DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Sisters of the Incarnate Word. Now, picture four sisters stepping off into Corpus Christi in 1871 — sent all the way from Brownsville at the request of Bishop Claude Dubuis — and what do they find waiting for them? A run-down adobe building at Leopard and Carancahua Street.
Not exactly the welcome mat you'd hope for. H.L. Kinney had given that site to the church for a convent and school, and those four women looked at what they had and decided it was enough to begin.
They got to work fast. Right away they recognized the need for a Spanish-speaking teacher, so they expanded the staff and opened the convent and school to boarders. No hesitating, no hand-wringing.
Just doing what needed doing. Now here's the part that ought to make you set down your coffee and pay attention. Under the direction of Father Claude Jaillet, Vicar General, a three-story structure was completed in 1885.
Three stories. And the sisters paid for the whole thing with ten years of savings. Ten years of setting aside whatever they could, cent by cent, until the building rose.
That same year — 1885 — the school earned academic accreditation from the State of Texas. And by 1890, there were two hundred and twenty pupils walking through those doors. The story doesn't stop there, not by a long shot.
In 1915 the cloister was dissolved, giving the sisters more freedom to open new schools and push their education further. Then in 1922 a new, more modern convent was completed right there at the original location — same ground, new life. The Corpus Christi and Brownsville houses united in 1932 and moved the motherhouse to Corpus Christi.
And the convent at this site was dedicated in 1950. You want to talk about a footprint? These sisters ran a junior college from 1958 to 1966.
Two high schools. Three junior highs. Ten elementary schools.
And a pre-school with an experimental program. Four sisters. A worn-out adobe building.
And what they built from that corner of Leopard and Carancahua Street stretched across south Texas in ways that shaped generations of children who never even knew to say their names.
What the marker says
In 1871 the Brownsville congregation of the Incarnate Word, at the request of Bishop Claude Dubuis, sent four sisters to Corpus Christi. They moved into a run-down adobe building at Leopard and Carancahua Street. H.L. Kinney had given the site to the church for a convent and school. Immediately the sisters recognized the need for a Spanish-speaking teacher. They expanded the staff and opened the convent and school to boarders. Under the direction of Father Claude Jaillet, Vicar General, a 3-story structure was completed in 1885. The sisters paid for it with their 10-year savings. The school secured academic accreditation from the State of Texas in 1885 and by 1890 had 220 pupils. The cloister was dissolved in 1915, giving the sisters more freedom to open new schools and improve their education. In 1922 a new, more modern convent was completed at the original location. The Corpus Christi and Brownsville houses united in 1932 and moved the motherhouse to Corpus Christi. The convent at this site was dedicated in 1950. The sisters' contributions to education in south Texas include operation of a junior college from 1958 to 1966, two high schools, three junior highs, ten elementary schools and a pre-school with an experimental program.