88R22700 BPG-D
By: LaMantia S.R. No. 413
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Supporters of Incarnate Word Academy in Brownsville
are gathering on June 3, 2023, to celebrate a legacy of service that
has spanned 170 years; and
WHEREAS, One of the first schools in the Rio Grande Valley,
the academy was founded by four sisters of the Incarnate Word and
Blessed Sacrament; they traveled to Brownsville from Lyon, France,
at the behest of the first Catholic bishop of Texas, the Most
Reverend Jean M. Odin; the French-speaking sisters, Claire
Valentine, Ange Barré, Ephrem Satin, and Dominique Ravier, spent a
few months in Galveston learning English and Spanish before
proceeding to their new home; in order to provide textbooks to their
pupils, they purchased a used printing press; and
WHEREAS, The school rented a small, four-room frame house
before moving to Fronton Street at the end of 1853; students hailed
from Brownsville, other cities in the Rio Grande Valley, and
Matamoros, Mexico; the sisters faced many challenges, from yellow
fever epidemics to bandit raids; in 1867, a hurricane all but
demolished the building, and the school was nearly forced to close,
but the local community and Bishop Claude Dubois came together to
raise funds for a new convent and school, built on East Saint
Charles Street; and
WHEREAS, By 1885, high school instruction became available at
Incarnate Word; the new Villa Maria High School was completed on
Jefferson Street in 1926; growth continued in subsequent decades,
and in the 1960s, elementary instruction moved to buildings on
Resaca Boulevard, purchased from the former Harlingen Air Force
Base and renovated; a new high school was built on the Resaca campus
in 1971, while the junior high transferred to the old Villa Maria
facility; and
WHEREAS, Villa Maria High School closed in the early 1990s;
Incarnate Word Academy then served elementary and middle school
students at the Villa Maria campus, while the old IWA barracks
became home to the new Villa Maria Language Institute; in order to
invest in much-needed updates and improvements, the sisters sold
much of their property to the neighboring hospital; and
WHEREAS, The new century has brought many changes to the
education landscape, and Incarnate Word Academy is set to close at
the end of the 2022-2023 school year; while marking the end of an
era, members of its community may reflect on the important role the
school has played in the Rio Grande Valley and celebrate the
unyielding faith and dedication of the sisters who provided
generations of young Texans with a strong foundation on which to
build their lives; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the 88th Texas Legislature
hereby honor the legacy of Incarnate Word Academy in Brownsville
and recognize all who those who have contributed to this historic
institution.