Nearby History: Inspired to enlighten in rural Whitman County

For nearly its entire history, the small town of Colton has supported a dual school system: a coeducational public grade and high school, a parochial grade school, and — for 50 years — a Catholic high school for girls. Two different orders of nuns ran the girls’ high school: the Benedictines from 1894 to 1931 and the School Sisters of Notre Dame from 1948 to 1961.

The first girls’ high school, St. Scholastica’s Academy, was founded by Mother Johanna Zumstein (1850-1926), who was also the founder of St. Andrew’s Convent and Academy (built in 1884) in nearby Uniontown. She and two other sisters immigrated to the United States from Sarnen, Switzerland, in 1882. Others soon followed. Over the years a number of local women also joined the order, such as Maria Otilia Meyer (Sister Mary Clara) from Rosalia, who taught German, needlework, and sewing off and on between 1899 and 1914.

After quickly outgrowing their convent in Uniontown, in 1892 the Benedictine sisters announced their intention to build additional facilities in Colton. They accepted financial help and 20 acres of land on the edge of town from Earnest and Margaurite Becker and Earnest’s brother, John. The school was not built immediately, however, as the community was suddenly hard-pressed for funds as a result of a severe economic depression known nationally as “The Panic of 1893.” Interest rates rose dramatically, and many banks foreclosed on farms in arrears. Perhaps even worse, that year’s summer and fall were the coldest and wettest on record, which caused the nearest thing the Palouse region ever came to a total crop failure. Eight inches of rain fell almost continuously in September and October alone, and only a few farmers managed to harvest their crops. As a result, St. Scholastica’s was not built until 1894.

The large, three-story brick building served both as a convent for the sisters and the school in which they taught. Spacious and attractive, it featured a full basement and more than 80 windows. It housed a number of classrooms, a chapel, and a dormitory for the “boarder girls” who lived at the school. The kitchen had large ovens in which fresh bread was baked every day. A two-story frame building was also built near the school. It housed a priest and provided space for classrooms and a small dormitory for boys.

St. Scholastica’s was originally a coeducational grade school, but in 1902 the sisters began to add high school courses. Ten years later they were offering a full, four-year high school. In 1914-15, there were 70 girls in attendance. By that time, there were no male students.

Both local children and “boarder children” attended St. Scholastica’s. Those who lived in town walked to school. Country children used horse-drawn hacks in the spring and fall, and sleds in the winter. Some families boarded their children on weekdays and brought them home for weekends. Others rented or bought homes in town that were “kept” while school was in session by one of the parents or an older daughter. Still other parents sent their school-aged children to live in town with relatives. Sometimes boarder children included orphans or very young children whose parents could not care for them, but most lived in areas of eastern Washington or northern Idaho where a Catholic education was not available.

The convent and school were entirely self-sustaining. The sisters owned a 400-acre farm at Leitchville, about four miles northwest of Colton, which is still called “the Sisters’ Place.” They planted large gardens there, as well as on their property in town. The Academy also boasted a barn, chicken house, slaughterhouse and smokehouse.

St. Scholastica’s last class graduated in 1931. Most of the sisters moved to St. Gertrude’s Convent, which had been established in Cottonwood, Idaho, in 1907. A few, however, taught at Colton’s parochial grade school, Guardian Angel, for several more years.

In 1948, the School Sisters of Notre Dame purchased the premises and reopened the high school as “Notre Dame Academy.” They also built a gymnasium with a stage. Notre Dame operated as a girls’ high school until 1961, when estimated costs to renovate the building were so high that the school was permanently closed. The main structure was torn down in 1986.

Meyer taught history at Washington State University for 25 years. She has been active in Whitman County Historical Society since 1992.