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Nestled among Wood County’s cornfields and overlooking the Maumee River, there sits a beautiful, imposing relic of a bygone era — Nazareth Hall. It’s easy to understand why it captured author Tom Sorosiak’s imagination in 1971, as he drove by it seeking land on which to build his home. He ended up buying a parcel near the structure and as he tells it: “During the construction of my home, I continued to be impressed with the building and I became more curious in September when I observed the young cadets outside doing military drills. Now my historical inquisitiveness was awakened I would begin to gather small pieces of information to be used with my educational degree.” That spark of inspiration would eventually fuel Sorosiak’s new book: Nazareth Hall: A History Based on the Ursuline Order of the Sacred Heart’s Vision for Education.
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The Ursulines’ Vision
Built in 1927, one year before its opening as a boys boarding school in 1928, Nazareth Hall was stewarded by a group of nuns called the Ursuline Order of the Sacred Heart. Sorosiak notes that “the Ursuline Sisters were entrusted by, then Bishop Stritch, to be the sub-contractors of Nazareth Hall. Considering it was only a few years prior to that time that women were even given the right to vote in Federal Elections, this was an unheard responsibility for females.” While Sorosiak had been captivated by the hall itself—even deciding to center his Master’s Thesis at Eastern Michigan University on it—as he researched its history he quickly realized that the Ursuline Sisters’ story was inextricably tied to the building’s narrative. “I purposely omitted researching the Ursuline Order [for the Master’s Thesis] because of the requirements associated with the content as well as adhering to the number of pages in the paper. I knew that to author a book on the History of Nazareth Hall, it would require me to include the Ursuline Order because of the educational philosophy implemented in the classes at the school.” Their ministry had always been rooted in teaching, but the defining moment of the school’s scholastic history came in 1935. According to Nazareth Hall’s own website, in that year the school’s third Principal, Sister Mary Borgia Drulard, implemented a military structure to the academy’s curriculum that would define its character until it closed its doors in 1982. It’s a fascinating history and one you’ll learn even more about by reading Nazareth Hall.
Proceeds support a scholarship
In addition to his love of history, Sorosiak is passionate about his Polish heritage. All proceeds from the book’s sale are going to the Northwest Ohio Polish Cultural Center. According to Sorosiak, the funds “are used to offer a scholarship to a college student from the Toledo area that is of Polish ancestry” named for the former President of Lourdes College, the Late Sister Ann Francis Klimkowsi. “I was fortunate to be a first generation high school and college degree recipient…I wanted students who are awarded this scholarship to be proud of their Polish heritage and hopefully respond likewise during their lifetime.”
Nazareth Hall can be purchased for $20 (plus $5 for mail delivery) from the NWOPCC web store.
Nazareth Hall: A History Based on the Ursuline Order of the Sacred Heart’s Vision for Education by Tom Sorosiak. $20 (plus $5 mail delivery). Buy it here.
