As an institution that was born in sacrifice by women who journeyed from France in the mid-1800s – one which would become Indiana’s first Saint – to establish an academy in Indiana, it’s no surprise that alumni of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College would go on to change the world.
When searching for “famous women from SMWC,” an array of women will pop up. As Women’s History Month begins, take a moment to reflect and acknowledge remarkable women of The Woods who participated as a driving force to serve others and effect positive change in the world.
Saint Mother Theodore Guerin (1798-1856) journeyed in 1840 from her convent in Ruille-sur-Loir, France, to establish an academy for women in the wilderness of Indiana. For more than a decade, from 1841 to 1852, the Academy was the only Catholic boarding school for girls in Indiana. Mother Theodore Guerin was beatified by Pope John Paul II in October 1998 and canonized a saint of the Roman Catholic church on October 15, 2006, by Pope Benedict XVI. Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, a woman of strong courage and faith, is known to students as “Mama Teddy” and remains the foundation for which the educational mission of the institution continues to this day.
Elizabeth Booth Tarkington (1833-1909), a Terre Haute native, was mother to one of Indiana’s favorite authors of the early 20th century, Booth Tarkington, and for the tribute written by him to “Old St. Mary’s” which immortalized her and the school. According to the 1918 Les Bois annual, Tarkington and this essay were required reading by many students at the College.
Alice Moore McComas (1850–1919) was an American reformer and pioneer suffragist, serving as president of the Los Angeles Equal Suffrage Association. McComas was well known throughout the West as an educator and lecturer, accredited with being the first woman to oversee a department for women in a daily paper in California and the first woman to address a state Republican ratification meeting. She was an early organizer of the Free Kindergarten Association and of clubs for working women and was prominent in many movements for civic welfare.
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