Mother Angela Gillespie

She was the first directress of Saint Mary's Academy, which then became Saint Mary's College. She set the tone for generation after generation of young women with her vision to create a Catholic women's college. She convinced Father Sorin that the academy could no longer be successful in Bertrand, MI and worked with him to move it to our present site. This occurred in 1855 and it was that year that we received a charter from the state of Indiana to confer degrees. She first conceived our purpose was to establish an academy of learning for the education of female students in the various branches of arts and sciences usually taught in female academies of the highest standing and to confer such degrees upon scholars as are usual in such institutions. That purpose remains today and is her legacy.