Bicentennial Women Learners Fund Provided a Lasting Memorial

A Commemoration of Two Centuries of Women Learners!

The St. Joseph College Alumnae Association is an anchor and a pivotal part of the 200 continuous years of education of female students in St. Joseph’s Valley. We began to commemorate this connection when we gathered at the April 2009 SJC reunion to celebrate “Two Centuries of Women Learners” and the arrival of Elizabeth Seton in Emmitsburg.

To mark this historic year the SJCAA established a Bicentennial Women Learners Fund, the purposes of which were three-fold:

• To help sustain the vitality of the Alumnae Association and its financial well-being,
• To enable the association’s philanthropic outreach, which includes Vincentian charities and other groups that help meet the needs of the poor, and
• To provide a special memorial gift to the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.

The Association’s gift, funded by generous donations from our members, is a symbol of the traditional candle-lighting ceremony during our Reunion Memorial Mass. It represents all the women whose lives were both illuminated and inspired by what they learned in St. Joseph’s Valley. As a permanent memorial, we arranged for an antique brass sconce with an electrified candle to be installed in the museum area of the Seton Shrine. The sconce, along with a special plaque noting that the gift is from the SJCAA, was dedicated during our 2009 Reunion Weekend.

The plaque reads:

This light honors all women and girls whose education was guided by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and her Sisters of Charity.

Presented by St. Joseph College Alumnae Association, Inc.
April 17, 2009

Read remarks made during the 2009 Sconce Dedication Service...

Visit the SJCAA Memorial

Anyone may visit and view the sconce and plaque at the Museum of the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.

About SJCAA Donations

St. Joseph College Alumnae Association, Inc., is a charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Therefore, cash contributions to the Association may be considered tax deductions.

Get More Information

You may email us or contact us by phone or mail:

Attn: Kathleen Hollenbeck
St. Joseph College Alumnae Association, Inc.
P.O. Box 1149
Emmitsburg, MD 21727-1149 USA

301.447.5075