Events that Empower

Julia’s Meadow is the event rental division operated by Chatfield College, a private, non-profit, Catholic college. Chatfield’s mission is to meet students where they are and empower individuals to better themselves, their employability, and their futures. By hosting your event with us, you will be making a positive contribution to first-generation college students, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Proceeds from your event help Chatfield College provide support programs that enable students to navigate barriers to a college education.

History

In 1845, Julia Chatfield, along with 10 Ursuline sisters from Boulogne-Sur Mer and Beaulieu, France, traveled to St. Martin, OH, to establish an all-girls boarding school. At the time, St. Martin was a village of French and Irish settlers at the northern tip of Brown County. They came to the region at the request of John Baptist Purcell, Archbishop of Cincinnati. He wanted their presence in his diocese because this organization of women, founded by Saint Angela Merici in 1535, was known for the quality of their education. 

The Archbishop offered them a tract of land that was part of the Virginia Military Land Grant deeded to the Archdiocese by General John Lytle. So much did they identify with the spirit of their new environment, that they became known legally as the Ursulines of Brown County.

Eventually, the Ursuline Teacher Training Institute was created to educate the nuns who would become teachers and would become Chatfield College. In 1971, Chatfield College became an accredited liberal arts college for both men and women. Today, Chatfield has two campuses, St. Martin and Cincinnati. The Cincinnati campus is located in Over-the-Rhine on the corner of Liberty and Central Parkway.

Sacred Heart Chapel

The Chapel was always the desire of Sister Julia Chatfield and the early sisters. Due to a lack of financial resources, the structure was not built until 1886. The architectural drawings were done by Sister Eulalia Dunn and submitted to W.H. Stewart and Son, Cincinnati architects, for approval in 1883. In 1884 a deposit of Ashlar limestone was found on the property and was quarried for the building. The Chapel was under roof by 1885 and dedicated by Archbishop Elder in June of 1886.

In 1877, through the influence of Miss Jennie Springer, Mr. Benn Pitman, a well-known wood carving instructor from the University of Cincinnati taught the Sisters and students the art of wood carving. In one of the diaries of the period we read: “It is interesting to know that all the other designing and carving (minus the doors to the visitors Chapel and Sacristy area from the body of the church) was the work of the nuns who labored energetically and tirelessly to add to the beauty of the chapel. They first carved the heavy drop blocks ornamenting the ceiling. Then it was suggested to carve the cherry frames for the immense quadruple stained glass windows that open in sections from the sanctuary to the adjoining sacristy and the visitor’s chapel, and the small doors that lead to both. Over one door is carved in Latin: “Lift up your gates O ye Princes, and be ye lifted up O Eternal Gates.” On the other door, we have the inscription: “Wisdom built herself a house and placed her table.” The rise of the second step of the Communion rail is decorated throughout its entire length with appropriate design of passion flowers.”

The stained glass windows were by the Roemer Company in Holland, designed specifically for the Sacred Heart Chapel with the significant figures from the history of the Community, including St. Ursula and St. Angela Merici. The organ located in the choir loft is an excellent example of a Roosevelt organ built in the east by the family of Theodore Roosevelt.

The Father Kammerer Library and Learning Center

The English-style building housing the Library and Learning Center was built in 1925. Through the generous donation of the O’Connor family of Rochester, New York, the building originally served as the laundry, dairy, and dining room for the workmen. The building was transitioned into the College Library and office space in 1983, following the closure of the boarding school. In 2011 the building was expanded and re-dedicated as the Kammerer Library and Learning Center with additional space for books and technology as well as gathering space, classes, and meeting rooms.​