alma mater TO participate
in the jubilee that will mark the conspicu-
! Gus event. Responses to the invitations
| have poured in during the past few days
| in remarkable numbers and it is estimated
| today that more than 300 of the alumnae
viii come to Washington, as well as a
large delegation of bishops and priests.
On Monday. May -. the annual COM
mencement exercises will be held. Cardi-
nal Gibbons will distribute the prizes and
rewards of merit. Tuesday will be de-
| voted to the celebration proper. COM
| mencing with a high pontifcial mass at
| Old Trinity Church, celebrated by Cardi-
nal Gibbons. The aiumnae will be given
lunch at the convent. followed by a re-
| ception in the afternoon. On Wednesday
the nuns and alumnae will gather In the
church. where Archbishop Martinelli will
celebrate requiem mass for the decease
sisters and aiumnae.
rOiiOWing this VIII be the reunion Of the
aiumnae. at which the centennial ode. COM
posed by Miss Harriet Monroe who also
composed the famous Columbian ode will
be read by the author. Later there will
De music, addresses. readings, and other
exercises, including a lunch. In the after
noon al $50 O'Clock the students will give
a dramatic entertainment for their seniors
The drama which will be produced on this
occasion Is the work Of Sister N. p.
whose previous works have been fayorably
received. 1t is allegorical in character,
| and written in blank verse.
One of the main objects of the centennial
celebration is to arouse anew the interest
of the aiumnae in the institution. Several
years ago the Alumnae Association was
formed for the purpose of maintaining as
| closely as possible the ties which bind the
classmates to each other and 10 their
school, but it has somewhat ianguished.
There is plan on foot among the alumnae
to create special fund as mark of their
afectionate regard for the academy and
of their qualification ever its one hundredth
birthday. What form this proposed me
mortal will take rests. of course. with the
graduates.
The Academy OF the Visitation is among
the most famous schools in the South de-
! voted TO the education OF young women.
Its conditions have been changed some
!
nearly all the prominent families of the
South sent their daughters to the conrent
! TO be educated.
| Protestant as well as Catholic students
were and are still received. and many of
! the Eost prominent graduates are Prot
/ estants. At one time every Southern girl
/ of good social position looked forw ard TO
| the time when she should be sent 10 the
! Georgetown Academy to complete her
! einp Hp hoy Of ha bnIi
! lilies We're sent to Georgetown College and
this is still followed, but the academy
which once was distinctively a Southern
institution. has broadened until now its
/ $50 girls come from all parts of the coun-
! try.
| Today hundreds of homes are presided
/ over by graduates of the academy. Among
| these might be mentioned Mrs. Potter
! Palmer and her sister. Mrs. Fred Grant.
| The nuns themselves number many repre-
! sentatives of distinguished families.
| Among those who have taught in the acad
| emy are Ralph Waldo Emerson's cousin,
| Miss Ripley: Commodore Jones daughter.
Gen. Pike Grahame's sister. Gen. Winfield
Scotts daughter. and the Princess Ytur-
| bide Others equally prominent have left
the world 10 devote themselves 10 the con-
vent work.
SIX years ago the old building in which
the academy was founded was torn down.
II was a small frame house. and marked
the beginning of the great academy. Sister
Teresa LaloT was the honOrcd founder of
the academy. She came to Washington
in 1873 and the following year. with the
assistance of two other ladies' and rather
Neale purchased the ground and house.
where she established her school.
Although conducted under the
rules of the Order of the Wis
itation of Holy Mary, the ladies
were not affiliated with the order.
and for years they We're known as the
"Pious Ladies' until 1916 when Father
NeaIe. theD Archbishop of Baltimore. OBJ
tanned from Pope Plus VII. their recogni-
tiro as a community OF the Visitation Or
der.
The nuns are strictly cloisterad. From
the time they enter the convent they never
step outside except TO be transferred from
one house to another. Before each window
of the convent facing the street are green
shutters. and il is said there are nuns in
the cloisters who have not even seen the
street for fifty years. There are. however
few nuns who go abroad or business OF
the convent to chaperon the scholars, and
to attend to other duties.
The present convent was erected in 1856 |
Il continued to grow and in 1873 the |
academy building was erected. in which are !
the schoolrocms and halls for the students !
chapel stands between the two and the !
three buildings cover block. At present |
there are about seventy nuns in the con-
vent. most of them devoting their time to
teaching