Detail from first communion portrait from 1950's

A History of the Overbrook School

Imagine a ring of children holding hands in a circle playing out on a beautiful lawn in front of a white house. Now imagine that circle of hands including a Dominican Sister and that game being played at recess on The Dominican Campus.

That’s just the image you might have seen had you driven on to the campus one afternoon back in 1936. Today much has changed at Overbrook. It now has its own building and has moved out of the White House. But what hasn’t changed is that The Dominican Sisters still anchor the school in traditional Catholic values and academic excellence.

Read on for more about how Overbrook began and its 70 years of growing in God’s grace.

Overbrook School Historical Timeline

1784	Isaac Johnson was given The Dominican Campus property for his services to soldiers. The city marker at the entrance to the campus reveals that Indians attacked four children while they were playing near the springhouse, close to their double log cabin home. They were apparently Johnson’s children. One child escaped. Another child survived the attack and lived many years to tell about it. The Campus was originally part of the wide-open space of an Indian hunting ground where deer were frequently seen drinking at its springs.
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1818	Charles Bosley took ownership of this land and built a home where once the log cabin of Johnson’s Station stood.
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1870	After Bosley died, his granddaughter inherited the land. The dirt road that passes in front of the grotto of Mary used to lead to a springhouse. Bosley bottled and sold this water. This is where the road next to St. Thomas Hospital gets its name: Bosley Springs Road.
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1910	Joseph Warner bought the Bosley Estate for $72,000. He then built a large white house (now known as the Dominican Campus "White House") on the property to enhance the value of it.
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7/9/1918	Two train engines collided on the tracks that border the back of the campus; 101 people died and 140 were injured.
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1923	The Dominican Sisters purchased 92 acres for $180,000.
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1926	The Sisters started a school of music and art. It did not succeed due to the Depression.
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1928 – 1936	The property was leased to Paul Davis.
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1935	The Sisters bought ten head of cattle to graze on the property. Later, eight steer and two mules were added.
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1936	Overbrook grade school opened its doors to its first nine students. By the end of the first term, the number of students had increased to 21. Enrollment at this time was limited to boys and girls through the fourth grade and only girls in the fifth and sixth grades. Seventh and eighth grades were not added until later. Overbrook School was located in the White House.
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1937	Kindergarten was added.On June 6, Overbrook held its first graduation.
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1938	Forty acres of the property were planted in oats and lespedeza.
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1943	A nursery school was added. The Sisters who taught at Overbrook began to live in the attic of the White House, located on the third floor.
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1944	The carriage house (now Aquinas College snack bar) was renovated to be a kindergarten. A portable added on the back of the White House was used as a cafeteria, auditorium, and classroom space. This was most recently known as the chapel of the convent. The platform, where the altar and tabernacle were in recent years, was used as a stage. Classes were held in the army barrack and in the upstairs and downstairs rooms of the house.
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1945	The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway bought eight acres of land from the Dominicans. It bordered the train track.
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1954	Grade school classes were also held at the Motherhouse. In 1954, grades 1 and 2 were transferred to the Campus. Each year, grades were moved until only the high school remained at the Motherhouse.
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1956	St. Cecilia Community announced that no borders would be taken at the Academy in the Motherhouse. The high school would be moved to the campus on Harding Road and be a day school. This meant that the girls could no longer live at the school, as they had when it was located at the Motherhouse.
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1957	A great fire began down the tracks and spread as close as 50 feet from the kindergarten (Aquinas College snack bar) before it was finally brought under control. Neighborhood boys and 14 fire trucks assisted the Sisters. Since there weren’t any fireplugs on the campus, 2,000 feet of hose had to be connected together leading across Cherokee and Harding Road to fight the fire.
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1961	A new building was erected for Overbrook School. It consisted of 8 classrooms, a kindergarten, gym, locker rooms and an office.
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1970	Overbrook’s first library and media center were completed. In the same year, Aquinas Junior College opened on The Dominican Campus.
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1976	A six-lane cinder track was completed.
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1984	A gym, stage, new classrooms, enlarged library, and locker storage were added to the already existing building. The old gym was converted into kindergarten and art classrooms. The Overbrook White House was placed on the National Register of historic buildings.
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1985	Overbrook celebrated its 50th Anniversary. In the same year, the preschool was completed and “The Dominican Campus” was organized, centralizing the business offices, facilities management and development.
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1989	Four additional classrooms were added to the hallway near the new gym to create a Junior High wing.
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1989	Four more classrooms and 3 restrooms (2 student/1 faculty) were added to the Junior High wing.
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2001	Renovations and expansion of the joint Overbrook/St. Cecilia Dining Hall were completed for the 2001-2002 school year.
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2005	The William T. Coakley Memorial Bridge and entrance road expansion were completed and dedicated on Oct. 15, 2005.
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2009	Broke ground on a new track and soccer filed to be shared with St. Cecilia Academy.

What hasn’t changed is that The Dominican Sisters still anchor the school in traditional Catholic values and academic excellence.