Los
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Biographies
MOUNT SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE
It was in the year 1650 that the
Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet was founded at Le Puy, France, and today the organization maintains
headquarters for educational work at Los Angeles, St. Louis, New York, St. Paul
and Augusta. A pioneer in western
education, the earliest foundation in America of this Congregation occurred at
Carondelet, Missouri, in 1836. The first
Sisters who reached California crossed to the west by rail and wagon in 1870,
the tale of their hazardous journey being among the precious annals of the Congregation.
In its beautiful new home in the
Santa Monica Mountains, Mount Saint Mary’s College looks back upon a long
career of distinguished service, for it is an outgrowth of St. Mary’s Academy
of Los Angeles, one of the oldest educational institutions of Southern
California where no other Catholic academy enrolls so many students. The college charter was obtained in 1925, and
by it full powers were granted to confer degrees in the liberal arts, science
and music. It is a sectarian college for
women, but students of all denominations are accepted and their religious
convictions respected.
Prior to the autumn of 1930 the
college occupied a site at Slauson Avenue and Mesa Drive, Los Angeles. The new location is near the University of
California, Los Angeles, and immediately above that rolling country whose
topographical charm has induced the location of several of the foremost Los Angeles
schools around this educational center.
It lies midway between Hollywood and the ocean, approximately two and
one-half miles north of Beverly Boulevard and between the historic Sepulveda
Canyon and Mandeville Canyon. Indeed,
Brentwood Heights and the adjacent areas is fast becoming a veritable garden
spot of education. The buildings of
Mount Saint Mary’s College, which are set in a property of thirty-six acres,
are of a Spanish-Gothic type and provide for a hall of fine arts and an
auditorium, a science hall, administration building, library, faculty building,
chapel, residence hall and gymnasium.
The attractive structures set back on a commanding location among the
hills, and the fine campus and superb landscaping constitute one of the
impressive scenes of the southland.
Mount Saint Mary’s faculty includes
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and professors from Loyola University, the
University of California, Occidental College and the University of Southern
California. The regular academic course
normally covers four years, leading to the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of
Science or Bachelor of Music degrees.
During the first two years basic training is afforded in English, the
social sciences, mathematics, the natural sciences, foreign languages, religion
and philosophy. The student in the last
two years specializes in some chosen major subject. The courses are conducted on the university
plan, and their credits are fully recognized by the state. Mount Saint Mary’s receives students from
other institutions of recognized collegiate rank and from some of the junior
colleges, such applicants being obliged to qualify in accordance with definite
requirements of scholarship. They may be
admitted to advanced standing in the judgment of the faculty committee on
classification, on the basis of the official transcript of records. Art and music courses partake of the same
thoroughness of instruction given to the sciences, languages, mathematics and
philosophy. The art department offers
study in oil painting, water colors, modeling,
sketching from life, costume design, china painting and weaving. In music, besides the courses in theory,
harmony, orchestration, the history of appreciation and ear training, special
instruction is obtainable for the pianoforte, violin, pipe organ, harp and
singing, some of the teachers having attained considerable distinction as
musicians and pedagogues in the conservatories of Paris, St. Petersburg,
Cologne, Brussels and Amsterdam. The college
orchestra and glee club afford opportunities for much practical
expression. Interest in the varied
departmental work of the college is enhanced through periodical lectures by
prominent experts, the sociology course provide opportunity for field welfare
work.
Hygiene and physical education is an
important feature of lower division work.
The regulation of health and adjustment to environmental conditions are
of prime consideration, while graded gymnastics, sports and dancing receive due
attention.
The visitor to Mount Saint Mary’s
College is impressed by the calm, esthetic loveliness of the place and the
spirit of industry, order and happy cooperation between students and
faculty. The library with its many
choice volumes and furnishings typifies a wholesome spirit.
The Sisters of St. Joseph of
Carondelet in addition to various grammar and secondary schools conduct four
institutions of full college rank: Fontbonne College, St. Louis; College of St. Catherine, St.
Paul; St. Rose College, Albany, New York; and Mount Saint Mary’s College. The administration of the last named is in
the hands of a board of trustees comprising nine Sisters of the Congregation,
and there is an advisory board of prominent clergymen and laymen of which the
Most Reverend John J. Cantwell, D. D., is president.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. III, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 175-177, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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