Kearns-Saint Ann School is a Catholic school located in South Salt Lake, Utah, built in 1899. It is home to students in grades Preschool through 8th grade. Kearns-Saint Ann School began as an orphanage in the late 1800s, and continues its legacy of the caring for and educating of children which was begun in 1891 by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.Kearns' St. Ann's OrphanageThomas KearnsIn the late 1800s, Thomas Kearns was one of Utah’s wealthiest and most influential figures. He had made his fortune with his partners, John Judge and David Keith through their business, the Silver King Mine in Park City, Utah. He was also the publisher of the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper, and continued his leadership role in early Utah when he became a United States Senator.The OrphanageDue to the high number of mining accidents and disasters in Utah mines, many families were left without a breadwinner in the days when women could not find high-paying jobs. There was also a high number of orphaned children as a result of the mining disasters. The Sisters of the Holy Cross saw a need for an orphanage and opened one in 1891. Bishop Lawrence Scanlan, of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, gave the sisters a small, two-story adobe building for the purpose of caring for the orphans.The Kearns' St. Ann's Orphanage BuildingIn a very short time, the orphan population grew to the point that the building was not big enough to house them. Bishop Scanlan tried to acquire land on which to build an orphanage, but ran into financial problems. In 1898, Jennie Judge Kearns, wife of Senator Thomas Kearns, donated $60,000 to the diocese for the purpose of building an orphanage. Her gift covered the entire cost of purchasing the land and construction of the building. The furnishings were provided by other donors, a list of whom was printed in the Deseret News. The acreage on which the orphanage was built consisted of rich farmland where the sisters would grow food for feeding the orphans. Today that land is a baseball field used by children's sports teams for practice and games.
