‘Do a little good’: Sisters brought Catholic education to the prairie

'Do a little good': Sisters brought Catholic education to the prairie

Published on October 07, 2026

The Sisters of St. Mary of Namur came to Texas in 1873 to "do a little good," as Mother Emilie, foundress of the sisters in America, said.

They started their first school, Sacred Heart Academy, in Waco. Soon after, the sisters expanded to Fort Worth and founded St. Ignatius Academy in 1885. That stately white building still stands on the south end of downtown, on Throckmorton Steet, adjacent to St. Patrick Cathedral.

Before long, its outstanding reputation prompted St. Ignatius to reach capacity, and the nuns started looking for a larger school site.

In 1909, the sisters bought 26 acres for $55,000 at the end of the electric trolley line on Hemphill and Shaw streets from the Shaw Dairy family. They then spent $80,000 to erect a grand, five-story building: Our Lady of Victory Academy.

Sanguinet and Saats, leading architectural firm at the time in Fort Worth, was recommended by Father Robert Nolan. The academy was built of red brick trimmed in intricately carved, white stone. The architects employed the same look at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church on West Magnolia Avenue.

View a video about OLV:

Sisters establish rigorous learning environment

Our Lady of Victory College and Academy opened on Sept. 12, 1910, with 72 students, 31 of whom boarded on campus.

The curriculum included English, German, Latin and French, science, religion, art, elocution and physical education. Due to a rigorous academic curriculum rooted in Catholic faith and moral formation, it attracted Catholic and non-Catholic students from across Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and beyond. No students were ever turned away for financial reasons.

Later, several new buildings were added to the campus, including a Home Economics Annex and a Campus House with recreational and dining facilities.

While Catholic girls attended Our Lady of Victory, boys attended Laneri College, a high school for boys. It was named for John Laneri, founder of O.B. Macaroni, and was located north on Hemphill Street. The building today houses Cassata Catholic High School.

In 1954, the bishop of Dallas-Fort Worth approved a request by the order's superior, Mother Theresa Weber, to establish a new, enlarged college for women. The new Our Lady of Victory College remained in operation through the 1957-58 academic year and was then incorporated into a new university established in Irving, the University of Dallas.

A new vison for OLV

In 1950, the sisters built Our Lady of Victory Elementary School near the original building, In 1961, OLV, the all-girls high school, and Laneri, the all-boys high school, merged to form Nolan Catholic High School in east Fort Worth, which continues its mission of Catholic education in the city.

OLV's private elementary and middle school closed its doors in 2021 due to rising operational and maintenance costs.

The historic Late Gothic Revival structure at Our Lady of Victory has continued its utility in Fort Worth, first serving as the home of Sage & Silo community theater and then as artists' lofts. Most recently, the structure has been revitalized into Maren Grove, a 90-unit affordable and mixed-income housing development that opened in August 2026.

Our Lady of Victory not only educated generations of young women, but also laid a sturdy foundation for the broader Catholic school system in the region.

Photo: Our Lady of Victory Academy, shown here facing South Hemphill Street, was a high school and college for girls. (Photo is part of the Tarrant County College Northeast Heritage Room and courtesy of the Portal to Texas History.)

Photo: Our Lady of Victory's first graduating class, in 1911.

Photo: OLV's private elementary and middle school closed its doors in 2021.

Get articles like this in your inbox. Subscribe to City News.

• Arts & Culture
• District 9