Loretto Academy (Chicago)

School in Chicago, Illinois, United States

Loretto Academy

Loretto Academy, c. 1910

Address

1447 E. 65th Street

Chicago

Illinois

United States

Coordinates| 41°46′36.4″N 87°35′21.8″W﻿ / ﻿41.776778°N 87.589389°W﻿ / 41.776778; -87.589389
Information
Religious affiliation(s)| Roman Catholic
Established| August 1906
Closed| 1972
Authority| Archdiocese of Chicago
Oversight| Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Campus type| Urban

Loretto Academy of the Immaculate Conception in Woodlawn-Chicago is a former Catholic high school for girls in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood.[1]

## History

[edit]

The school was established by the Loreto Sisters and opened in August 1906.[1] The school admitted its first African-American students in 1949.[2] As Woodlawn's demographics changed in the 1950s, the school's did as well.[3] By 1960, it had only ten Euro-American students and by the early 1970s it had a completely African-American student body.[3][2] The school closed in 1972.[2] The building was sold to the Woodlawn Community Development Corporation and served as substance abuse treatment center called Entry House.[1][4][5] Entry House closed in 2012,[5] and the building was sold at a foreclosure auction on October 28, 2019.[6] It was included in Preservation Chicago's 7 Most Endangered list in 2019.[1]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "Loretto Academy / Institute of the Blessed Virgin", Preservation Chicago. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
2. ^ a b c Hoy, Suellen. "A Rallying Cry... and a Lament", Chicago Tribune. January 26, 1997. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
3. ^ a b Hoy, Suellen M. (2002). "No Color Line at Loretto Academy: Catholic Sisters and African Americans on Chicago's East Side." Journal of Women's History. Vol. 14, No. 1. p. 8-33.
4. ^ National Directory of Drug Abuse and Alcoholism Treatment and Prevention Programs. United States Department of Health and Human Services. 1994. p. 144. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
5. ^ a b "Employees Say 'Entry House' Closure is Retribution", NBC 5 Chicago. March 2, 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
6. ^ "Threatened: Loretto Academy Building to be Sold at Foreclosure Auction on October 28, 2019 (Chicago 7 2019)", Preservation Chicago. Retrieved November 3, 2019.