History
In 1879, three Benedictine women founded St. Joseph Monastery in Creston, Iowa. The sisters converted an existing house into a monastery and a school called Sacred Heart Academy.
About six months after the Land Run of 1889, which brought many people to Oklahoma Territory, the sisters of St. Joseph Monastery were invited to begin teaching in a city of tents located in Indian Territory near present-day Guthrie, Okla. The school they began was called St. Mary’s School. Three years later, in 1892, Oklahoma became the monastery’s permanent home. Following statehood in 1907, the sisters of St. Joseph Monastery opened and taught in many parish schools in the Guthrie area.
Early in the 20th century, Bishop Francis Kelley asked St. Joseph Monastery to open a school in the thriving community of Tulsa, Okla., to help meet Tulsa’s growing needs for education. In 1926, the sisters opened Monte Cassino School, a boarding and day school for girls, kindergarten through high school. The sisters also operated Claver College for African-Americans, held religious education classes in Langston, Okla., and staffed other local schools.
Monte Cassino became a day school in the early 1960’s, and St. Joseph Monastery officially moved to the residence hall at Monte Cassino. The school has occupied the same corner of land at 21st Street and Lewis Avenue since that time.