#52 Ancestors 2020 Week 37 Back to School: Mother Rosalie Hill and the University of San Diego

I first became aware of Reverend Mother Rosalie Hill RSCJ when I was going through a box of mementos from my grandmother and found an invitation to the Golden Jubilee celebration for Mother Rosalie, held in 1957 in San Diego.  I was intrigued; I was fairly sure she was related, but was not sure how, so I did some research. 

As it turns out, Mother Rosalie was the first cousin of my grandfather, Paul Summers.  But further, she was quite a remarkable figure in her own right, a leader in developing higher education for women, and one of the founders of the University of San Diego.  Her story deserves to be told.  

Rosalie Clifton Hill was the second of nine children of Peter Henry Hill, (the brother of my great-grandmother) a respected businessman in Washington, and Elenora Young, born in the District of Columbia 13 March 1878.  After attending private schools near her home, Rosalie was sent to the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Montreal in September 1898 to finish her education.  After receiving her first taste of convent discipline, she begged her mother to let her come back home.  Her mother declined and Rosalie eventually grew to love the convent so much that she entered the order in 1901 and in 1907 made her final profession of vows in France, where the order had been founded in 1800 by Madeline Sophie Barat. Two of her siblings, Mary Theresa Hill and Elizabeth Livingston Hill followed her lead into the order. (All three became Reverend Mothers in the order.  The family refers to them as "The Everlasting Hills.")

Returning to the United States, Rosalie taught at schools in Philadelphia, Providence RI and New York.  

Interestingly, Mother Rosalie had a role to play in the canonization of her order's foundress.  As the superior of the Sacred Heart Convent in Manhattanville NY, she was naturally concerned at the dire illness of one of her sisters.  Sister Rose Coyne was dying of consumption and at the urging of Mother Rosalie, she began a novena to Madeline Sophie Barat.  On the night of 24 May 1919, Sister Rose was cured, her illness gone and her health completely restored.  The cure was attributed to Barat and was one of the miracles accepted toward her canonization in 1925.  

From the beginning the Sisters of the Sacred Heart focused on education and the order had a remarkable record of establishing colleges for women.  Between 1914 and 1949, the order established ten colleges, more probably than any other single women's congregation in the United States. In her 32 years as head of the Western Vicariate (1929-1961) and sometimes earlier, Mother Rosalie had a hand in five of those institutions: Duchesne College in Omaha, Barat College in Lake Forest IL, Lone Mountain College in Menlo Park, The San Francisco College for Women and the San Diego College for Women (later the University of San Diego). 

Mother Rosalie loved building and design, a skill she said she learned from her grandmother, Nora Carroll Livingston.  Grandma Nora, she said, "showed me how to plan houses and rooms using quadrille paper which I would tirelessly cut and place in the desired position. An ability I was to use to great advantage in the years to come." In 1927 she took on her first building project, the construction of a chapel for the Overbrook Convent of the Sacred Heart in Philadelphia.  

The early 20th century saw enormous growth in demand for college-educated teachers for Catholic schools. The Church was demanding a Catholic school in every parish and had great need of well-trained women both lay and religious to teach in these schools.  

By 1929, Mother Rosalie was the head of the Western Vicariate for the sisters and had moved to Chicago, where she worked on expanding traditional Sacred Heart Academies like Duchesne with post-secondary offerings.  She also began planning for the opening of the San Francisco College for Women.  Mother Rosalie believed strongly in the power of beauty to attract the mind and heart to God, so in all her building projects she was insistent on surrounding the students with beauty.  "Beauty will attract them. Goodness will lead them.  The truth will hold them." 

In 1937, she was first approached by the bishop of San Diego about opening a school in his diocese. "It is my ardent hope," Bishop Charles Buddy told Mother Rosalie, "to have the Religious of the Sacred Heart take an active part in building up Catholicity in this newly formed diocese where faith is weak and Catholic traditions sadly lacking."   

Given the wartime restrictions and other obstacles, it took another nine years to find a suitable property, but in June 1946, Mother Rosalie took up residence in San Diego and began to direct planning for the new college to be located overlooking the city in what came to be called Alcala Park.  Mother Rosalie had decided on Spanish Renaissance architecture and produced some original designs for the decoration of the future buildings. With a $4 million endowment from the Religious of the Sacred Heart, construction began in 1949. 

Mother Rosalie's belief in the importance of beauty led her to pay close attention to the details of the building process, and she was legendary for following the architect and construction crews around the site inspecting and critiquing their work. At Mother Rosalie's direction, the original furnishings of the campus included ornate crystal chandeliers and gorgeous tapestries. 

In 1952, the San Diego College for Women opened with 50 students. 

Mother Rosalie continued her building projects with the design and construction of the Founders Chapel which was dedicated in 1954 and still in use, a favorite site for student weddings.  

Until her death, Mother Rosalie maintained the honorary position of president of the College.  In 1972, it merged with the Men's College to become the University of San Diego. 

Rosalie Hill Hall, the home of the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, and the Mother Hill Reading Room in the Library, still commemorate her presence on the campus. Additionally, the University presents the Mother Rosalie Clifton Hill Award annually to the alumnus/a who personifies the spirit and philosophy of the University. 

Mother Rosalie Hill Hall

Reverend Mother Rosalie Clifton Hill RSCJ died at the San Diego College for Women December 12, 1964.  According to her biographer, Jill Watson, (hill2.pdf (sandiego.edu)) all who met her were impressed by her gentleness and her beautiful gift of joy.  The University of San Diego, now a nationally ranked institution with thousands of students, stands as a monument to her determination to bring beauty, goodness, and truth to the world and pass it on to future generations.

PS: My Aunt Louise Summers Dwyer told me that she met Mother Rosalie once when she was a student at Stone Ridge Academy and Mother Rosalie was touring some of the Order's schools.