150th Anniversary Timeline | Ursuline - Liberal Arts College in OH

1535

November 25th

SAINT ANGELA HEARS HER CALLING Angela Merici envisions a world in which women are empowered to serve their faith and their communities. Inspired by an early martyr, Saint Ursula, she establishes the Company of Saint Ursula with 12 young women in Brescia, Italy. Over time, Ursulines will expand their ministry throughout Europe and around the world. “Act, move, believe, strive, hope, cry out to God with all your heart, for without doubt you will see marvelous things, if you direct everything to the praise and glory of God’s majesty and the good of souls.” Prologue to the Counsels of St. Angela Merici Photo of the College's St. Angela Garden by Robert Muller.

1850

August 1st

URSULINE SISTERS ARRIVE IN CLEVELAND Four brave Ursuline Sisters and an English laywoman leave Boulogne-sur-Mer in France by ship (surviving a fierce storm en route) to establish the first Catholic schools in the newly formed Diocese of Cleveland. Making the voyage are: Mother Mary of the Annunciation Beaumont; Mother des Seraphines Young; Mother Saint Charles Boudalier; Sister Saint Benôit Piquet; Arabella Seymour, who became Sister Mary Saint Austin. Image: side view of the convent, 1863. Photo courtesy Ursuline College Archives.

September 1st

URSULINES AS EDUCATORS Upon arriving in Cleveland from France, Ursuline Sisters get straight to work opening an academy for 300 pupils in less than a month. As their congregation grows and Catholic schools open across Greater Cleveland, they ride streetcars from downtown to their teaching assignments. Ursuline Sisters have since taught in Greater Cleveland at every level from elementary school through graduate school. Photo circa 1850 courtesy Cleveland Public Library/Photograph Collection.

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1871

November 17th

URSULINE COLLEGE FOUNDED Mother Mary of the Annunciation Beaumont, the first superior of the Cleveland Ursulines and a pioneering woman indeed, obtains a charter from the State of Ohio to establish Ohio’s first Catholic college for women. The new College is located in the same building as Ursuline Academy and focuses on the liberal arts. Photo courtesy Ursuline College Archives

November 18th

URSULINE’S DISTINCTIVE CAMPUSES Ursuline College occupies a series of architecturally distinctive buildings in its first century. 1871-1893 -- Euclid Avenue and East 4th Street. Jonathan Goldsmith, Master Builder; 1893 -1922 -- East 55th Street and Scovill Avenue. Charles Schweinfurth, architect; 1922-1927 -- Euclid Ave. in Cleveland’s University Circle. Meade and Garfield, architects; 1926-1966 -- Overlook Road, Cleveland. Three different mansions. Kelley and Sherwin mansions by Meade and Garfield; Cuddy-Gilman mansion by J. Milton Dyer; Photos courtesy Ursuline College Archives.

1966

September 1st

PEPPER PIKE CAMPUS OPENS Award-winning architect Peter van Dijk designs the current Pepper Pike campus which opens in 1966. The original buildings reflect a Mid-Century Modern aesthetic with touches of the Brutalist Style and are built into the sloping topography with a dam forming a pond as a unifying point. Wrote Sister Anna Margaret Gilbride, OSU, “When classes started … it was the first time that Ursuline had a campus with brand new buildings, and a whole new era opened for the college.”

1975

September 1st

URSULINE’S NURSING PROGRAM ESTABLISHED The Diocese of Cleveland closes its Saint John College and asks Ursuline to absorb St. John’s nursing program. The Breen School of Nursing and Health Professions grows to become a nationally recognized Center of Excellence (National League for Nursing) and Ursuline’s highest-enrolled field of study. Photo courtesy Ursuline College Archives.

1980

December 2nd

URSULINE COMMITMENT TO SOCIAL JUSTICE Ursuline College graduate Sister Dorothy Kazel, OSU, is martyred for her work with the poor in El Salvador, along with three other American churchwomen. This tragedy turns attention to the civil war raging in that country and the plight of the poor worldwide. Deeply committed to social justice, 14 Ursuline Sisters serve in El Salvador between 1968 and 2014.

2000

September 1st

URSULINE ON THE BALL Student-athletes begin competing in inter-collegiate sports. The Ursuline Arrows are now a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference at the NCAA Division II level. Tradition holds that St. Ursula, to whom St. Angela dedicated her “company of women,” was martyred by an arrow, thus the team name, Arrows. Photo courtesy Ursuline College Archives.

2021

November 17th

THANKFUL FOR 150 YEARS, LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Ursuline College celebrates its sesquicentennial in 2021 with gratitude to God for countless blessings. The only women-focused college in America founded and continuously led by women, Ursuline transforms students for service, leadership, and professional excellence. We look to the future with hope for the next 150 years! Photo by Robert Muller.

Ursuline College Heritage + Highlights

1535

November 25th

1850

August 1st

September 1st

1871

November 17th

November 18th

1966

September 1st

1975

September 1st

1980

December 2nd

2000

September 1st

2021

November 17th

Ready for the next step?

Inside Ursuline News

Ursuline College signs first male athlete

Gannon University, Ursuline College Announce Partnership

Ursuline awarded prestigious Teagle Foundation grant

Events

Ursuline Counselor Day