St. Mary's in Columbus in Franklin County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Saint Mary of the Springs Academy / Anne O'Hare McCormick 1880-1954

Saint Mary of the Springs Academy Marker (Side A) image. Click for full size.

Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., March 15, 2009

1. Saint Mary of the Springs Academy Marker (Side A)

Inscription. Side A:
Saint Mary of the Springs Academy
On this site stood St. Mary of the Springs Academy, a school for girls first founded by the Dominican Sisters in 1830 in Somerset, Ohio, to respond to the educational needs of frontier Catholics. The school operated in Somerset until 1866 when a devastating fire destroyed the buildings. The Sisters occupied borrowed space until Theodore Leonard, a Columbus businessman, offered them land and bricks to rebuild in Columbus. The Sisters accepted, and Leonard built St. Mary's Academy in Columbus in 1868. To reflect the natural springs on the property, “of the Springs” was added to the name. The Academy closed in 1966.

Side B:
Anne O'Hare McCormick 1880-1954
In 1937, Anne O'Hare McCormick became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for foreign correspondence. She was born in Yorkshire, England and moved to Ohio as a child. She was educated at the Academy of St. Mary of the Springs. As a freelance writer, McCormick contributed to the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times, and others. She became a regular correspondent for the Times in 1922 and was the first woman to join its editorial board in 1936. As a Times correspondent in Europe during the tumultuous years before and during World War II, she conducted interviews with leaders

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including Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlin, Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin.

Erected 2003 by Ohio Bicentennial Commission, The International Paper Company Foundation, The Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 49-25.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Charity & Public Work • Churches & Religion • Education • Settlements & Settlers • Women. In addition, it is included in the Ohio Historical Society / The Ohio History Connection series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1830.

Location. 39° 59.446′ N, 82° 56.51′ W. Marker is in Columbus, Ohio, in Franklin County. It is in St. Mary's. Marker is on the grounds of Ohio Dominican University, about 600 feet up the drive from the school entrance at the intersection of Airport Drive/Leonard Avenue and Sunbury Road. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2320 Airport Drive, Columbus OH 43219, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Spirit of the Springs (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Ohio Dominican University Est. 1911 / Early Sister-Founderesses of Ohio Dominican University (about 700 feet away); Alum Creek & The Underground Railroad / The Underground Railroad (approx.

Anne O'Hare McCormick Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., March 15, 2009

2. Anne O'Hare McCormick Marker

0.3 miles away); Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Home Studio and Artist's Residence (approx. 0.6 miles away); The Jeffrey Mansion & Park (approx. 1.3 miles away); Mount Vernon Community School (approx. 1.4 miles away); Bexley (approx. 1½ miles away); Camp Bushnell (approx. 1½ miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Columbus.

Also see . . .
1. History of Ohio Dominican. Excerpt:

In 1911, the Sisters would receive a charter from the State of Ohio for what would become the College of St. Mary of the Springs, which operated as an all-women's college until 1964 when it became co-educational. Then, in 1968, the name was changed to Ohio Dominican College, reflecting our Dominican faith and founding by the Dominican Sisters. In 2002, we launched master's degree programs and changed our name (and status) to what we all know and love today, Ohio Dominican University.

(Submitted on March 30, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)

2. Anne O'Hare McCormick obituary from New York Times. Excerpt:

Arthur Hays Sulzberger, president and publisher of The Times, told Mrs. McCormick, when he invited her late in 1935 to join the editorial board: "You are to be the
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., March 15, 2009

3. Saint Mary of the Springs Academy / Anne O'Hare McCormick Marker
‘freedom’ editor. It will be your job to stand up on your hind legs and shout whenever freedom is interfered with in any part of the world."

(Submitted on March 30, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)

3. Graduates of St. Mary. 2018 article by Joe Blundo in The Columbus Dispatch. Excerpt:

Some or all of that might end up in the Jubilee Museum (jubileemuseum.org), the splendid institution that houses Catholic artwork, church artifacts and other treasures at 57 S. Grubb St. in Franklinton. The museum is planning a room devoted to the school.

St. Mary has about 800 living graduates, many of whom have contributed items, said Ann McKinnon Seren, of the class of '57. Among the treasures: an 1896 diploma, the beanies students were required to wear to chapel and a field hockey stick.

(Submitted on March 29, 2024, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.)

Additional commentary.
1. St. Mary of the Springs Academy, Class of 1941
(transcribed from Photograph No. 5.)
Elizabeth McDowell, President • Patricia Gatterdam, Vice President • Jane Gordon, Prefect of Sodality • Rosemary Duffy, Secretary • Mary Janice Parks, Treasurer .

Joan

Former Saint Mary of the Springs Academy Entrance image. Click for full size.

Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., March 15, 2009

4. Former Saint Mary of the Springs Academy Entrance

Now the site of Ohio Dominican University.

Berry • Martha Blocker • Rosemarie Core • Joan Davis • Julienn Drugan • Dorothy Dubes • Christy Klie • Antoinette Libonati • Eileen Mahoney • Mary Manley • Dorothy Murray • Helen McGeough • Peggy O’Neill • Mary Alice Richter • Mary C. Schirtzinger • Kathleen Schroeder • Ann Sullivan • Gloria Swain • Eileen Tornes • Virginia Vogel • Marilyn Van Arsdale • Mary Edna Weber • Ann Williams • Dorothy Williams • Mary Margaret Wood • Jeanne Worch.

— Submitted March 29, 2024.

Saint Mary of the Springs Academy, Class of 1941 image. Click for full size.

By the Baker Art Gallery, Columbus. From the collection of James Simmons, March 29, 2024

5. Saint Mary of the Springs Academy, Class of 1941

Click on this image to zoom in. Names have been transcribed elsewhere on this page.

These photographs were taken by photographers of the Baker Art Gallery, a Columbus Ohio photography studio that operated from 1862 to 1955. Their negatives were donated to the Ohio Historical Society, now the Ohio History Connection.

Credits. This page was last revised on March 29, 2024. It was originally submitted on March 27, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 2,794 times since then and 113 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on March 27, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. 5. submitted on March 29, 2024, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.