Guide to the Saint Mary Star of the Sea and Lumen Christi High Schools Collection

History of Saint Mary Star of the Sea and Lumen Christi High Schools

St. Mary Star of the Sea School: Six Sisters of Charity opened St. Mary School in 1889. Located on the second floor of the temporary church and on the second floor of the convent, the school admitted grades1-12. Sister Leona Murphy was the first Principal and she and another Sister taught in the high school; the other four Sisters taught the elementary pupils. The first graduation occurred in 1892. The school flourished, peaking in the late 1950's with more than 900 students and a faculty of 20 Sisters of Charity, plus lay faculty. In 1968, St. Mary High School, with Sister Mary Berchmans Straub as Principal, closed, as did neighboring St. John High School. Both schools joined in a new facility to become Lumen Christi High School. Nine Sisters of Charity moved to the new school which was directed by an Oblate of St. Francis. The convent at St. Mary's became an intercommunity convent in 1971 when 12 IHM Sisters, most of whom taught at Lumen Christi, joined the six Sisters of Charity still living there. The Grade School changed in 1971 when St. Mary's became grades 1-6 only. The last Sister of Charity Principal was Sister Marie Pauline Skalski who left St. Mary's in 1981. One year later, 1982, the last Sisters of Charity moved out of St. Mary Convent, thus ending the Congregation's 93 years of service in Jackson. Lumen Christi High School: Plans for this central, regional, co-institutional high school were first announced in 1965. The parishes of St. John and St. Mary would close their small parish high schools to form one larger school. It was to be named Lumen Christi High School. Delays in construction caused the opening to be postponed, but the school formally opened October 1, 1968. The faculty was made up of the following: an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales as Principal and four congregations of religious Sisters, including nine Sisters of Charity. Sister Mary Lydon, the last Sister of Charity to teach there, left in 1972. See also St. Mary School, Jackson, Michigan.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of ten file folders containing, in part, historical reports, news clippings, correspondence, and other historical information on St. Mary Parish, Convent, Grade and High School, and the Lumen Christi High School.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access and Use

Permission to use the collection can be obtained from the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Congregational Archivist. External researchers need to complete a request form stating the purpose of their research and a list of collections to be consulted upon their visit, which must be approved by the Archivist prior to an on-site visit. If a researcher is unable to visit the Archives in person, the Archivist will conduct a minimum amount of research and provide scanned copies of some materials if requested.

Photos -- 30 slides -- 13 Box 34 A in repository Can be viewed in notebook 23 Standing doll in Japanese costume--Gift of S. Ann Collette Yunker and Sisters from St. Mary High School, Jackson, MI. Gift from an exchange student from Kuniko Xauamura. Acquired 1965

Illustration--black and white, "In this school, Mother Seton began the free parochial school system of the United States 1810" White matting, simple black frame 17" x 21" St. Mary High School, Lansing, Michigan; class project

Statues--9 ½" brown wood; Top and bottom are bark; Mosai Tribe 9" No markings; Brown ebony; Knot on forehead.1966 Carved by the Masai tribe in Tanzania, Africa. Gift to Sister Ann Colette Yunker from Rev. Michael Kirwin, MM, 1953 graduate of St. Mary HS, Jackson, MI.,

Material on this mission may also be included among our oral history and presentation transcription collections. Please consult with the Congregational Archivist if you would like to explore and possibly utilize these collections.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

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Preferred Citation

Saint Mary Star of the Sea and Lumen Christi High Schools Collection, Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Archives, Mount Saint Joseph, Ohio.

Detailed Description of The Collection