Page 27 - Galveston Monthly Apr2019

According to the Galveston insurance Board Description Galveston College on August 31, 2018, after 50 years.
& Estimate for the property, a new orphanage was erected “Later, as an employee, i was asked to give tours of Moody
at 4005-23 Avenue Q in January 1950, to replace the old hall to former residents of the orphanage and was fortunate
orphanage, says Casey Edward Greene, a Rosenberg Scholar to have the opportunity to hear about their childhood
at the Rosenberg Library in Galveston. “The newer structure experiences at the orphanage and how they evolved as
had a basement and three floors.” adults.”
By the 1960s, foster care had become a government- Theron Waddell, veteran professor of government and
funded program, and St. Mary’s - and most all orphanages history at the college, said he can recall the early days and
throughout the u.S. - were no longer needed. revels in the growth of Galveston College on every level.
But the story doesn’t end there. “The old main building of St. Mary’s Orphanage was the
On August 2, 1967, the transfer of the property and original building for the campus. however, it was too small
improvements of St. Mary’s Orphan Asylum was deeded to house the growing enrollment, and four temporary
to Galveston Junior College, District of Galveston County, classrooms consisting of four portable building were added
Texas, Greene says. until the construction of the Mary Moody Northern building
The Catholic institution that had devoted its resources was completed in the early-1970s,” says Waddell, who
to the care and education of orphaned youths would now began teaching at the college in 1969.
serve as an institution of higher learning for people of all “The college began with a traditional ‘junior college’
ages. orientation for students taking coursework for transfer
The college opened its doors on September 18, 1967, with into senior colleges and universities and a limited set of
an enrollment of 703 students. The building that once was offerings, mostly in the health sciences partnered with
used to nurture and educate orphans was renamed Moody uTMB,” he says.
hall - in homage to the Moody foundation, which provided “With legislation, which helps fund workforce education
a grant to purchase the building from the Galveston-
programs, it has expanded its offerings to fill a variety
houston Catholic Diocese and pay for furnishings.
of training programs to enable graduates to find gainful
employment in the Galveston and Texas economies.”
The college offered associate degrees in nursing, vocational
both its degree programs and its campus. Students
needed skills on the island and elsewhere.
Photo by John Hall Image courtesy of Galveston College nursing, and law enforcement - all valuable and much- Throughout the years, Galveston College expanded
“i think that repurposing historic structures for modern
could pursue education in the areas of horticulture, fast
food management, criminal justice, and microcomputer
use is of utmost importance. i remember as a young
child accompanying my mother - who was a graduate
applications.
The college added the David Glenn hunt Memorial Library,
of St. Mary’s School of Nursing - to visit the nuns at
a new Regent’s hall, Moody hall was remodeled, a new
the orphanage,” says Gaynelle hayes, who retired from
APRIL 2019 | GALVESTON MONTHLY | 27