The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Sisters of Providence Cemetery

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Sisters of Providence Cemetery, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

Institution Name: Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
Original/Historic Place Name: Community Cemetery
Location on Campus: east of St. Anne Shell Chapel
Date(s) of Construction:

1864	original construction

Designer:
Type of Place: Landscape site
Style: (Glossary)
Significance: history, landscape, religion
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Function:

1864-present (2006)

memorial site (cemetery)

Narrative:
On the east side of the Sisters of Providence property, nestled within a group of trees between two ravines, is the resting place for more than 1,800 Sisters of Providence. Simple white stones in straight rows mark the graves, with sisters from the same family buried next to each other. Also buried here are several chaplains who served the congregation. In the center of the Sisters of Providence cemetery is a beautiful Celtic cross marking the grave of Blessed Mother Theodore Guerin. Near the Celtic cross are the final resting places for most of the members of the original group of sisters who traveled from France to found the congregation.

The Sisters of Providence founded Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in 1840, and the two organizations share 67 acres with the Woods Day Care/Pre-School, Providence Center and the White Violet Center for Eco-Justice.

References: