[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14944]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          ST. CECILIA ACADEMY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARSHA BLACKBURN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 30, 2010

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, 150 years ago, four women from 
Somerset, Ohio arrived in Nashville, Tennessee to establish an Academy 
for the higher education of young women in the Diocese of Nashville. 
Run by the Congregation of St. Cecilia, Tennessee's only Motherhouse of 
Dominican Sisters, St. Cecilia's Academy boasts 2,500 alumnae from the 
oldest continuously operated school in Nashville. I rise today with 
gratitude for the hard work and dedication by the Sisters of St. 
Cecilia, and the faculty and staff of St. Cecilia's Academy.
  St. Cecilia's Academy, the only all-girls, Catholic high school in 
Middle Tennessee, first opened its doors in October of 1860 in North 
Nashville. Borrowing lanterns from local rail yards to light the 
grounds, the first commencement exercises were held in June of 1862. 
Two young women of St. Cecilia's Academy celebrated their graduation 
that day, along with a thousand guests, all in the throws of the Civil 
War. Despite the financial toll of the War, St. Cecilia's remained 
operational, and indeed flourished in the years to follow. Additions to 
the school on the hill came in 1880, 1888, and 1904. Following the 
westward expansion of Nashville, 92 acres of land was purchased in West 
Nashville in 1923 and the site of the current campus was established on 
the feast of St. Cecilia, 1956.
  What began with as a small boarding school is now the academic home 
for over 250 witnesses to the school's belief in the dignity of the 
individual, made in the image of the Almighty. Grounded in rich 
academic traditions, St. Cecilia's Academy has four times been 
recognized by the Acton Institute as one of the top catholic high 
schools in America. I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the 
sesquicentennial founding of St. Cecilia's Academy as we look with 
great hope to the next 150 years of excellence in education.

                          ____________________