Overview

This study revises the existing body of historical research by examining the critical role of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM) in establishing convent schooling in Hamilton, Canada West, in 1865. This work adds to our understanding of nineteenth- and twentieth-century education by examining the experiences of those students and teachers who participated in the day-to-day life of Loretto Hamilton. This study of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary's (IBVM) convent school in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is a microhistorical examination of the teaching Sisters and their students. Forty students attended in the school's first year, 1865; the following year, enrollment surged to 100 pupils. Loretto Academy closed in 1970 with a capacity of almost 400 students. It remains the longest continuously operating private girls' school in the city's history. This work enriches in minute detail how the Academy functioned in terms of the pedagogy and curriculum of a secondary school. There was a distinct difference in the goals the Loretto Sisters established for their school, and those desired by the local public high school. Yet, in order to survive, Loretto Hamilton had to parallel its local public high school in curricular offerings and building expansions in order to retain and attract students.

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Dr. Lei's book chronicles the history of a Loretto school over a century. Through her analysis of primary and secondary sources, Lei creates a finely textured portrait of the teachers, the pupils and curriculum delivered within Loretto Hamilton. Although the school closed in 1970, Lei demonstrates that the influence of the teaching sisters and their pupils across an array of social, political, cultural and religious networks that continues to be felt today. - Prof. Elizabeth Smyth University of Toronto

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