Properties and Grounds Collection, 1912-2019 | Maryknoll Mission Archives
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into 2 series: Sisters Center and Other Properties.
Series 1 contains 11 subseries: Chalet, Cloister (Regina Coeli), Grounds, Grounds – Cemetery, Grounds – Grotto, Grounds – Shrines and Statues, Motherhouse, Motherhouse – Chapel, Motherhouse – Shrines and Statues, Rogers Building, and St. Teresa’s.
Series 2 contains 7 subseries: Bethany, Ossining, NY; Creighton House, Croton-on-Hudson, NY; Ladycrest, Topsfield, MA; Our Lady of the Wayside, New Paltz, NY; Noroton, CT – Beach House; Pocantico Hills, NY; and Regina Maris, Watch Hill, RI.
Administrative/Biographical History
This is an artificial collections that brings together the records of the various properties and grounds owned or leased by the Maryknoll Sisters. The records are of a historical nature and any administrative records have been removed and filed with other collections.
Chalet
The Chalet was built on the Tompkins Property in 1928 on the site which was formerly a barn and was opened and blessed on September 30, 1928. The Circle Directress and her assistants had found themselves without adequate room for the ever-increasing numbers wishing to visit the Sisters. So they set themselves to the task of raising funds to build a Chalet on the recently acquired Tompkins estate just opposite St. Teresa’s. It was planned that the top floor would be used as a hall where the Circlers would meet and where talks would be given but because of lack of space the top floor was used as a dormitory.
When completed the building served to entertain groups: the top floor a hall for Circle meetings and talks; the lower floor arranged to take care of lunches, with a kitchen providing coffee; there were rest room accommodations as well.
Throughout the years the Chalet was available for multiple use by Maryknoll Sisters and Maryknoll Sister departments. It was used for solitude days, reflection/discussion sessions and meetings of House Groups, meetings by departments, and small group living for Maryknoll Sisters. On March 29, 2000 the Contemplative Community Sisters moved from Regina Coeli to the Chalet.
Cloister (Regina Coeli)
The Society purchased the Tompkins property in 1927, and the junior novices moved into Regina Coeli Convent (the Cloister), previously the Tomkins family residence, one week before Christmas. The Sisters then purchased 53 acres of the Tompkins property from the Society on November 7, 1928. This included the Regina Coeli Hill and the ground on which the Motherhouse was eventually built along with the property as far as the Chalet. The Society retained the remaining land as far as Brookside Lane including the corner house, until they gifted these remaining 8.86 acres and the house to the Sisters on July 23, 1945.
Mother Mary Joseph decided to present the idea for a Cloister as a subject for deliberation and decision for the Sister delegates at the 1931 assembly meeting.
The Maryknoll cloistered Sisters were formally enclosed in their new home, the old farmhouse on the hilltop, where Bishop James Anthony Walsh blessed and dedicated it to Mary under the title Regina Coeli. On Oct. 3, 1932 they marked a beginning in their life of contemplative prayer for all the Maryknoll missioners.
Motherhouse
In 1927, the Sisters purchased the Tompkins estate directly opposite the Society’s property. On the estate was a large dwelling, a summer kitchen and two barns -- all on the highest point in Westchester County. The property extended to Brookside Lane with a small dwelling house on the corner.
Ground was not broken for the Motherhouse until 1930. Strikes in 1931 delayed completion of the building until 1932. On March 2, 1932, the Sisters moved in.
Rogers Building
Named after Mother Mary Joseph Rogers, foundress of the Maryknoll Sisters, Rogers Building was constructed in 1968. Sisters began moving in during 1968 but it was not formally opened until August 19, 1969. The first floor originally housed Mary Rogers College and the second and third floors comprised living quarters.
Bethany
The original name for the 25 acre property where Bethany was located was the Atterburry estate, built in 1867. The Clarke family lived there until the house burned down in 1924. That same year the Sisters purchased the property and a new structure was built on the original foundation.
On November 21, 1925 the new building, named Bethany, was dedicated and on April 5, 1926 it opened as a guest house for family and friends of the Sisters. After World War II, Bethany became the residence for the aging, disabled, and ill Sisters.
In 1976, New York State approval was received to renovate the 4th floor of the Motherhouse for a Residential Care Facility to replace Bethany. The Sisters living at Bethany moved to the newly renovated 4th floor of the Sisters Motherhouse in 1978.
In 1978 the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers purchased Bethany from the Sisters for the purpose of new developments in mission programs.
Chreighton House
The Sisters leased this property, located in nearby Croton-on-Hudson, NY.
Ladycrest, Topsfield, MA
The novitiate in Topsfield MA, called Ladycrest, was opened in 1953, closed in 1968, and sold in 1969.
Our Lady of the Wayside, New Paltz, NY
Gifted to the Sisters in 1923, Our Lady of the Wayside was a furnished country house in the Catskill Mountains. The property was sold in September 1929.
Noroton, CT - Beach House
The Sisters used this residence in Connecticut as a vacation home in the 1930s and 1940s until they obtained their property in Watch Hill, Rhode Island.
Pocantico Hills, NY
This was the first site chosen for the new Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, located in Westchester County. However, the deal ended up falling through and the Society soon purchased land in nearby Ossining.
Regina Maris, Watch Hill, RI
The vacation home at Noroton, CT was very small and due to the increasing number of Sisters, Mother Mary Columba began looking into obtaining a new house. Negotiations began in August 1955 and the house was bought in November of that year.
Administrative Information
This collections contains the historical records of the various properties owned or leased by the Maryknoll Sisters. The records date from 1912-2019 and are housed in three boxes.
Series 1, Sisters Center, contain the records of the properties and grounds located on their main campus in Maryknoll, NY. There are 11 subseries. Subseries 1, Chalet, contains histories. Subseries 2, Cloister (Regina Coeli) contains information on the Bambino Statue. Subseries 3, Grounds, has overall histories of the property, records of the tennis court, and a walking meditation guide.
Subseries 3, Grounds – Cemetery, contains directories of who is buried in the cemetery, grave rubbings, histories, documentation of the various statues in the cemetery, and records of the reinternment of Mother Mary Joseph. Subseries 5, Grounds – Grotto, contains the records of the grotto designed by Ryozo Fuso Kado.
Subseries 6, Grounds – Shrines and Statues, contains records about the various shrines and statues across the Sisters’ property. Subseries 8, 9, and 10 contain records about the Sisters’ Motherhouse. Types of records include histories, floor plans, and records about the chapel, shrines, and statues within the Motherhouse.
Subseries 10, Rogers Building, contains records of the furnishings and about moving in 1968. Subseries 11, St. Teresa’s, contains the records of St. Teresa’s which was actually located across the road on the Society’s property, but was the Sisters’ first motherhouse and therefore is included in this series. Records include a history regarding the first altar.
Series 2, Other Properties, contains documentation of other properties the Sisters either owned or leased that are not part of the Sisters’ Center. Subseries 1, Bethany – Ossining, NY, contains a history. Subseries 2, Creighton House – Croton-on-Hudson, NY, contains an article. Subseries 3, Ladycrest – Topsfield, MA, contains a history. Subseries 4, Our Lady of the Wayside – New Paltz, NY, contains a history. Subseries 5, Noroton, CT – Beach House, contains correspondence. Subseries 6, Pocantico Hills, NY, contains a history. Subseries 7, Regina Maris – Watch Hill, RI, contains correspondence and history.