The History of Sacred Heart Catholic School and Sisters of Mercy

 

Toward the end of the year 1908, plans for a new parish on the West side of Waterloo took place. A meeting was held at the home of one of the prospective parishioners to consider the matter. They conferred with Fr. Mark Cooney, the pastor of St. Joseph's church at the time, and petitioned the Archbishop of Dubuque for permission to start the new parish. Archbishop John J. Keane granted the request in January, 1909, and the Rev. J. J. Hanley was appointed the first pastor.

 

Fr. Hanley came to Waterloo on March 4, 1909. Three trustees were elected by the people to assist him in all the business affairs of the new parish; they were J. L. Dunnwald, Arthur Connolly, and George McGuire. A building committee was also selected. Soon it was decided to purchase the Pickett residence and the property next to it on the corner of West Fourth and Randolph Streets. Fr. Hanley used the Pickett residence as a rectory.

 

Mass was offered temporarily for the new congregation in the Knights of Pythias Hall in the old Russell-Lamson store until the new church was ready. Bishop P.J. Garrigan of Sioux City presided at the function of laying the corner stone of the new church. He blessed the stone. On Christmas Day, 1909, the church structure was ready for the first Mass, which Fr. Hanley celebrated. The new church, however, was not formally dedicated until nearly two years later. On October 8, 1911, Archbishop James J. Keane blessed the new structure for the dedication.

 

Sacred Heart was the third parish started in Waterloo, Iowa. It encompassed the territory on the West Side of the Cedar River. Immediately, the pastor and congregation wanted a school for their youth. This enthusiasm for education among Catholic people in Waterloo was remarkable. They started the school with high ideals and were interested in the education of their youth not in the elementary grades alone, but also in the upper and high school levels. 

 

In September, 1909, the school opened in the property that was purchased next to the Pickett residence. From the start, the school was in charge of the Sisters of Mercy of Cedar Rapids. The initial enrollment was 40 pupils. The Sisters of Mercy had their beginnings on Baggott Street, in Dublin, Ireland. Catherine McAuley was their foundress in the year 1827. As a community, they arrived in the United States for the first time in 1843, settling at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. By the year 1846, they had housed in in Chicago. In 1867, they founded a mission in DeWitt, Iowa. From DeWitt, they went ot Davenport and eventually some of the Sisters came to Cedar Rapids, where they took charge of St. Joseph's Academy. They were successful there, and the Sisters of Mercy in Cedar Rapids became an independent house in 1881. 

 

Concrete evidence about the actual foundation of Sacred Heart School is sparce. There are no records of correspondence at Sacred Heart Convent, Cedar Rapids, nor in Sacred Heart School about its foundation. No other evidence can be cited, either, except the supposition that Fr. Hanley and his parishioners approached the Sisters of Mercy, requested Sisters to staff their new parish school, and the Mother Superior at that time generously accepted the invitation. 

 

Four Sisters of Mercy conducted classes in their little house next to the church. Forty students made up the enrollment in that little house next to the newly constructed church. In 1917, the present building was opened and through succeeding years additions and improvements have been made to meet the growing number of students and educational needs. The goal of those first teachers was to provide a Christian education in preparation for daily living. Over the years, the numbers of students and teachers have grown but the goal remains the same, with additions to meet the educational needs of today's society. A state of the art computer lab, full-time technology teacher, Spanish PreK - 8, and a core academic foundation provide a strong, relevant education for our students.  

 

Thousands of students have received their education at Sacred Heart in the past 100 years, and no doubt have used what they learned in producing happy, Christian families and developing careers. We know that Sacred Heart School will have a future even more rich and fruitful in the next century.