Oddsconsin...where we explore peculiar and sometimes mysterious features of Wisconsin’s human landscape.
A sprawling, eclectic collection of historic buildings lies on the eastern edge of the City of Jefferson, just south of Hwy 18. The site is the original home of the St. Coletta convent and school. The convent, built in 1868, sits to the east. Its north wing houses the original chapel. Further west is a plain, three-story administration building built in 1915. There are dozens of buildings on the campus, many of which are interconnected by brick passageways.
St. Coletta of Wisconsin was, among other things, a school for special-needs children and adults from 1904 until it moved to a new facility in 2011. The school was run by the Sisters of St. Francis, Catholic nuns who follow the example of St. Francis of Assisi, the Catholic Saint who renounced his wealth and lived a life of poverty and service.
Starting in 1904, the Sisters began enrolling children in the St. Coletta School for Backward Youth, as it was then known. Growing demand led to the addition of dormitories, an infirmary, a new chapel and even a hotel for visiting families. Renamed St. Coletta School for Exceptional Children, it served children of all ages – and also adults – with varying types of disabilities from across the country. The Sisters educated these individuals and sought to provide them with life skills and trades.
The most famous resident of St. Coletta was Rosemary Kennedy, a resident from 1949 until her death in 2005 at the age of 86. Rosemary was the younger sister of former President John F. Kennedy, and the daughter of Rose and Joseph Kennedy. The couple had seven other children, all of whom had illustrious if sometimes tragic lives, including Robert, who was assassinated in 1968 while campaigning for the presidency.
Rosemary Kennedy was developmentally delayed, perhaps due to complications of birth. When emotional problems surfaced in early adulthood, her father Joseph decided the solution was a lobotomy, a procedure that surgically destroys part of the prefrontal cortex. Lobotomies were performed by inserting a blade into the brain through the nose, eyeball socket, or an incision in the skull.
Rosemary received the treatment at George Washington University School of Medicine in 1941, when she was 23. (No lobotomies were performed at St. Coletta.) The operation left her permanently incapacitated and unable to speak. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the medical profession came to its senses and realized the procedure was barbaric and inhumane.
In 1949, Rosemary was transferred to St. Coletta from psychiatric hospital in New York. Eventually, she moved to a private cottage nearby, paid for by the Kennedy family. The story of Rosemary’s life is compassionately recounted in Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff’s book, "The Missing Kennedy."
Eventually, the old St. Coletta school was closed and, in 2011, the headquarters were moved to a building a few miles away. Work with the developmentally disabled continues today, with programs for residential housing, vocational training, transportation and other services. St Coletta can be credited with helping advance understanding and awareness of such disabilities, at a time when such individuals were often shunned.
The old school is known to attract "urban explorers" looking for a late-night thrill. Much of the original campus is now in private ownership and posted with "No Trespassing" signs, but the old part of campus is easily seen from Hwy 18. Plans are being developed for alternate uses of the buildings and an Events Center has been opened. If you would like to have a closer look at St. Coletta, your best bet is to contact them.