Annhurst College was a
private American
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...
in
South Woodstock,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
, which operated from 1941 to 1980. The school was founded and administered by the
Daughters of the Holy Spirit
The Daughters of the Holy Spirit (formerly known as the Daughters of the Holy Ghost) or the White Sisters (french: Filles du Saint-Esprit) are a Roman Catholic religious institute of women founded in France in 1706. The Religious Sisters of this ...
(at that time known as the Daughters of the Holy Ghost), a
religious congregation
A religious congregation is a type of religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – in that members take simple vows, whereas members of religi ...
of women founded in France in 1706, who are primarily dedicated to education. The college's
curriculum
In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...
was career-focused.
Annhurst was a
women's college
Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...
for most of its history, and began accepting male students for full-time studies in the fall of 1972.
History
Annhurst College was founded in 1940 by Mother Marie-Louis du Sacré-Coeur, D.H.S., the
Provincial Superior of the American
Province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit, as Ker-Anna
Junior College, an all-women's institution. The name honored a major French
shrine
A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...
to
Saint Ann
According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come ...
located in the village of
Sainte-Anne-d'Auray in
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
, the region of France where the Sisters had been founded and first served. The first classes were held on September 23, 1941. The name was changed two years later, when the school was
accredited
Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
as a full four-year college by the State of Connecticut. The new name was created as a combination of "Ann" with the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
suffix "-hurst," referring to the
grove-like setting of the campus.
Student life on campus included a newspaper called ''The Heather'', a yearbook called ''The Sylvan'', and athletic programs. An alumnae association was formed in 1945 by the first graduating class. Students called their college "Annie U."
Annhurst had an active arts community. The college sponsored and housed the Eastern Connecticut Performing Arts Group, which had 50 members at the time of the college's closure.
In 1967, the college decided to construct a new fine arts building to meet demand; it opened in 1970 as the Annhurst College Cultural Center. Although a private, Catholic college, Annhurst had received state funding for its cultural center's construction. This was found not to be in violation of the
Establishment Clause
In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The relevant constitutional text ...
of the
United States Constitution by the
Supreme Court of the United States in ''
Tilton v. Richardson'' (1970).
In its final years, administrators tried multiple approaches to counter the college's mounting debt, which reached $4 million (USD) by 1980.
Co-educational evening and part-time students were accepted by 1971, with men admitted as full students starting in 1972.
The Annhurst International Institute provided
English as a second language
English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL ...
education to
international students
International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying.
In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...
. In 1977, the college began offering admission to students with
learning disabilities
Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty (British English) is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficult ...
who were unable to complete high school. In an appeal to Catholic students, administrators emphasized philosophy and religion in the curriculum.
A month before closing, the college auctioned off physical assets, including its sign.
At its closing in May 1980, Annhurst had 350 students,
25 of whom were male..
Former campus
The rural campus
was sold to
Data General
Data General Corporation was one of the first minicomputer firms of the late 1960s. Three of the four founders were former employees of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC).
Their first product, 1969's Data General Nova, was a 16-bit minicompute ...
Corporation, headquartered in
Westborough, Massachusetts
Westborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,567 at the 2020 Census, in over 7,000 households. Incorporated in 1717, the town is governed under the New England open town meeting system, headed ...
. The Data General Facilities group, led by Roland Quillia, converted the college to a Field Engineering training center. The converted Data General field engineering training center opened in November 1981.
In 1997, the campus was sold to
Hyde School, based in
Bath, Maine
Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its ...
.
In 2017, the campus was purchased by the locally based
Woodstock Academy
Woodstock Academy (WA), founded in 1801, is a high school located in Woodstock, Connecticut, United States. The Academy, which describes itself as an independent school, serves residents from the Connecticut towns of Brooklyn, Canterbury, Eastfo ...
.
The former Annhurst College Student Center is named Annhurst Hall.
Notable people
Notable alumni include:
*
Ralph Brancaccio, artist
*
Victor Manuel Gerena
The name Victor or Viktor may refer to:
* Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname
Arts and entertainment
Film
* ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film
* ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
, fugitive
*
Eileen S. Naughton, politician
Notable faculty and administrators included:
*
Magdalena Avietėnaitė, journalist and diplomat - fr
Magdalena Avietėnaitė
*
Maurice F. McAuliffe Maurice Francis McAuliffe (June 17, 1875 – December 15, 1944) was an American clergyman of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Hartford from 1934 until his death in 1944.
Biography
Maurice McAuliffe was born in Hartford, Connecticut, ...
, bishop
*
Ruth Sawtell Wallis, anthropologist
*
Wilson Dallam Wallis, anthropologist
See also
*
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Annhurst College Alumni AssociationDaughters of the Holy Spirit
{{Subject bar , portal1= , portal2= Catholicism , portal3= Connecticut
Educational institutions established in 1941
Educational institutions disestablished in 1980
Defunct private universities and colleges in Connecticut
Defunct Catholic universities and colleges in the United States
Former women's universities and colleges in the United States
Catholic universities and colleges in Connecticut
1941 establishments in Connecticut
History of women in Connecticut