Our Lady of the Lake University

The heritage of this Catholic University reflects the early educational efforts of Jean Martin Moye, an 18th-century French educator, and American Bishops at the 1866 council of Baltimore. In order to carry out the council's mandates, Bishop Dubuis of Texas that same year recruited sisters from the congregation of Divine Providence, in the Lorraine village of St. Jean De Bassel, to come to Texas. In 1895, after years of work in Austin and Castroville, Mother Florence Walter relocated the congregation to San Antonio.

A sixteen-acre site on the edge of Lake Elmendorf, in th city's early lake view addition, was chosen for the establishment of a Girl's Academy. The school opened in 1896, with offering from kindergarten through high school. Classes were first held in a four-story brick building. Adjacent land and new structures were added as the school grew.

College course were first offered in 1911. Eight years later, the school obtained the status of a senior college. Form a foundation of progressive Eruopean Educational pholosophy, our Lady of the Lake Univeristy has developed as one of Texas' leading institutions of higher learning.