Loretto Academy (Chicago) Explained

Loretto Academy
Address:	1447 E. 65th Street
Country:	United States
Coordinates:	41.7768°N -87.5894°W
Established:	August 1906
Closed:	1972
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

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]} 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]

Notes and References

1. "Loretto Academy / Institute of the Blessed Virgin", Preservation Chicago. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
2. Hoy, Suellen. "A Rallying Cry... and a Lament", Chicago Tribune. January 26, 1997. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
3. 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. "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.