In the May 28, 2013 blog entitled “Once Upon a Time…” you can read from the Chronicles of Notre
Dame Academy from its earliest years to 1902.
While the notes are quite interesting, there’s much they don’t
reveal. Here are some background facts
that may spark your imagination.
Not all the Sisters who fled Germany in 1874 spoke English;
probably most knew none at all. Imagine
coming into a foreign country under stressful circumstances and not knowing the
language. Then imagine being assigned to
teach in a grade school. Certainly
American children were, even then, quite different from their German
counterparts. We can assume that most of
the classes were taught in German—not uncommon in Northern Kentucky since so
many of the residence in Kenton and Campbell Counties were first and second
generation Germans. Soon enough, though,
the language barrier had to become a real deterrent to enlarging enrollments,
and the Sisters’ efforts to learn English had to be stepped up considerably. Some parish priests gave the Sisters in their
parish schools lessons in English. It is
told that the people were very kind to the Sisters, understanding the
difficulty of learning a new language as well as adjusting to their new home.
While most of the Sisters were young, not all were, but
their reason for leaving Germany was probably well known, making the locals
even more sympathetic. Bishop Toebbe,
whose sister was a member of the German order, eagerly took advantage of the
Sisters coming to the United States and invited them to teach in his schools in
German neighborhoods. When the first
Sisters arrived in Covington, they were offered hospitality at St. Elizabeth
Hospital, by the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis (as they were known
then). That did not last long since a
house on Montgomery St. between 5th and 6th Streets
became available. This served as the
convent for a few of the Sisters (many had dispersed to teach and to minister
to orphans elsewhere in northern Kentucky and Cincinnati).
Regarding the Sisters’ reason for emigrating from
German, Chancellor Bismark’s Kultur
Kampf (Culture War) was in progress and religious women were forced to leave
their communities or leave the country.
His efforts were to solidify the power of Emperor Wilhelm I, negating,
so he thought, any influence of the Catholic Church. Under this duress many religious orders of
women were forced to leave scores of their institutions in Germany. But Germany’s loss was gain for several
countries, especially the United States.
Eventually the SNDs were able to return to Germany, but very many
stayed, having established roots in northern Kentucky, Toledo and
Cleveland. Thank you, Chancellor
Bismark!
