Fall 2026

They quickly purchased the Thralls house for their motherhouse, and a building under construction when they arrived became the building that would house the academy. In July 1841, the Saint Mary’s Academy opened with one student; the next day, there were two more, and by the end of the month, there were 10 students. Mother Theodore opened a school in Jasper in 1842 that enrolled 50 students, and later in the year opened a school in St. Francisville, Indiana, with an enrollment of 60. She returned to France in 1843 to raise funds and secure additional support for her new community, which helped it continue educating more children. In total, Mother Theodore opened nine schools in Saint Mary-of the-Woods, Jasper, Vincennes, Montgomery, Madison, Terre Haute, Fort Wayne, Evansville, North Madison, Lanesville and Columbus in Indiana and St. Francisville in Illinois. She opened pharmacies in Vincennes and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods to dispense remedies for free to the poor. She also opened two orphanages in Vincennes: one for girls and one for boys. She oversaw the construction of a new motherhouse for the Sisters of Providence and several additions to the Academy. In 1846, the institution received Indiana’s first higher education charter for women and in 1899, the College conferred its first Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1928, the academy was formally incorporated as Saint Mary-of the-Woods College. Saint Mother Theodore Guerin was only in Indiana for 16 years before her death in 1856. Her accomplishments were many, and her legacy lives on in education through schools and through Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.

A Saint Mary’s Institute diploma dated June 27, 1861, and earned by Sallie McGaughey. An item in the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods Archives.

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A purse used by Saint Mother Theodore Guerin when traveling, her Rosary Beads and a pocket watch are some of the items found in the Shrine of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin at the Sisters of Providence.

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