June 8, 2018

From the Archives

St. Mary Commercial School Class of 1912

Following the closure of the only school of business in Madison in 1908, a local merchant expressed a desire to open a Catholic business school. In 1910, a one-room business school was opened in a classroom of the grade school building of the former St. Mary Parish in Madison. The school was initially staffed by a single Ursuline sister, with an enrollment of approximately 30 students. The students learned typing, shorthand, rapid calculation and other business skills, as well as received religious instruction. As vocational courses were eventually integrated into public high school curriculum, St. Mary Commercial School closed in 1944.

Following the closure of the only school of business in Madison in 1908, a local merchant expressed a desire to open a Catholic business school. In 1910, a one-room business school was opened in a classroom of the grade school building of the former St. Mary Parish in Madison. The school was initially staffed by a single Ursuline sister, with an enrollment of approximately 30 students. The students learned typing, shorthand, rapid calculation and other business skills, as well as received religious instruction. As vocational courses were eventually integrated into public high school curriculum, St. Mary Commercial School closed in 1944.

This photo features the commercial school graduating class of 1912. Though the names included with this photo are incomplete and not in order by row, some of the class members shown here include Catherine Hunger, Teresa Krum, Margaret Kasper, Florence Potter, Margaret Knoebel Flynn, Julia Jacobs, Juliet Hoffstadt, Blanche Smith, Berniece Bingham, Nell Clements and Agnes Donlan. The single male student in this group is Clement Hunger, who was ordained a priest for the archdiocese in 1923.
 

(Would you like to comment on or share information about this photo? Contact archdiocesan archivist Julie Motyka at 800-382-9836, ext. 1538; 317-236-1538; or by e-mail at jmotyka@archindy.org.)

 

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