Mother Mary Hilda Miley (born Gertrude A. Miley) was born November 15, 1881, in Taunton, Massachusetts. She entered St. Xavier's Convent in Providence, RI, on July 16, 1899 and took her perpetual vows on December 28, 1901. Mother Hilda taught both elementary and high school from 1901 to 1936, during which time she received a degree from Providence College and a Master's and Doctorate in English from Boston College. By 1932, she was named principal of St. Xavier's Academy, and during her time in the position the school made great strides in many areas. In 1936, Mother Hilda became Mother Provincial of the Sisters of Mercy, Province of Providence. This role enabled her involvement in Catholic education in Rhode Island.
She became involved in securing a charter for Salve Regina and in fact gave the college its name, after a prayer she recited daily. Once the charter was passed by the Rhode Island legislature, Mother Hilda was elected to its first Board of Directors. Her involvement in Salve Regina continued to grow, and she was the school's first Vice President. When Mother Mary Matthew Doyle stepped down as President after the school's initial year, Mother Hilda became Salve Regina's second President.
During the many years she held this position, the college grew in many ways. She oversaw the expansion of the nursing program, began holding an annual Ring Ceremony and Sapphire Ball beginning in 1949, and gave scholarships to international students as a way of global outreach. The college also grew physically, through newly acquired facilities, increased library holdings, more teachers, and finally the ever-important accreditation (on a 10 year basis) by the New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1961. It should be noted that Mother Hilda's accomplishments with Salve Regina earned her honorary degrees from Rhode Island College, Providence College and the University of Rhode Island.
Mother Hilda retired from the post in July 1964 and became President Emerita. After holding this position for several years, she died on February 12, 1966 at St. Xavier's Convent.
The collection is open to the public.
Various copying restriction apply, according to the Archives’ use policy. Salve Regina University owns the copyright to material produced by employees and trustees of the University and work for hire. Requests for permission to publish material from the University Archives should be directed to the Archivist. See also the Archives’ copyright and publication statement.
[Identification of item], in RG 3.1.2: Mother Mary Hilda Miley Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Salve Regina University Archives, McKillop Library, Salve Regina University, Newport, RI
The Mother Mary Hilda Miley Papers deal primarily with her correspondence to and from a wide variety of people concerning the early years and development of Salve Regina College. There is a particular emphasis on the continuous improvement of the school, from expanding the facilities to donations of money and books for the library. Many reports are included which cover both the academic growth of Salve Regina College and the accomplishments of its faculty and students as well as financial information for a number of years. There is correspondence to and from Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy as well as then-Vice President Johnson. On the same note, there is much correspondence between Mother Hilda and notable people involved in religious and government life, both on national and local scales.
This collection is arranged in four series:
Material was found in the University Archives in 2006 with no transfer records, information on provenance, or original order. Collection was reprocessed by Erica Cataldi, Archives Intern, in 2010. All folders and their contents were reviewed, with some items being placed in more suitable collections. Also, the contents of some folders were combined to prevent redundancy. Photocopies onto acid-free paper were made for many newspaper articles. In one case, an article was previously left incomplete and a copy was made from the microfilm of the newspaper. Several folders were renamed and were given date ranges to reflect the items contained. Folders were resorted first by series, then by the most general to more specific and finally, alphabetically. Additional accruals are not expected.
RG 1: Institutional History
RG 2: University Governance
RG 3: Office of the President
This series includes an outline and several overviews of Mother Mary Hilda's life and career, letters concerning honorary degrees she received from Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island, and programs from the ceremonies at URI and Providence College, where she was also honored.
This series contains correspondence and reports concerning many different aspects of the college. Of particular note are letters regarding several of the facilities on campus (Vinland, Wayside, etc.) and on efforts to improve Salve's early library through donations from both the community and the Library of Congress. The folder of Cornelius Moore's letters also contains information on his Early American Silver Exhibit from 1964. Also of note are speeches given by Mother Mary Hilda and the annual reports from 1955-1964, which describe the accomplishments and improvements in each department, from both faculty and students, from year to year.
Another series of correspondence, to and from people involved with Catholicism. The Bishop Keough folder includes a copy of his obituary. The second Bishop McVinney folder contains much correspondence about student housing concerns, especially for nursing students, along with two Christmas cards and a post card from Rome. The Generalate folder has the agenda from the 1960 General Council meeting of Presidents and Deans of Provincial Colleges. The Provincialate folder contains Annual Reports to the Mother Provincial from 1951-1969, detailing numbers of students and faculty, how many enrolled in each major, and other information. Finally, there is a folder regarding Mother McAuley, containing a short report about her, and two other papers.
This series contains correspondence to and from the government on both local and national levels. Correspondence with the mayor of Providence deals with the housing of nursing students. The Federal file includes letters to and/or from well known figures such as Theodore Francis Greene, John E. Fogarty, and Barry Goldwater. Much correspondence relates to politicians' support of education-related legislation. President Kennedy's folder includes information about the Kennedy Memorial Scholarship, created after his assassination in 1963. There are letters from Senators Pastore and Pell regarding the donation of books from the Library of Congress for Salve Regina's collection (see also: Correspondence: Gifts/Donations to the Library). There are also two examples of reports Claiborne Pell sent to Rhode Islanders concerning actions in Congress, from both 1962 and 1963. State papers include letters from Governors Del Sesto, Notte, and John H. Chafee. Finally, the State of RI Commission for the Study of Higher Education includes a copy of the report that was released on the state's college aged population.