Area Orphanages

and.. at mt. st. micael's saw no unwed mothers.. or orphans (that i knew of)

I was in the Guardian Angel side for the younger girls in 61. Left for awhile and then came back to the Mt.Saint Michael side but can't remember how long I was there. I saw no abuse. Most of the sisters were pretty nice except for Mother St. Theresa, but she wasn't abusive either which must caused her sore knees from all the frustration that she had to deal with on a daily basis. I have never felt that nuns are equiped to care for girls that come from so many abusive situations. As a matter of fact when I was in the younger section I tried to tell one of the sisters the kind of abuse I was suffering at home and she took it upon herself to call my dad and step mother and tell them what I'd said. They yanked me out and the abuse I suffered for that nun spilling the beans was horrendous. However I'm still here and the lesson that I learned from that is they aren't equiped to deal with wayward kids because they don't have a clue.
When I went to Mt.St. Michael that had just remodeled all the dorms. It was very nice.

We were always trying to make the uniform skirts shorter by pulling them up at the waist. Don't let Mother St. Theresa catch you. They finally expelled me for running off so many times. I should have behaved. It really wasn't such a bad place.

I remember there were two sides to the sleeping quarters for the older girls, a west & east side. Mother St John was in charge of one side & Mother St Theresa was in charge of the other. They would patrol the halls until all of us was quiet & asleep. They also had their living quarters on each side of the dorm & we never seen inside where they slept. They had a speaker in their rooms that they could call us on.
Before bed we had to line up downstairs in two lines according to the side we slept on & say prayers. One night a June Bug was flying around us& we started laughing & Mother St Theresa came out of her office , killed the bug, made us get on our knees & start the prayers over. , I don't remember any of the girls names but a lot of the events. There was
one priest who had his living quarters, a monastery where the nuns we called mothers lived. & a convent where the sisters of the laundry lived as well as other facilities over the property such as a seminary for monks & a convent for nuns that never came out in public but prayed. I remember one a girl who worked in the kitchen burnt rice pudding & Mother St John made her stand in the hall eating a large bowl of the burnt pudding . Well we were passed our packages from home so a bunch of us took wax paper & as we passed the girl we grabbed large amounts of the pudding. & threw it in the dumpster. It was a mess at Mt St Michaels.the nuns could be nice but they could also be abusive

I remember there were two sides to the sleeping quarters for the older girls, a west & east side. Mother St John was in charge of one side & Mother St Theresa was in charge of the other. They would patrol the halls until all of us was quiet & asleep. They also had their living quarters on each side of the dorm & we never seen inside where they slept. They had a speaker in their rooms that they could call us on.
Before bed we had to line up downstairs in two lines according to the side we slept on & say prayers. One night a June Bug was flying around us& we started laughing & Mother St Theresa came out of her office , killed the bug, made us get on our knees & start the prayers over. , I don't remember any of the girls names but a lot of the events. There was
one priest who had his living quarters, a monastery where the nuns we called mothers lived. & a convent where the sisters of the laundry lived as well as other facilities over the property such as a seminary for monks & a convent for nuns that never came out in public but prayed. I remember one a girl who worked in the kitchen burnt rice pudding & Mother St John made her stand in the hall eating a large bowl of the burnt pudding . Well we were passed our packages from home so a bunch of us took wax paper & as we passed the girl we grabbed large amounts of the pudding. & threw it in the dumpster. It was a mess at Mt St Michaels.the nuns could be nice but they could also be abusive

I remember there were two sides to the sleeping quarters for the older girls, a west & east side. Mother St John was in charge of one side & Mother St Theresa was in charge of the other. They would patrol the halls until all of us was quiet & asleep. They also had their living quarters on each side of the dorm & we never seen inside where they slept. They had a speaker in their rooms that they could call us on.
Before bed we had to line up downstairs in two lines according to the side we slept on & say prayers. One night a June Bug was flying around us& we started laughing & Mother St Theresa came out of her office , killed the bug, made us get on our knees & start the prayers over. , I don't remember any of the girls names but a lot of the events. There was
one priest who had his living quarters, a monastery where the nuns we called mothers lived. & a convent where the sisters of the laundry lived as well as other facilities over the property such as a seminary for monks & a convent for nuns that never came out in public but prayed. I remember one a girl who worked in the kitchen burnt rice pudding & Mother St John made her stand in the hall eating a large bowl of the burnt pudding . Well we were passed our packages from home so a bunch of us took wax paper & as we passed the girl we grabbed large amounts of the pudding. & threw it in the dumpster. It was a mess at Mt St Michaels.the nuns could be nice but they could also be abusive

I remember there were two sides to the sleeping quarters for the older girls, a west & east side. Mother St John was in charge of one side & Mother St Theresa was in charge of the other. They would patrol the halls until all of us was quiet & asleep. They also had their living quarters on each side of the dorm & we never seen inside where they slept. They had a speaker in their rooms that they could call us on.
Before bed we had to line up downstairs in two lines according to the side we slept on & say prayers. One night a June Bug was flying around us& we started laughing & Mother St Theresa came out of her office , killed the bug, made us get on our knees & start the prayers over. , I don't remember any of the girls names but a lot of the events. There was
one priest who had his living quarters, a monastery where the nuns we called mothers lived. & a convent where the sisters of the laundry lived as well as other facilities over the property such as a seminary for monks & a convent for nuns that never came out in public but prayed. I remember one a girl who worked in the kitchen burnt rice pudding & Mother St John made her stand in the hall eating a large bowl of the burnt pudding . Well we were passed our packages from home so a bunch of us took wax paper & as we passed the girl we grabbed large amounts of the pudding. & threw it in the dumpster. It was a mess at Mt St Michaels.the nuns could be nice but they could also be abusive

I remember the high mass where the priest from the from the seminary would start the singing in latin of course and the nuns would answer. Then I thought it was terribly boring. Now I'd love to experience again.

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The NuN `s were at Cocrill hill entrance,some troubled girls were housed ther by parents .Out front on Davis/aka fort worth ave was The chalk Hilldrive in theatre[clown on facade] In recent times the theatre was demolished to put cockrill Hill thru to 30.

Is Buckner's Orphanage still around these days? Wasn't it on Garland Rd?
I remembering it being a huge place we drove by back then!

I went to Mt St Michael's in the late 60's. Mother Theresa was the principal. Old Sis Leo was there at the time and seemed senile. Floating around in white nun attire like a ghost. She was nice and would give us beautiful rosaries that we quickly took apart and restrung as we wished. I am not Catholic. I was sent there by my father for cutting class in High School in Beaumont Texas. He beat me up like I was a grown man put me in the Beaumont Mental Health facility until the bruises went away had them give me a Thorazine shot then drove me to Mt St Michael's. It was a scary place for me there. SOme of the girls were really rough and would be threatening. I made them laugh by saying silly jokes and alot of verbrato. They liked me for that. My friend that I met while in the mental place in Beaumont, Shirlene CHaddick was sent to ST Micheal's a week after I got there. It was so good to see her there. What a relief. There was a rumor that a girl hung herself in the showers. I was afraid to be in there by myself. There was an awesome art teacher there. He was great very inspiring. He played records like SImon and Garfunkel Moody Blues. He was great. Sis Theresa was horrible. Really mean. I got in trouble for burning myself in the laundry. My Mom and Step Dad drove from Arizona to visit me. Sis Theresa wouldn't let them see me though. She said I was trying to run away. Up until then I had not considered running away because I saw the bruises from a paddling on one girl who tried to run away and got caught. When Sis Theresa said I couldn't see my Mom, I started planning. There were two other girls who wanted to take a chance and run away as well. One was named "Barbie" the other was "Leslie". Leslie had beautiful long hair. Past her waist. There was barbed wire around the school. After lunch we made our move. We threw a heavy coat up across the barbed wire and went over. Back then there was woods surrounding the place. We changed out of our uniforms in the woods. Barbie just had on a long t shirt and knee socks. Ha. There was a highway we came to and we got a ride right away. Go figure. We made it all the way to CLovis New Mexico. We met some guys in their 20's there. The girls I was with became enamored with a couple of them and didn't want to go any further. I was trying to make it to my boyfriend in Susanville California and knew we would get caught if we stayed. We were caught within a week. The two girls were sent back to the school because their parents had their parental right s signed over to the Nuns. My Mother wouldn't sign her rights away. Bless her. SHe came and got me from jail in CLovis. A story in itself.

Wow, Fraught! That is quite a story. I am sure there are multiple ways that all stories can be examined and understood. But, congratulations to you for being strong enough to relate this history. I hope the trauma you experienced has gone away as much as possible, and that despite it you have been able to live a rewarding life.

Welcome to the Dallas History Phorum. Lots of good historical information swapped here.

Dave McNeely

Thank You Dave,
I wish I knew where the girls are now that I met during the time there.

Update:

I did talk to the girl here that was asking about her mother Kathy. I sent her all the pictures from early 70’s and info I had on Mount St. Michael while I was there. Located at 4500 W Davis in Dallas.

It was a school for girls only. Some sent by the state of Texas and others by their parents. Car theft, burglary, drugs, and run aways were some of the reasons.

I wish there was a Facebook page where all could share stories. I’ve been in contact with some of the girls. Many are scattered and need one place to share the memories and photos. In Texas, other states now, on Facebook, this site, classmatesdotcom, and another girls home called Meadowbriar from the Houston/Spring Texas. Some girls went to both girls home. So many have photos, stories and even two books. If any of you know a site or Facebook let me know and I will direct other girls there.

What disturbs me is the new MSM school is trying to erase the history of that era at Mount St. Michael Catholic school on all of us girls who resided there. The site history starts years later with no mention of our time there. That must change. Even their pics of the building match my pics from that time in the 70’s.

I have screenshot old articles on the Internet which are no longer there it seems. It’s like we never existed there and that’s wrong. I’m glad I kept copies and still have all of my info and pics, even my journal.

I have enjoyed reading all the stories here by the ladies who stayed at the residential MSM girls home.