Looking Back

Over 3,000 attend the dedication of the new St. John’s College High School (Washington, D.C.) building at 27th Street and Military Road. It marks quite a contrast to the cramped conditions at the previous site on Vermont Avenue, near the White House.

La Salle College High School (Philadelphia) loses the Catholic League football championship to Monsignor Bonner HS, 6-0, before 25,000 spectators at Franklin Field. Hampered by a steel strike, La Salle College High School’s new campus (Wyndmoor, PA) is under construction; the school will move there from 20th and Olney (Phila.) in Fall 1960.

The combined bands of Central Catholic HS (Pittsburgh) and South Hills Catholic HS (now Seton-La Salle HS, Pittsburgh) play at the halftime of the Pittsburgh Steelers-Philadelphia Eagles NFL game, on national TV at Forbes Field, “despite a near-blizzard.”

Brother Alexius Victor, the Visitor of the New York District (1946-1955) celebrates his Golden Jubilee as a Christian Brother at Sacred Heart Retreat House in Waltham (MA) — a part of the Historic Long Island-New England District. The celebration includes a sung Mass celebrated by Msgr. Thomas Flynn, with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and renewal of Vows by Brother Victor.

Opening of Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, NJ.
Classes held in the early years in the former horse stable area:

“Three days before the opening of school none but the brave of heart would venture to assert that everything would be in readiness for the historic day in Monmouth County. With graders, paving machines, and steamrollers blacktopping the roadways; carpenters, painters, plumbers, tile men, and electricians putting on the finishing touches; and weary C.B.’s completing the weeklong work of assembling 150 large lockers, few were exactly overconfident that 140 wide-eyed Freshmen could attend full sessions of class on the scheduled date….In the words of our likeable cook: `Ah never even ‘spected we’d be all set up for ah chilren down the new stable, but we wuz!’ According to one eager Freshman, there are 839 panes of glass in the renovated building…”

The principal of St. Peter’s HS (Staten Island), Brother Augustine Cyril, was compelled to call off a scheduled fire drill because a large section of the lawn where the boys stationed themselves was on fire.

Superior General Brother Nicet Joseph visits Lasallian establishments in the Caribbean and South America (specifically Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Bolivia).

Brother Joseph’s trip concludes with a visit to Canada.

An article in the Institute’s Bulletin des Freres des Ecoles Chretiennes (written in French) lists the handful of schools in Canada which Brother Joseph visited, (Toronto District not specifically mentioned). A photograph captioned “District de Toronto, Canada. Agape fraternelles” [“Brotherly rejoicing”] appears on page 209 of the bulletin and shows nearly 70 robed Brothers of the Toronto District, all sitting in a large assembly hall at tables arranged in a “u”-shape, with what appears to be Brother Nicet Joseph and other guests standing at the center of the “u”.