Planned Giving and Montrose Society
Before there was even a campus, there was the Montrose House. A fitting namesake for the Montrose Society for Legacy Giving.
The building is known today as the Noyes Alumnae House. But over 150 years ago, it was the first structure on the 33-acre site for what was to become the Notre Dame of Maryland Collegiate Institute. Named the Montrose House, it served as a residence for the SSNDs who would be teaching there.
And so began Notre Dame's rich and enduring traditions in education that have been carried from the 19th into the 21st century. How appropriate that those who wish to nurture and sustain that heritage can do so with a legacy gift that makes them members of the Montrose Society.
In both spirit, and in name, the Montrose Society commemorates the very founding and values of the institution they support.
Join The Montrose Society
You can help strengthen and sustain the mission of NDMU for future generations by becoming a member of Notre Dame's legacy society.
You can do that in a number of ways:
- Remember Notre Dame in your will.
- Make Notre Dame a beneficiary in your retirement account or insurance policy.
- Name Notre Dame as a beneficiary of your savings or checking account.
- Bequeath real or personal property to the University.
- Create a Notre Dame donor advised fund naming the University as a benefactor.
You will be joining other committed alumnae and friends as a Montrose Society member and, as such, have your name added to the Montrose Society plaque in Noyes Alumnae House.
Please contact Alden Reith to learn more about the Montrose Society at areith@ndm.edu.
Forms
- For more information about Planned Giving options and other details please fill out this form: https://www.ndm.edu/form/planned-giving-montrose-society-form. Shortly after submitting this form, a member of our Institutional Advancement Staff will get in touch with you directly.
Montrose Society History
Montrose, meaning “mountain of roses”, is the symbol of giving at Notre Dame of Maryland.
In June 1873 the School Sisters of Notre Dame purchased the Montrose home located on a 19-acre tract to provide housing for School Sisters before Gibbons Hall existed and later was a home for young candidates of the order. In the 1960s and early 1970s students of the college boarded at Montrose. In 1984, Montrose was completely refurbished and renamed Noyes Alumnae House to recognize the generosity of the three Noyes sisters who graduated in the 1920s.
In 1882 two little girls, Mary Doyle, age eight, and her sister Martha, age six months, were brought to the Sisters by their father, Martin Doyle, at the death of their mother. The young girls made their home at Montrose for approximately three years. The Sisters lovingly cared for them until their father remarried and was able to provide a home for them and their two brothers. A love of Notre Dame was born in their hearts that was to be a legacy for Notre Dame until the present day.
Mary Doyle became a School Sister of Notre Dame, known as Mother Mary Philemon. Mother Philemon became president of the College and superior of the Convent at Notre Dame and later was elected provincial of the Baltimore province of the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
Martha Doyle married Henry A. Knott and brought their six sons to Notre Dame to visit their aunt and to serve as altar boys. In 1927, the Knott sons helped their father in the construction of LeClerc Hall. Doyle Hall, generously supported by the six Knott sons, honors the memory of Mary Kane Doyle and Martin Doyle (Henry J. Knott’s maternal grandparents) and their two daughters, Mary (Henry’s aunt) and Martha Doyle Knott (Henry’s mother.) Knott Science Center is named for the nine daughters of Henry J. Knott, while the Marion Burk Knott Sports Complex honors Henry’s wife.
The official seal of Notre Dame of Maryland, with an artistic rose in the center of the shield and cross, reflects the rich tradition of the rose as a symbol of Mary, Notre Dame.