From the Archives – Convents

In December 1942, the new Saint Mary parish administrator, Father Robert F. Beattie, faced an immediate problem: the Holy Cross Sisters, who taught at the parish school, were being evicted. Since they arrived in Alexandria in 1869, a large house at 20911 North Fairfax Street served as a convent for the sisters who taught at both Saint Mary’s Academy and our parochial school. As the Academy grew and needed more space, they moved to the Daingerfield House at 706 Prince Street. Teachers from both schools moved to the new building and walked to Royal Street for daily Mass and school.

At the beginning of World War II, the military services desperately needed more nurses. The Alexandria Hospital School of Nursing bought the convent building from the Holy Cross Order, forcing the school to move. The sisters relocated to a large house on Russell Road, near Saint Rita Church, and a new school was built. Unfortunately, the sisters could no longer commute to Saint Mary School since the new Academy was several miles away. Bishop Peter L. Ireton gave Father Beattie permission for Saint Mary parish to buy the Lucy Grave House at 623 South Fairfax Street, a lovely antebellum home. Father Beattie completely renovated the house and the sisters moved there in 1943. As the wartime population of Alexandria grew, 623 South Fairfax Street and Baby Boomers reached school age, more teachers were needed. Monsignor Edward L. Stephens, pastor 1943-1959, repeatedly asked the Holy Cross Provincial to send more sisters. As a result, in 1952, construction began on a new convent next to the then-new Saint Mary school at Green and Royal Streets, costing a total of $200,000! The lovely new convent home, now part of the Basilica School of Saint Mary, opened in October 1953.

In time, both the Baby Boom and religious vocations waned. By the 1990s, only three sisters lived in the large convent building. Father Stanley Krempa, pastor 1991-2000, moved them to the former Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart convent, across from the church. Today, the sisters are but a parish memory and the two adjoining townhouses on Royal Street serve as parish offices.

— Kitty Guy, Parish Historian

In 2020, to commemorate the 225th anniversary of our parish, we started “From the Archives” as a weekly feature online and in our bulletin to spotlight the history of Saint Mary’s. Due to its popularity, we are continuing the series. An archive of the features is located here.