The roots of Ursuline education in the Boston area reach all the way back to the 1830s, when a group of Ursuline Sisters ran a school and Convent in Charlestown. At the start of the school year, the faculty and staff set out to learn more about a significant piece of our Ursuline history: the historic burning of the Charlestown Convent.
During the opening Faculty Meetings of the 2013-2014 school year, the faculty and staff enjoyed a presentation by Professor Nancy Schultz, Ph.D, author of Fire and Roses: The Burning of the Charlestown Convent, 1834.
Professor Schultz (pictured at right) teaches English at Salem State University and is the author of five other books. Fire and Roses was the recipient of the 2001 Lois Rudnick Prize from the New England American Studies Association and received Honors in Non-fiction for the 2000 Massachusetts Book Award.
Professor Schultz began her presentation by reading aloud from Fire and Roses, setting the stage for the burning of the Convent. The book reads almost like a novel, with Schultz painting a vivid picture of the circumstances surrounding the burning of the Convent.
"It was one of the most notorious acts of anti-Catholic violence in the history of the United States," Professor Schultz said. "What would lead a mob of arsonists to attack a Roman Catholic convent and a prestigious girls' school?"
As she chronicles in her book, Professor Schultz showed the faculty the many factors that led to this unfortunate act of violence. "There were ethnic, social, economic and religious reasons for the attack," she said. "There were religious tensions and class struggles, but it was also largely because of anxiety over the role of women and the education of young girls."
The Ursuline Sisters have been pioneers in the education of women since the founding of the order in the 1500s in Brescia, Italy, so it is not surprising that the same was true of the Charlestown Ursuline school in the 1830s. Professor Schultz told the faculty about the impressive Mother Saint George, the Superior of the Convent. "Mother Saint George ignored many of the cultural expectations of women at the time," Professor Schultz said. "She was a competent leader of a large female community with a profitable farm and school. It was the best women's instruction available in the day."
The faculty had the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation, wanting to know more about the daily life and curriculum at our fellow Ursuline school. "Professor Schultz's presentation was a wonderful opportunity to make connections back to the Charlestown Ursuline school," said Assistant Principal Catherine Muldoon. "It made us think about our identity as an independent, Catholic school for girls."