DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, every now and then you come across a story that starts with two women and a mission, and ends up shaping a whole region's future. This is one of those stories.
It was the Women's Board of Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, along with missionaries Annie Williams and Rebecca Toland, who established the Laredo Seminary in 1880 — a boarding school for young women right there on the border. When the school opened in 1882, it sat at a site near the Paso de San Jacinto of the Rio Grande, Fort McIntosh, and the International and Great Northern Railroad depot. That's about as much crossroads as you can get — river, fort, and iron rails all within hollerin' distance.
Then, in October of 1883, a Kentucky native named Nannie Emory Holding arrived to begin her missionary work at the seminary. And here's where the story picks up speed. Holding eventually became superintendent, and under her watch the place grew — noticeably, measurably grew — in physical size and in the number of students walking through its doors.
By 1885, the seminary had opened its doors to young men as well. And by 1888, it counted 125 pupils, drawn from both Mexico and the United States. One hundred and twenty-five young people sitting in those classrooms, right there on the border.
When Holding retired in 1913, the school was renamed in her honor — the Holding Institute. A fitting tribute to the woman who'd guided its most consequential years. But the border giveth, and sometimes the border floods.
The Holding Institute suffered severe river flooding in the 1940s and into the 1950s. A 1954 flood virtually destroyed the campus, and the institute had no choice but to move — relocating to north Laredo. It wasn't done moving, either.
In 1987, it relocated again, this time to its current site at the former city lumber company building. And still it stands. Still teaching.
English classes for adults, keeping the original mission alive in a new century. The history of Laredo Seminary and the Holding Institute is, as the marker puts it, a reminder of women's mission work on the United States-Mexico border across the 19th and 20th centuries — work that gave thousands of border youth the chance to prepare for adulthood through training and education. Two missionaries, one superintendent, a hundred and twenty-five pupils by 1888, a flood that nearly ended it all, and a school that refused to quit.
That's the Holding Institute.
What the marker says
The Women's Board of Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and missionaries Annie Williams and Rebecca Toland, established the Laredo Seminary in 1880 as a boarding school for young women. The school opened in 1882 at a site near the Paso de San Jacinto of the Rio Grande, Fort McIntosh, and the International and Great Northern Railroad depot. In October 1883, Kentucky native Nannie Emory Holding began her missionary work at the seminary. Later as superintendent, she led a marked period of growth for the school, both in terms of physical size and number of students. Laredo Seminary opened its doors to young men in 1885, and by 1888 it included 125 pupils from Mexico and the United States. After Holding's retirement in 1913, Laredo Seminary was renamed the Holding Institute. The institute suffered severe river flooding in the 1940s and 1950s. After a 1954 flood virtually destroyed the campus, the Holding Institute moved to north Laredo. In 1987, it relocated to its current site at the former city lumber company building. The institute continues to play a role in Laredo's educational system by teaching English in adult education classes. The history of Laredo Seminary and the Holding Institute stands as a reminder of women's mission work on the United States-Mexico border in the 19th and 20th centuries, which provided thousands of border youth the opportunity to receive training and education in preparation for adulthood. (2001)