Watch as Jennifer Booher presents her latest research on the design and construction of the St. Edward’s Convent (former home of the Bar Harbor Historical Society) on Ledgelawn Avenue.

St. Edward’s was designed by Milton Stratton of Bar Harbor and completed in 1917. The building was funded by Louise Drexel Morrell, a Philadelphia philanthropist who summered in Bar Harbor. Mrs. Morrell supported numerous building projects for Catholic communities around the country and was an active participant in their design and construction. Her papers are preserved at the Catholic Historical Research Center of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. She held strong, well-reasoned opinions on everything from heating systems to dormitory layouts, and her correspondence with Mr. Stratton is both entertaining and informative.

Ms. Booher is an artist and photographer based in Bar Harbor, Maine, currently at work a book about the stained-glass windows of Mount Desert Island. The project has been awarded two Maine Arts Commission Grants in support of her research travels. She has been a Resident Artist with Acadia National Park since 2015, and Artist-in-Residence with the Mount Desert Island Historical Society since 2018. She received her BA in Art History from Vassar College, and her master’s degree in Landscape Architecture and Historic Preservation from the University of Virginia.