Criterion A: Education
Criterion C: Architecture
Criterion Consideration A: Religious Property
Period of Significance: 1862-1971
Local Level of Significance
Catherine McAuley High School is locally significant under National Register Criterion A for Education and Criterion C for Architecture and is being nominated to the National Register as a boundary increase to the listed St. Joseph's Academy and Convent. When the St. Josephs Academy and Convent were listed in the National Register in 2017 the nomination included the two adjoining historic buildings (the academy and the convent), a historic shrine, and a noncontributing ca. 1970s garage, all of which were on the same lot at the time. The property lines have since been reconfigured and today the shrine sits on its own lot. Another lot, south of the convent and east of the shrine, was created and construction of an apartment building was recently completed on that parcel. Since listing of the property in 2017, the ca. 1970s garage has been removed. As a result of one removal and one addition, the resource count for noncontributing buildings in the original listing is unchanged. When the National Register listing was undertaken, the adjacent McAuley School was not yet fifty years old and was, therefore, excluded from the nomination. Another adjacent functionally-related building, St. Catherines Hall, was excluded because it had undergone extensive alterations that compromised its integrity. There are no other buildings remaining in the immediate vicinity that were functionally related to the St. Josephs complex. The period of significance for the previous St. Josephs Academy and Convent National Register listing begins in 1862, the construction date for St. Josephs Academy, and ends in 1966, which was the fifty-year National Register cutoff date at the time of the National Register listing in 2017. This additional documentation and boundary increase extends the National Register boundaries for the St. Josephs Academy and Convent in order to include the lot on which the McAuley School stands, changing the listing from an individual property to a district. The period of significance for the listing is being extended to 1971, the year the McAuley School was completed and first occupied. The previous nomination specifies areas of significance for Social History, Architecture and Education. The areas of Education and Architecture cover the McAuley High School. The Catherine McAuley High School and the district as a whole possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. As a result of its former religious associations, the district meets Criterion Consideration A for National Register listing. The districts significance is due to its historical associations with local education and social history and for its architectural significance rather than for any religious associations. The McAuley School is locally significant under National Register Criterion A in the area of Education for its association with the Sisters of Mercy and their commitment to educating young women. Establishment of the McAuley High School in 1969 continued the tradition of providing a parochial education for females that was started at the adjacent St. Josephs Academy in 1882. The Academy initially offered classes for primary, grammar, and high school girls. An 1886 addition allowed the sisters to offer college level classes as well. Enrollment demands in the mid-20th century were such that the high school and college required their own separate facilities. The McAuley School is important for its association with the open plan school movement of the 1960s and 1970s, which introduced progressive ideas for expanding students learning experience through more flexible curriculum and workspaces. Further, the curriculum and facilities at the McAuley High School were designed to better prepare young women for the workplace, offering expanded business and science classes. At a time when parochial education, particularly for women, typically followed traditional conservative norms, it is significant that the Sisters of Mercy elected to construct a modern school building and offer a progressive curriculum.