The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

St. Anne Shell Chapel

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St. Anne Shell Chapel, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

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

1843	original log construction
1876	updated, new stone chapel built to replace log chapel

Designer: unknown
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Regionalist/Vernacular (Glossary)
Significance: history, religion
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation:

Walls: interior: shells; exterior: stone

Roof:

Function:

1843-present (2006)

memorial site (shrine)

Narrative:
Mother Theodore grew up in a French coastal town, with great devotion to St. Anne, patroness of sailors. During a severe storm at sea as she returned from a trip to France, Mother Theodore promised that if the ship was saved, devotion to St. Anne would be fostered among the Sisters of Providence at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. The first chapel was a log structure built in 1843, but it was replaced in 1876 by the present stone structure. The altar and walls of the interior are adorned with shells gathered by the Sisters from the Wabash River and arranged in artistic designs, the handiwork of Sister Mary Joseph le Fer de la Motte, assisted by the novices.

References: