Academy of the Holy Names - JM Yearbook (Albany, NY)

Page 9 text:

Lives On . . . The orchard in the back yard laden with delicious apples, peaches, pears, and grapes gave the girls some re- freshment during study and took away their appetities for dinner. Every Friday the Children of Mary made their Act of Consecration after Benediction.. Mass was offered only once a week at school. During the months of October, May, and June and the season of Lent, twenty-five girls were allowed to attend Mass at the Dominican Convent, Sunday nights were special ones for the boarders because Sister Mary Emerentienne of the Music Department would entertain them with her endless store of games and songs, Although Sister M. Mariana feels sad at seeing the high school students leave the present building, she is happy at the wonderful accomplishments of the Sisters of the Holy Names and the residents of Albany since her graduation in 1901. In recent years the number of students has increased unbelieveably. Since Sister M. Mariana's class of only seven graduates we anticipate the graduation of eighty-five girls in 1960. The entire high school consisted of no more than forty students while today we boast our enrollment of over two hundred fifty students. So from these incidents we get an idea of the wonderful growth and success of the Academy of the Holy Names. Let's all remember that the modern school will not be entirely new for it will always hold the sincere friendliness, love, and concern that has made Holy Names the school of which we are proud to be a part, Yes, A,H,N, is to move again. During our meeting with Sister M. Mariana and Sister M. Hedwige they assured us that since their first encounter with A,I-LN, and the Sisters of the Holy Names, they have never felt the absence of sincere friendliness and interest between Sister and student. The Sisters feel that throughout all the exterior changes there has been a constancy in the inner spirit, the heart of the school, that will go on forever. iT lY T1 - W up 1913 H ill -at Q Z 1903

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But the Spirit Holy Names is on its way to further progress and prosperity. Before we look forward to our life in the new high school, a little wistfully and very gratefully we take a backward glance over the history of our school to see what it is that makes A.H.N. our pride and joy. Sisters M. Mariana and M. Hedwige have graciously opened to our LM. interviewers their treasure of memories. Just seventy-five years ago in a little house on Hamilton Street, the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary first started to educate the young people of Albany. Their fame spread so rapidly that in four years it was neces- sary to move to a larger building on the corner of Madison Avenue and Robin Street. This was only a two-story frame structure. But as the list of students grew, so did the building. Soon word of the wonderful training and excellent teaching of the Sisters of the Holy Names had spread, and again it was necessary to enlarge the Academy. That is when we first received our dappled gray -stone building. Of course it was smaller then, just two stories high. This building enclosed our beautiful chapel which was dedi- cated in 1912. As the years went by, former students sent their children to be educated by our Sisters and again A.H.N. had to be enlarged. That was when the brick addition which is now the high school was constructed. Memories of more than expansion of buildings and enrollment were opened to us. Sister Mary Hedwige told of other changes. What is now one of our back parlors was originally the boarders' beehive, and our annex was where the children spent their recess. Since Sister M. Mariana was a resident student she related many of the humorous and thrilling incidents which have left lasting memories with her. Washington Park seemed to be a favorite K ' recreation place for boarders, In the winter the girls would skate on the Park t If .i Lake or on the rink in the back yard of school. Then in the summer and spring, rowing on the lake was a popular sport. 1881 . ,- uf ,Q . f ',,, ,. f .1 A qy Q.. 5 i fr .rpg ., is E 1.53. .' Ll -4 , I 5 i 1 4 T' il' 4 x ff . - . 4 il v'z L, -.4.. 1891

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r ,, -f. - ', ,.7..,.g-,. -. .- H ..,....-, - . ,,,, , , 0. . , W? ..-M-, , v.. .4 .- e.. -4 H- I, ' g1..,',, We the Class of '57 Do Bequeath This Heritage An old tradition at AHN and at other schools is a varied collection of delightfully nonsensical sentiments going by the title of Last Will and Testament. The Class of '57 is to be no exception to this honored cus- tom. But because 1957 is moving year, and our school is deserting the quiet dignity of our famed graystone building, perhaps we can be justified in allowing our famous last words to take on a more serious tone. We, the seniors, do have a treasured heritage to pass on to the underclassmen. But it would be more correct to say that each AHNer already possesses that heritage. We only desire to create a fuller realization of it. Our heritage can be considered a vocation. By Virtue of her faith and training, each AHN girl is ex- pected to be a special type of Christian woman - completely Catholic in thought, word and action. AHN teaches us that it is here that our responsibility enters, since it is for us not only to recognize that call but to accept the challenge that it represents. This, then, can be said to constitute the spirit of our Academy - a spirit of Christian refinement. We recognize that it is the universal spirit of the Sisters of the Holy Names and that spirit reflected by us, their students, that constitutes the heritage of AHN. AHN wants to give us a great deal, but nothing can be accomplished without our whole -hearted coopera- tion. Yet even that necessary cooperation will never be reached unless there is, within each of us, a true sense of loyalty to AHN. Once we understand, and then love, the principles, the spirit of the Academy, we will accept our responsibilities gladly. We will find that not only do we as individuals exert a power- ful influence on the character of AHN - we are, to a very great extent, responsible for making it what it is. We must, then, live in such a way as to fulfill our re- sponsibility to enrich the heritage in our possession. When we have accomplished this we will then be pre- pared to enrich the world in which we live.