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62 | SIGNATURE MONTANA University of Providence Celebrating 90 Years of Service in the Vineyard of the Lord By Ellen Baumler Photos Courtesy of Providence Archives Four young Sisters of Providence came from Fort Vancouver by boat up the Columbia River to Walla Walla, then east 400 miles on horseback across the treacherous Rockies. ese four "Lady Blackrobes" were the first white women to cross the high Rockies. Arriving at St. Ignatius Mission in October 1864, their mission was to serve wherever there was need. Emilie Gamelin founded the Sisters of Charity of Providence in 1843 in Montreal. By age twenty-seven, she had lost her husband and three children. Channeling her grief into sheltering poor, elderly widows, Madame Gamelin founded the order, which soon spread across the Northwest. Sisters of Providence founded hospitals, homes, and schools, adjusting their skills to fulfill their mission of service. One of their Montana legacies is the present-day University of Providence at Great Falls. Its ninety-year longevity is a testament to the sisters' spiritual agility, delving into myriad areas to offer students not only education but life-changing experiences and self-fulfillment. As Sisters of Providence pioneered schools and hospitals in western Montana, they arrived at Great Falls in 1892 to found Columbus Hospital. In 1908, they added St. omas Home, an orphanage and boarding school, to their ministries. In 1929, at the behest of Bishop of Helena George Finnigan, sisters in Missoula contemplated founding a teacher's college for women. At about the same time, Sisters of Saint Ursula at Great Falls began planning a junior college for women. Two such Catholic colleges seemed impractical, so Edward Vincent O'Hara, Bishop of Great Falls, collaborated with the two orders to found the Great Falls Junior College for Women in 1932. At the time, it was the only Catholic college for women between St. Paul and Spokane. Both religious congregations taught classes at the Ursuline Academy. Soon, the college added teacher training, nursing, medical technology, and secretarial courses to the liberal arts curriculum. Sisters taught classes at the Ursuline Academy and Columbus Hospital's Our Lady of Providence Hall. By the late 1930s, the College of Great Falls offered a four-year degree program and became coeducational. e Ursuline campus closed in 1942, and the congregation withdrew. By 1943, the Sisters of Providence administered classes solely at Providence Hall. World War II delayed plans to build a campus, and the sisters saw a different need. ey answered the call, working with Malmstrom Air Force Base, teaching classes in preflight aeronautics, astronomy for navigation, and radio broadcasting. Aer the war, pre-professional courses for returning servicemen fulfilled a further need, puing plans again on hold.

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