Original Building: 1871 Wing
Dining
Hall
fter
the 1886 construction, the main floor of the 1871 building contained
the boarders' dining room and the pupils' scullery. After prayer,
meals were eaten at tables with carefully set places for small groups
of girls. The solemn air was enhanced by a large statue of the Virgin
Mary, in a niche at the end of the room.
The girls were
expected to clean up after they were finished eating. In the adjacent
scullery, tea towels were rinsed and hung to dry after use, on long
dowels that pulled out from behind the stove. The girls that were
swimmers would often hang their bathing suits to dry in this warm
spot after a weekend visit to the nearby pool at Crystal Gardens.
![](images/images_places_1871_dining_sam.jpg) |
The
Cook, Sam Lee with his family
|
The food was simple,
but healthful. In addition to the fruits and vegetables they could
raise themselves, there were often gifts of produce from parents of
students. Farms on the island provided milk, eggs and chicken. The
snacks for after school included muffins and cookies. The Sisters
were in charge of most of the baking, but for many years, cooks were
hired for the main meals. Sam Lee was the cook at the Academy for
20 years, between 1902 and 1922. He lived with his family in a small
house nearby, and his importance to the community at St. Ann's is
recognized by two formal photographs, carefully preserved in the archives.
There were
many challenges for cooks attempting to feed that many people. During
the war, a gift of a barrel of salted herring was given to the Convent.
Appreciative of the donation, the Sisters and their staff came up
with ways to serve those fish: creamed, on toast, in paste ... they
never forgot those herring.
The atmosphere in the dining hall was not as formal outside of meal
times. For a number of years, a piano sat in this basement room, and
the girls would go downstairs during their recreation time to try
the latest dances. The tables made way for the Charleston, as one
girl played the music and the others learned the steps.
|