Your path: History SNJM
History:
Sisters of the Holy Names
As recalled by Sister Jane Hibbard, Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, and Marylhurst University Trustee, at the dedication of Knight's Green on October 17, 2007.
Nearly 150 years ago, on October 21, 1859, twelve courageous young women disembarked after a long sea voyage [that ended] on the banks of the Willamette River.
Motivated by a deep love of God, and an absolute passion for educating young people, they brought with them from Quebec what is so deeply integral to their French heritage – a love for the beauty of music and art, and the gift for finding and celebrating God in the natural beauty of creation.
These roots and these first Sisters of the Holy Names were the beginning in the Pacific Northwest of the fabulous heritage we celebrate today as Marylhurst University.
The Twelve, as we call them, started St. Mary's Academy that first year in downtown Portland. Soon the Academy housed a school to educate teachers. Then in the early 1900s, the Sisters' Province Administration and the Teacher's College moved to this site, also on the banks of the Willamette River. Marylhurst College was born.
Now these traditions of educating the whole person, ensuring the development of spiritual and artistic growth, cultivating and delighting in a setting of extraordinary natural beauty: all of this is the heritage and pride of Marylhurst.