The Academy, Vancouver, WA

Happy Valentine's Day everybody! This is not a Valentine's blip because I went downtown Vancouver for a meeting/lunch and afterward I drove to a few spots for some pictures and I am not about to waste my downtown photo. So this is The Academy. My plan was to go inside the building and get a picture of The Academy Chapel. Well, that didn't work out, because it is not open to the public.

I have been to a wedding here, and it is a small but very elegant place for a wedding.

In the image the right side of the building is the chapel part of the building. This place came about with Mother Joseph and four other Sister's of Providence, arrived in Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, on December 8, 1856, completing a 35-day journey by train and ship from their home in Montreal, Quebec. They came at the request of a Bishop who accompanied them on the journey. However, when the sisters and Bishop Blanchet arrived in Vancouver, they found that the bishop's plans for their arrival had not been fulfilled. So, they said...go on up to Olympia. Mother Joseph said no, and over the course of many years built this building that you see here. They took in orphans and anyone in need, opened a hospital and from these humble roots the Providence Hospital was born and it is now one of the largest health care centers in our area. And now, my husband and I have Providence as our primary medicare health insurance, so I guess her ambition and calling to provide health care has even impacted our lives. How about that? Didn't think of that until this minute. There is a lot more story to this, than I can write here, of course. She was quite the force of nature, I believe. The hospital here in Vancouver was once called Mother Joseph Hospital, but it was changed to SouthWest Washington Medical Center. Oh, I know this is long, but if you can read a little more. The ONLY statue of her is in Washington DC and here is the information on a remarkable woman.

On April 16, 1823, Esther Pariseau was born in St. Elzear near Montreal, Canada. At the age of 20, when she entered the Sisters of Charity of Providence in Montreal, her carriage-maker father remarked, "I bring you my daughter, Esther, who wishes to dedicate herself to the religious life. She can read, write, figure accurately, sew, cook, spin and do all manner of housework. She can even do carpentering, handling a hammer and saw as well as her father. She can also plan for others and she succeeds in anything she undertakes. I assure you, Madam, she will make a good superior some day."

In 1856, Mother Joseph was chosen to lead a group of five missionaries to the Pacific Northwest Territories of the United States. There she was responsible for the completion of eleven hospitals, seven academies, five Indian schools, and two orphanages throughout an area that today encompasses Washington, northern Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. An architect and artist, she was actually responsible for designing the buildings, supervising their construction, and fund raising. Each of her "begging tours" into mining camps lasted several months and raised between $2,000 and $5,000 toward the realization of her goal. A stickler for detail, Mother Joseph often inspected rafters and bounced on planks to insure their support.

Mother Joseph died of a brain tumor in 1902, leaving a legacy of humanitarian service. She is recognized as one of the first architects in the Northwest.


Currently the building houses office space, plus the chapel and the wedding reception hall.

Here is a bigger view of the mural I posted on Saturday. mural