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.

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.