The History of Mount Providence


 

 

 

Selected Dates Significant to the History Of Mount Providence.
Sept. 29. 1851 The Feast of St. Michael is the Foundation Day of the Institute of School and Nursing Sisters of Divine Providence in the Diocese of Maim, Germany. Founder: Bishop William Emmanuel von Ketteler. First superior: Mother Marie de la Roche.
1876 The first six Sisters to leave Germany for the United States arrive in Dungannon, Ohio, and the same year expand to Pittsburgh, where the first U.S. province would be founded. The CDPs serve at a mission in St. Louis as early as 1879.
July 28, 1930 Mother Beata Weitz, Mother Rosalia Weaver, Sister Barbara Huhn and Sister Mathia Gruenewald set out for St. Louis, via the Pennsylvania Railroad to establish the new Midwest Province. They arrive at 8 p.m. on a very hot day, and are taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Granite City, Ill., where the Province was to be temporarily established.
May 13, 1932 Mother Rosalia and Sister Pascal .Teves, assistant provincial, are shown the house and property at the future Mount Providence site by Mr. R. Maginn of the St. Louis Mercantile Trust Co. On July 13, the papers of purchase and transfer are signed.
Sept. 29, 1932 Mother Rosalia, accompanied by Sister Pascal, Sister Mary Clement Mohr and Sister Severin Hennesthal, take possession of the house at Mount Providence.  Mother Rosalia and Sister Mary Clement remain as residents, to be joined within several days by the novice Sister Joan Marie Hampton, now Sister Joanne.
Dec. 8, 1932 The first chapel at Mount Providence is completed.  It is dedicated on Dec. 29 by Father C.H. Winkelman and is named in honor of St. Joseph.
Jan. 3, 1933 Mount Providence Boy's School is open for enrollment.  The first student, Billy Hill McKinney, arrives Feb. 5.
May-August, 1933 A two-story addition is built to the original house.  However, on Dec. 12, the original frame two-story garage burns to the ground; Sister Mary Clement saves the new Chevrolet that had been parked there.
May 1934 A two-story building with space for garages and classrooms is completed at Mount Providence and blessed by Father Basil Luyet, SMFS.
June 14, 1934 The first Chapter of the St. Louis Province is held in the old cottage.
September 1936 A pavilion for outdoor activities is built at Mount Providence.
November 1936 Plans are begun for a new building on Mount Providence.
Jan. 1, 1937 Mount Providence is debt free.
Mar. 29, 1937 Ground is broken on Easter Monday for the new building on Mount Providence. On Aug. 25, a large cross is mounted atop the building.
Oct. 7, 1937 The Sisters and boys move into the new building. The first Holy Mass in the completed Chapel is celebrated on Oct. 24. On Nov. 7, the Chapel is dedicated by Bishop Winkelman and named in honor of Christ the King.
Nov. 2, 1939 The Province's cemetery at Mount Providence is blessed by Father Luyet. The bodies of the six deceased Sisters of the Province are transferred from Calvary Cemetery on Nov. 8.
April 29, 1941 Ground is broken for a recreational facility to be added to the north side of the garage. The building, to be named Ketteler Hall, is completed in autumn and first used act. 12.
1948 A stone crucifix is erected in the cemetery on Mount Providence.

Plans are begun to build a Motherhouse for the Province. Ground is broken June 21, 1949. The Very Reverend Kyran, CP, officiates.
June 29, 1951 The Sacred Heart statue is solemnly enthroned at the Motherhouse.
February 1952 Property bordering Mount Providence on the south is purchased from the Pepers family. The stone house there would have more t11an one name. In February 1956, it is leased to Catholic Charities as a residence for unwed mothers, and the name becomes Villa Maria. In July, Sister Rosaria Jurica and Sister Mary Clement Mohr are assigned to the staff. Villa Maria remains at Mount Providence unti11969.
Sept. 19, 1958 The Province plan to build a new wing to the Motherhouse is announced in the "'St. Louis Review."
June 1959 The original house on the Mount Providence property is demolished.  Excavation for the new wing begins July 7, and on Jan. 12, 1960, bricklaying begins.
Sept. 11, 1960 On Divine Providence Sunday, Cardinal Ritter lays the cornerstone for the new addition to the Motherhouse and the Boy's School. By Dec. 24, the building is so far along that Christmas Eve dinner could be eaten in the dining room, and Midnight Mass celebrated in the Chapel. The dedication by the Cardinal is held April 23, 1961. The Chapel is named in honor of Christ the King.
Nov 12, 1981 A multi-purpose building, to be used by the Province and Boys' School, is completed. 
Sept. 29, 1982 St. Louis Province celebrates the 50th , anniversary of acquiring the Mount Providence property and establishing the Motherhouse in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis.
Feb. 21, 1984 A proposal by the University of Missouri -St. Louis to rent space for an Eldercare center at Mount Providence is favorably considered. Since 1982, the provincial administration had been considering options for the use of unneeded space in the Motherhouse.
July 8, 1985 The UM -St. Louis Eldercare center opens on the first floor of Mount Providence.
June 30, 1990 The Province promulgates its five-year pastoral plan, including Goal XIX: To study and come to a decision regarding the utilization or sale of the Motherhouse property.
February 1992 Room At The Inn, a homeless shelter program sponsored by the Salvation Army, makes arrangements to utilize space on the fourth floor of the Motherhouse.
Nov. 2, 1992 Villa Maria, the Catholic Charities shelter for pregnant teens and their new babies, returns to Mount Providence, now in the former novitiate on the second floor of the Motherhouse.
April 1993 Room At The Inn, previously co-sponsored by the Salvation Army and the CDPs, is now fully sponsored by the CDPs.
Nov. 19, 1994 Members of the Province agree to develop alternate uses for the Motherhouse property and to explore potential relocation sites-thus affirming the possibility of selling the property. By reaching consensus, the community fulfills Goal XIX of the 1990 Chapter.
October 1995 The Sisters of Divine Providence make the difficult decision to close Mount Providence School at the end of the academic year.
Jan. 16, 1996 The CDPs sign an agreement to with the curators of UM - St. Louis to purchase the Mount Providence School and Motherhouse and adjoining property.  The actual transfer of property would take place at a date to be agreed upon, between July 1996 and December 1997.
May 1996 Mount Providence School closes:  Family Farewell May 23, All-class reunion August 15.
Summer 1996 Sisters needing nursing assistance and some others move to a leased section of the CDP-sponsored St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Granite City, Ill., joining five nursing sisters already living there.
August 16, 1996 Rainbow Mini-School closes, hoping to reopen later at a new location.
Sept. 29, 1996 Ritual for community and friends:  "Remembering our past with gratitude. Blessing our leave-taking, Moving into the future with trust.
Oct. 15, 1996 Auction of household and institutional surplus.
Nov. 12, 1996 Proposal to St. Bartholomew, a partner of Room At The Inn, for interim space.
Dec. 12, 1996 Transfer of property to UMSL.
Jan. 13, 1997 Move to St. Bartholomew's
June 30, 1999 UMSL Adult Day Care Center, which had remained at the Mount, closes.
March 1999 Move to Providence Center.
January 2000 Mount Providence Cemetery relocated to Calvary Cemetery.
We would like to thank Cathy Cullen, director of development for the Sisters of Divine Providence, and Ginni Mittler, assistant director, who prepared and gave us permission to use their press release with a history of the building and the chronology, prepared by the late Sister Mary Philip Hampton.