By Sister Mary Ellen, SSND
(This is the first part of an article on the Academy of the Holy Angels' origins in New Jersey. It was originally published in the Summer, 1965 edition of “The Notre Dame Sister, Baltimore Province”)
With vision in her eyes and blessing prayed from heaven, Sister Mary Nonna, SSND, reached Fort Lee, New Jersey, on October 2, 1879. Commissioned by her Superior, she purchased the 11 acres on which stood the former home of Dr. Henry A. Anderson. After the long trek up the then bus-free Palisades, Sister noted not only the splendid collection of geological specimens donated by Dr. Anderson, but also the deteriorated condition of the weather-beaten cottage antedating the American Revolution. This cottage was destined to house the only Catholic chapel in Fort Lee until the erection of Madonna Church in 1884.
With $25 in her purse and indomitable courage, Sister Mary Nonna began her task. Eventually, the property totaled 14 acres. Lack of water supply and financial difficulties harried the Sisters in those early years. But, trusting in Divine Providence, they worked and prayed, steadily improving the Institute. Placing their faith in God, they petitioned Moses for water. Delayed because of financial difficulties, the erection in 1924 of the statue of Moses, a favorite haunt for students through the years, financially recorded for Holy Angels his gracious reply.
As the school gradually outgrew its limits, the Institute – later known as the Academy – expanded its modest facilities by erecting the future convent in 1890 as a convent/boarding school. The ecumenically minded might be interested to learn that, by personal request, the crossbearer at the dedication ceremony was Miss Carrie Carrington, a Jewish student and later a benefactress of the school. On June 17, 1890, the first two graduates to receive diplomas were honored at the Commencement Exercises.
The building of the new chapel began in 1894. It was dedicated on March 23, 1895, at a Solemn Pontifical Mass celebrated by the Most Rev. William M. Wigger, bishop of Newark. Later used as the first grade, the hall beneath has also served as an auditorium, kindergarten, sewing and vocal room.
Formation of the Aquinas Literary Club in 1895 marked the Institute's initial attempt at its first organization. Students, including Sister Mary Angeline, later principal at the Academy, published the newsmagazine Echoes From Our Classrooms. Undertaking ambitious projects, members donated volumes to the library, inaugurated the forerunner of the present Alumnae Association, and established an academic scholarship.
During the years 1879 to 1908, the children of noted actors of the day attended the school, referred to then as the Actors’ School. Nita Naldi, nee Nonna Dooley, niece of the foundress, acted on the legitimate stage and later in the movies. Children of movie stars also attended the school. The United Studio (originally the World Peerless Studio, founded in 1910) stood opposite the convent on Linwood Avenue when Fort Lee was the Hollywood of the East. As late as 1947, Fort Lee featured as a movie center when Twentieth Century Fox shot orphanage sequences on the school grounds and in the parlors and rotunda for "The Kiss of Death" starring Victor Mature.
To pick up the threads of the school's history, March 19, 1908 witnessed the breaking of ground for the high school building "with stately dome arising high." Sister Mary Theonilla, a present member of the HA community, vividly recalls the dedication of the building by the Most Rev. John J. O'Connor in 1910. Having celebrated her golden jubilee in 1959, Sister Mary Theonilla looks back nostalgically, as do all the older Sisters, on her days at Fort Lee. For her, that period covers her entire religious life except her novitiate year. For those who have spent many happy years at the Fort, this move is fraught with the pain that follows in the wake of all growth and progress in this world.
Rivaling the chapel as a unique feature of the Fort Lee campus, the historic dome with its gold cross will soon disappear from the horizon. Beneath that stately dome, the majestic rotunda has witnessed many of the events that comprise the school's rich traditions. Even in the days before World War I, Commencement Exercises were held in the rotunda.
Concerts, exhibits, teas and dances found a perfect setting in the rotunda with its marble floor and beautiful columns. In the plans for the Mediterranean Towers apartments now being constructed on the former campus, the rotunda columns will surround three fountains separating the twin buildings. Thus will be preserved a trace of the beautiful architecture of the original Holy Angels.
Assuming Sister Mary Nonna’s position as Superior in 1921, Sister Mary Jerome supervised the construction of the annex in 1925. The same year saw the erection of the long-awaited elevator, showing its antiquity in these later days, yet proving its usefulness in the recent big move to Demarest. On September 12, 1926, the primary school moved to the extension, and for the first time the remodeled convent was exclusively used by the Sisters. Sisters Mary Corona, Lucida, Auxilia and Gerald followed as superiors. More recently, Sisters Mary Valentine and Sperata held the post until the present Superior Sister Mary Brigid took over the office in 1959.
At the end of Sister Mary Theopista's administration in 1929, Sister Mary Angeline took office as principal, to be followed by Sister Mary Frances Therese in 1935, and the present principal, Sister Mary Elaine in 1955.
To provide ground for the new highway to the George Washington Bridge, the property was split in 1931. The early 1930s saw the saw the construction of the tunnel, and in 1937, the gym and Carolyn Hall, which stands as a tribute to the first Commissary General, Mother Mary Caroline.
Renovation of the chapel in 1943 in celebration of its Golden Jubilee simplified the Gothic architecture. At this time, the Academy installed stained glass windows designed by Terence O'Duggan, and the Holy Spirit window designed by Sister Mary Avila.
In the late 1950s, the Academy authorities were faced with the necessity of renovating the timeworn buildings. A survey showed that further renovation would be too costly and impractical. The situation became more acute in 1959 when additional property was taken to provide for approaches to the lower level of the George Washington Bridge. This reduced drastically the outdoor recreational areas formerly used by the students.
Both from a standpoint of future service and of scholarship, it was clear that the Academy could no longer remain in its cramped quarters if it were to maintain its high standing in educational circles. Faced with this crisis, the school authorities, as stated in the brochure of the Academy of the Holy Angels Appeal, "reacted with characteristic courage and vision." Following the sale of the Fort Lee campus, a 43-acre site was purchased in nearby Demarest, on which has been built the new Academy of the Holy Angels.
