[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 6, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E13-E14]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF THE 100TH BIRTHDAY OF MERCY HIGH SCHOOL BURLINGAME'S 
                              KOHL MANSION

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 6, 2015

  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the Centennial of Mercy High 
School Burlingame's Kohl Mansion, an historic and beautiful building 
with deep meaning for the community and for me personally. As an alumna 
of Mercy High and the mother of a daughter who also graduated from this 
outstanding school, this institution has shaped my life.
  Today, Mercy High School Burlingame, a Catholic college preparatory 
high school, educates 400 young women a year, with the majority coming 
from San Mateo County. About three quarters of the students are Roman 
Catholic and 90 percent of the students are engaged in at least one 
extra-curricular activity. Mercy encourages students to discover 
themselves and explore their dreams; they receive an education of mind, 
body and spirit. This recipe and small class sizes prove to be highly 
successful. In the class of 2014, 87 percent matriculated to four year 
colleges and 13 percent matriculated to community colleges.
  Mercy education finds its origins in Ireland in the ministry of 
Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy. Their work is 
marked by a special concern for the needs of the poor, in particular 
women and children. This tradition continues to this day.
  The Kohl Mansion was originally built from 1912 to 1914 by Charles 
Frederick ``Freddie'' Kohl for his wife Bessie. Kohl, born in San Jose 
in 1863, grew up in a mansion on an estate in San Mateo, now known as 
Central Park. His father had made a fortune as the founder of Alaska 
Commercial Company and so Kohl Junior was used to an opulent lifestyle. 
Freddie and Bessie's travels to Europe further inspired them to build 
the lavish four-story Tudor named ``The Oaks.''
  In 1924, the Sisters of Mercy bought the house and turned it into a 
chapel. When the sisters moved down the hill to a new building, 
Principal Sister Mary Lorenzo Murphy and seven other nuns opened Mercy 
High School in the mansion in 1931, admitting 36 freshmen and 
sophomores.
  The old Kohl Mansion has embraced technology and modern facilities. 
Mercy launched its website in 1999. Over the decades, a state-of-the 
art athletic center with an Olympic size pool, a commercial kitchen, a 
new cafeteria and a multi-media center were built, among the many 
improvements. At every step of the way, the focus of the school was to 
provide its students with the best education and learning environment 
possible.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to 
honor one of the finest high schools in the country, Mercy High School 
Burlingame on the occasion of the Kohl Mansion's 100th birthday. May 
this historic building remain the home of education and learning for 
centuries to come.

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