Dallas opened its first higher education institution for women, St. Mary’s College at Dallas, in 1889, with 76 students in its inaugural class. Rev. Alexander C. Garett founded the college as bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Dallas. He was an Irish immigrant who moved to the U.S. in 1870 and remained the bishop in Dallas until his death in 1924 at age 92.
In addition to his duties with the church, Garrett taught astronomy, logic, and psychology. The school offered Bachelor of Arts and Science degrees for its students and a Master of Arts program. Its Victorian Gothic-style school was built on North Garrett Avenue in East Dallas. St. Mary’s continued to grow and add buildings through the early 20th century on its 20-acre campus, nicknamed “College Hill.” The main building was accompanied by Hartshorne Memorial Hall in 1900 and a chapel in 1908, a gymnasium built in 1910, and Garret Hall in 1917. The campus was located on 20-acres, nicknamed “College Hill”. By 1903, there were more than 25 professors, most originally from Europe. Garrett was an Irish immigrant who moved to the United States in 1870 and remained Bishop of Dallas until his death in 1924 at the age of 92. Garrett was devoted to the school and its students’ well-being and even lived near the College Hill campus.
Unfortunately, the school was marked by financial struggles since the construction process began in 1886, which caused the school’s opening to be delayed until three years later. On the 40th anniversary of Garrett’s bishop consecration in 1914, the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas successfully appealed for a special offering, which allowed the school to improve its operations. Despite the financial difficulties, the school was well-staffed and provided unprecedented educational opportunities for its female students.
By the 1920s, the school had become an accredited junior college when higher education for women was rare. The vestry of St. Matthews Episcopal Cathedral voted to move its congregation to the college and assume the school’s debts in 1927, but the stock market crash in 1929 forced St. Mary’s to cease operation in the summer of 1930.
A 1922 map of College Hill includes St. Mary’s Hall, which was the cultural hub of the campus, the chapel, Hartshorne Memorial Recitation Hall Graff Hall Music Conservatory, Sarah Neilson Memorial Dormitory, and Mary Bulkley Memorial Dormitory. According to a newspaper advertisement in 1911, the School of Music was taught by instructors trained in Germany, France, and New England.
The school additionally offered art and China painting classes. The campus employed two trained nurses/physical education teachers who taught health, diet, and physical culture. Other amenities included steam heating, electricity, an artesian well, and homemade bread and pastries. A night and Sunday watchman was employed to ensure the safety of students, reporting four times hourly to five detective agencies. Though Garrett Hall was completed in 1917, the school was still suffering financially.
By the early 1920s, St. Mary’s would become a state-accredited junior college. In 1927, the property’s ownership was transferred to St. Matthew’s Cathedral Parish. After the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the school was forced to close its operation in the summer of 1930 and was used as a relocated boy’s school.
The university’s main building was demolished in 1948, but its chapel was expanded and preserved and is actively used as St. Matthews Cathedral today. The college’s impressive alumni include writer and suffragist Margaret Bell Houston, sculptor Clyde Giltner Chandler, and Claudia Taylor, who would later be known as Lady Bird Johnson.
