St. Mary's College of Maryland Preservation Master Plan

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St. Mary’s College of MarylandPreservation Master PlanHistoric St. Mary’s City February 2008Maryland Tri-County Cooperative Association was formedas a new public utility, so the Seminary was technologicallyahead of most of its surrounds. The 1923 brick generatorbuilding was remodeled as a chemistry lab (Fausz 1990:81;Hammett 1990:479; St. Mary’s College Catalog 1931:11).A new water tower was built behind Calvert Hall. A finaladdition to the campus was the Garden of Remembrance,a landscaped oasis which the Alumnae Association createdon the site of the school vegetable garden in 1934. Thegarden was designed by Mark Shoemaker of the stateagricultural extension at College Park (Fausz 1990:80-82;Haugaard 2007; Haugaard et al. 2007:16).Despite the fiscal difficulties of a national economic crisis,the school was soon able to make its first new land purchasesince 1845. In the early 1930s, it secured a small parcel ofland, across the Brome’s Wharf Road from Calvert Hall andthe Alumnae House that had belonged to former principalMrs. Annie Elizabeth Thomas Lilburn, who died in 1932.The Lilburn house burned down ca. 1929 and was not rebuilt(Haugaard et al. 2007:9,15; Whitmore and Keen 1981:10),so the lot was unoccupied. James and Ethel Goddard boughtthis half-acre parcel in 1929 and formally conveyed it to theSeminary on February 25 th , 1935 (St. Mary’s County LandRecords 1929, JMM6:483; 1935, J9:146-147), althoughit appears that the school took control of the property asearly as 1932. Part of this property was leased to the StateTercentenary Commission on the same date to provide thesite for the “Freedom of Conscience” monument by HansSchuler (St. Mary’s County Land Records 1935, J9:158).In 1935, after the Tercentenary, this property would alsobe the new site of the Caretaker’s Cottage, later knownas the White House, which was moved across the streetto the former Lilburn lot (Haugaard 2007; Haugaard et al.2007:9,15-18).Gateway arch given by Class of 1927 (Courtesyof SMCM Archives).Detail of Maryland seal on Calvert Hall portico,1967 (Courtesy of SMCM Archives).The Maryland Tercentenary celebration on June 15-16,1934, was two days of pomp, ceremony and excitementas tens of thousands of visitors converged on St. Mary’sCity. Calvert Hall, quickly evacuated of students after finals,was converted to a tourist hotel and the base of operationsfor the organizers and the Governor. The present Route 5alignment was completed in time for the arrival of the crowds(Fausz 1990:86-88). St. Mary’s Seminary-Junior College,assisted by the D.A.R. and other groups, provided most ofthe hospitality and implemented most of the plans made bythe state commission (Haugaard et al. 2007:13-18).In 1935, St. Mary’s Seminary-Junior College followed upon a suggestion made by Mark Shoemaker, the landscapedesigner who had created the Garden of Remembrance,Garden of Rememrance, as seen in 1939(Courtesy of SMCM Archives).Page 2-25
St. Mary’s College of MarylandPreservation Master PlanHistoric St. Mary’s City February 2008to relocate the Caretaker’s Cottage. Shoemaker felt thecottage stood too close to the garden and detracted fromthe view. The school hired a WPA crew to move the houseacross Brome’s Wharf Road to the former Lilburn property.A new foundation was built and the house was rolled downthe hill to its new site over a three-day period in November1935 (Haugaard 2007; Haugaard et al. 2007:17-18).Hans Schuler’s Freedom of Consciencemonument (1934), as seen in 1967 (CourtesySMCM Archives)Aerial view of Tercentenary festivities, June1934 (Courtesy of SMCM Archives)Six years after the Tercentenary, St. Mary’s Seminarycelebrated another major milestone: its own centennialanniversary. A series of special events and exhibitionsstretched the festivities into 1941, capping off the celebrationwith two major gifts from the state. The first was a new$85,000 Gymnasium and Recreation Building behind CalvertHall, designed by Baltimore architect Bernard Evander andcompleted by Enactment Day, March 21, 1941. The secondwas full accreditation of the Junior College division on April17, 1941 (Fausz 1990:86-88).In 1935, St. Mary’s Female Seminary-Junior College wasreorganized as a four-year junior college program, and by1937-1938 was providing instruction for high school juniorsand seniors (Lower Division), and college freshmen andsophomores (Upper Division). St. Mary’s was the onlyfour-year junior college in Maryland and one of only 25 tooffer such a program in the U.S. On April 17, 1941, St.Mary’s Seminary Junior College received accreditationfrom the Maryland Department of Education, affirming thatthe school had cemented its place in the world of moderneducation while still preserving its most cherished traditions.The successful reorganization soon enhanced the school’sreputation, quieted its critics, and made it a higher priorityfor state funding. Since 1937, it has been included inthe regular budget along with all other Maryland publiceducational institutions (Fausz 1990:77-80).Despite the afterglow of the centennial, World War IIplunged St. Mary’s Seminary Junior College into a stretchof difficult years, and the war had surprising impacts on thetiny community of St. Mary’s City. The outbreak of war soonbrought dramatic change to sleepy southern Maryland.In September 1941, the federal government chose 6,400acres of farmland along the Patuxent River as the locationof a new Naval Air Station and 770 acres at St. Inigoes asan auxiliary airfield, known as Webster Field. Both siteswere within ten miles of the Seminary. Construction ofthese major installations began the following April, andnew infrastructure, including a railroad line, countywide busGymnasium completed in 1941; now known asservice, and new paved roads to Waldorf, soon followedKent Hall (Courtesy of SMCM Archives).(Fausz 1990:90-93).Page 2-26
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