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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Supporters of Incarnate Word Academy in Brownsville |
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are gathering on June 3, 2023, to celebrate a legacy of service that |
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has spanned 170 years; and |
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WHEREAS, One of the first schools in the Rio Grande Valley, |
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the academy was founded by four sisters of the Incarnate Word and |
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Blessed Sacrament; they traveled to Brownsville from Lyon, France, |
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at the behest of the first Catholic bishop of Texas, the Most |
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Reverend Jean M. Odin; the French-speaking sisters, Claire |
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Valentine, Ange Barré, Ephrem Satin, and Dominique Ravier, spent a |
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few months in Galveston learning English and Spanish before |
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proceeding to their new home; in order to provide textbooks to their |
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pupils, they purchased a used printing press; and |
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WHEREAS, The school rented a small, four-room frame house |
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before moving to Fronton Street at the end of 1853; students hailed |
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from Brownsville, other cities in the Rio Grande Valley, and |
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Matamoros, Mexico; the sisters faced many challenges, from yellow |
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fever epidemics to bandit raids; in 1867, a hurricane all but |
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demolished the building, and the school was nearly forced to close, |
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but the local community and Bishop Claude Dubois came together to |
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raise funds for a new convent and school, built on East Saint |
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Charles Street; and |
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WHEREAS, By 1885, high school instruction became available at |
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Incarnate Word; the new Villa Maria High School was completed on |
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Jefferson Street in 1926; growth continued in subsequent decades, |
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and in the 1960s, elementary instruction moved to buildings on |
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Resaca Boulevard, purchased from the former Harlingen Air Force |
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Base and renovated; a new high school was built on the Resaca campus |
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in 1971, while the junior high transferred to the old Villa Maria |
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facility; and |
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WHEREAS, Villa Maria High School closed in the early 1990s; |
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Incarnate Word Academy then served elementary and middle school |
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students at the Villa Maria campus, while the old IWA barracks |
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became home to the new Villa Maria Language Institute; in order to |
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invest in much-needed updates and improvements, the sisters sold |
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much of their property to the neighboring hospital; and |
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WHEREAS, The new century has brought many changes to the |
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education landscape, and Incarnate Word Academy is set to close at |
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the end of the 2022-2023 school year; while marking the end of an |
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era, members of its community may reflect on the important role the |
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school has played in the Rio Grande Valley and celebrate the |
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unyielding faith and dedication of the sisters who provided |
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generations of young Texans with a strong foundation on which to |
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build their lives; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the Senate of the 88th Texas Legislature |
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hereby honor the legacy of Incarnate Word Academy in Brownsville |
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and recognize all who those who have contributed to this historic |
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institution. |