Spalding University represents a legacy of education established in 1814 by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. In 1920 the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth founded Nazareth College occupying the historic Tompkins-Buchanan-Rankin Mansion at 851 South Fourth Street, thus establishing the Louisville campus. Since 1984, the independent liberal arts institution that began as Nazareth Academy near Bardstown, Kentucky, has been known as Spalding University, honoring the roots established by Mother Catherine Spalding, founder of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.
