“Stately.” “Proper.” These were the first words that Sisters spoke when asked about their memories of Sister Imelda McAninch. I have heard her name spoken over the years, but only recently have I come to learn of the significant influence she had in the life and history of our monastic community. She is most notably remembered for having designed the Sunken Garden in front of Sacred Heart Chapel. This precious spot on our hallowed grounds began as a design project that Sister Imelda completed for her Bachelor of Arts degree from George Peabody College in Nashville, Tenn. However, when I came across a curious photo album on a shelf in the Archive, I was prompted to learn more about this gifted woman who, though quiet and reserved, truly was an “influencer” before the Internet and social media made this into a career opportunity.
Anna Cecilia McAninch, born May 27, 1894, was from a non-Catholic family. Her father was a travelling salesman, so they did not remain settled in one place for too long. While temporarily living in Birmingham, she was enrolled at Holy Angels Academy (eventually known as St. Paul’s), lest “she grow up to be an ignoramus”—words her mother used to convince her father that she needed a good education. At Holy Angels Academy she was introduced both to Catholicism and to the Benedictine Sisters of Cullman. At the age of eleven, Anna Cecilia determined that she wanted to become Catholic. After receiving instruction, she was baptized at St. Paul’s Church on December 8, 1905. Soon afterward Mr. McAninch decided to move the family to Florida, but his wife agreed to go only if he allowed their daughter to remain at St. Paul’s as a boarding student. It was in her time as a boarding student that she wrote to her parents expressing her desire to enter the convent. Her parents were shocked. They responded that she was too young and had to wait at least until she was sixteen; they would talk about it then.
In spite of the family’s attempts to dissuade her, she was allowed to continue her studies in Cullman at Sacred Heart Academy. On December 24, 1911, Anna Cecile became a postulant at the age of seventeen. She received the habit and the name Sister Mary Imelda on July 16, 1912.
Sister Imelda was among the faculty when St. Joseph School in Florence opened in 1913 and eventually became the local superior and principal of the school. She had a short tenure as Novice Mistress from 1921-1922. When the Benedictines went to Tuscaloosa to serve at St. John Catholic School in 1931, Sister Imelda was assigned to be the local superior and principal there. Ten years later she became Academic Dean and Registrar of the newly established Sacred Heart College in Cullman. She served as Registrar until 1955 and as Dean until 1956. From 1956 until her retirement in 1965, Sister Imelda served as the first Diocesan Supervisor of Fine Arts for 80 diocesan Catholic schools in Mobile, Birmingham and Pensacola. Among her many activities as Diocesan Supervisor was the development of an inter-school orchestra and an annual Fine Arts Festival in which as many as 300 students participated.
In her retirement years and as long as her health allowed, she remained active teaching piano to several pupils, taught novitiate classes, worked with Sister Antonia Zappone in the multiple gardens on the grounds and continued various artistic endeavors, such as needlework and china painting. She died at the age of 93 in 1987.
This brief biographical sketch does not include her advanced educational training, speeches she gave and articles she had published. Sister Imelda’s realm of influence was extensive. She was most-likely consulted when planning for the original design of the monastery chapel (1928-30). When the community could not afford to hire an architect, she drew up the design plan for Mary Hall, the first college dormitory on the grounds in the 1940’s. She spent three years negotiating and working with Bernadini Studios of New York on the design and pricing for the chapel’s clerestory windows installed in 1954.
Sister Treva’s first memories of Sister Imelda were from when she attended Sacred Heart Academy as a high school student. Later, Sister Imelda taught Gregorian chant to her novitiate group. Sister Magdalena remembers her as her piano teacher when she was a novice. Sister Kathleen remembers being directed by Sister Imelda in caring for the gardens. She loved art and teaching art. Her roles as prefect and dean for the schools at Sacred Heart not only influenced the lives of the students but also contributed to community’s reputation for excellence in all matters, all for the glory of God.
Discovering these bits of information about Sister Imelda helped me to understand better the nature of the curious photo album found in the Archive, which actually has very few photos in it. Two small black and white photos of Sister Imelda in her role as Dean are at the top of the opening page, but the next fifteen or so pages are preserved notes written to the college students while Sister Imelda was the Dean. They are delightful testimonies of a woman of faith who cared not only about rules and discipline but also about shaping lives into beautiful works of art, women who praise God in the daily choices made for the greater good.
“My dears, I am most unhappy about your disregard of the 7:30-10 quiet hours. It will soon be your turn for being unhappy if talking continues. It’s up to you. Campus? I wonder? –The Dean”
“Hope you enjoy your off-campus jaunt tonight. ‘Quiet’ is improving.”
“The BAN on slamming doors and screaming back and forth has not been lifted—better check yourself.”
“Let us get down to business so that those first quarter grades will be a joy to Mother and Dad and the Dean. You?”
“My dear All-of-You,
The reviewing committee for the high school evaluation will be here all next week. Three ladies will live here in Mary Hall with us. I do want to be so proud of you in every way—courtesy, cleanliness, refinement—ok, well, just a real Christian Gentlewoman. –Sister Imelda
You won’t let SHJC [Sacred Heart Junior College] down, I am sure.”
“If you left your Kleenex in chapel will you take it out before S.M.S. brings it to me I really have no desire for it. Of course, you don’t either—but thanks for taking it out.”
“Where does the smell of smoke come from? You haven’t been smoking in the house…No, I am sure you haven’t.”
“Did you scrub the tub?”
By Sister Therese Haydel, OSB