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Simplicity, Gentleness, Humility
Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, straight ahead in the next block, is one of the oldest Catholic institutions in America. It was founded in 1799 by three pious ladies under the spiritual guidance of the president of Georgetown College, where education for women was lacking. On land adjacent to the college (now Georgetown University), they established the Academy for Young Ladies as well as the Benevolent School for working-class white children; free blacks and slaves were also taught to read and write. In 1816 the women were accepted as Sisters of the Visitation, a French order that emphasizes simplicity, gentleness and humility. They took in washing, raised vegetables, and did whatever they could to support the schools and their convent.
Visitation has always been involved with the life of the Capital City. Five presidents -- John Q. Adams, Polk, Tyler, Buchanan and Grant -- participated in its annual award ceremonies. Harriet Lane, Buchanan's niece and official hostess, was a student, as was Martha Washington's great-granddaughter, Britannia Peter. IN 1829 Andrew Jackson stopped by and invited the ladies to the White House for tea. The young ladies, tastefully dressed, formed a line and marched to the President's house in snow white uniforms with blue capes and bonnets trimmed in blue ribbons; each carried a parasol.
Until 1975, when it ceased to accept boarders, Visitation attracted students from all over the United States and Latin America. During five major wars the school offered help, even allowing anti-aircraft guns and temporary housing on campus during World War II. In 1993 a catastrophic fire destroyed much of the main school building. Just four exterior walls made of solid brick 32 inches thick remained. Reconstruction took two years, based in part on old photographs. Needlework and drawings, dating from the 19th century when they were part of the school's curriculum, also provide a record of its early appearance.
The school that began with a handful of young ladies in a one-story cabin in the 18th century entered the 21st century with an enrollment of 450 young women on its historic 23-acre campus. |