Assumption High School - Crusader Purple Raider Yearbook (Windsor, Ontario Canada)

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Eighty Years of Progress at “ j r Assumption College motion Cou.uk is celebrating lit i« year the Kighticth Anniversary of its administration by tlit- Ba-iliun Father . Iii ii Father Detini- O ' Connor « f the Congregation of St. Basil arrived in the tillage of Sandwich in August. 1870. with three other Ba-ilian priest and tile magnifieent sum of $300.00. he took over the admin¬ istration of a school that hud heen conducted under other auspices from 1857. The origin- of Assumption College may he traced hack to the return of the Jesuits to Assumption Parish in 1843. Father Pierre Point, the Jesuit pastor, was an exceptionally astute man and observed throughout his parish an appalling illiteracy and ignorance. Ilis parish extended twenty miles along the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair and us far south as the Irish Mission of Maidstone: in addition the parish conducted missions in Belle River. Tecum sell. Stoncy Point. Chuthum. Walpole. Raleigh and Tilbury. The parish numbered some 3.000 soul- who were almost exclusively Frcnch-Canadian in nationality. Father Point immediately introduced u network of elementary French-speaking schools in hi- parish, establishing by 1810 thirteen school with an average enrollment of 80 to 100 student . Hi- school- were among the first elementary schools of any kind in W estern Ontario and anticipated by several years the introduction of public schools supported hy governmental taxation ( 18341. He encountered considerable opposition from members of his Dock who remained unconvinced thut there were benefits to lie derived from education commensurate with their cost and maintenance, ' flic Civil authority also was rather hostile in the beginning, since the Ontario system of education under the direction of Dr. Fgerton Rvcr-on was then only in the process of formation and the principle of denominational school was not a matter of general agreement. In spite of the fullering enthusiasm and latent anlagoni-tn that his project evoked. Father Point not only proceeded with hi- plans, hut enlarged ii|Hin them. Recognizing the importance of secondary education, he was enuhled to open a high school for girls in tin parish presbytery in 1832 through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Antoine Reauhien of Detroit. I The first secondary school, or high school, was opened in the W indsor area in 1871 when the combined imputation of W indsor and Sandwich totaled 3.413.1 In 1833 a secondary school for hoys was erected on the parish grounds and was opened in 1837. The cur¬ riculum of la College de P Assumption consisted of preparatory, commercial and classical (high school I courses. I he stalT no-luded laymen teaching under the direction of the Jesuit Father-. During its early years instruction was given through the medium of the French language. W hen Father Point and the Jesuits left the parish and the college in 1839. the school fell upon days of extreme adversity. Its survival was flue principally to the indomitable zeal of Mr. Theodore Cirurdot who was successively teacher, dean ami principal. Mr. Cirardot was horn in France in 1824 ami devoted hi- life in Canada to the cause of education. After heading the college for several years, Mr. Cirardot as a layman began to feel iimpialilied to guide a student body largely preparing for the priesthood and so informed Bi-hop W ulsli in London. The hislion asked him to recommend some religious congregation to replace him. Mr. Cirardot suggested the Basiliant because they were at the time one of the few hi-lingual religious coni muni tie in Canada. There was a French tradition in the community that had come to Canada from Fruuee lest, than a generation earlier: and. having become located in Toronto at St. Michael ' s College there were |H rsisting British ami Irish influence . W hen Father O’Connor arrived in Sandwich. Mr. Cirardot valiantly assisted him, even canvassing homes in the district for students. Freed from his duties at the college. Mr. Cirardot was appointed public school Inspector for North Kssex. which |K»st he held until hi death in Sandwich in 1900. In the next twenty years. 1870-1890. Father Dennis O ' Connor proved himself a worthy successor of Father Point ami Mr. Cirardot. In the very first year of his administration u college course was introduced; ami although the growth of the school wus unspeetaeiilar. it was steady. From a total enrollment of 29 student in 1870. the College grew until its attendance reached 150 at the turn of the century. By 1890 when Father ONamnor Irdt Assumption College to become Bi-hop of I omlou and. Inter. Arch¬ bishop of Toronto, the College hud expanded to three times its original dimensions. To the old classroom build¬ ing. the original unit opened in 1837 und still in use. were added the southern wing of the present Administra¬ tion Building in 1873 and the central wing including the refectory ami infirmary in 1884. $ T trim ty-one

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T tcriily OCCUPANTS OF ORIGINAL BUILOINC

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1870-1950 1906 1884 1875 IHIILT IN SECTIONS Early Progress purlin O’Connors awwtontH during Ins early years al I lie College were Fathers M. J. Ferguson, M. Mimgovan. I I. i presiilftil: of the College, 1890 1901) and Robert MeBrady I president. 1901-1907). names that are rub with legend in the story of Assumption. Will, the administration of Father Francis Forster (1907.19191, and Father Joseph Vluekle (1919-19221 a new sen, rat,on of Busihan took over and the pioneering age may he said to have passed. During these years . in .... • .. •.....« • ' ... 7° ‘ , i, (J!’ 0rUn ' r ' . f wa t,M; V« ' menl of affiliation of the eoUege depart. I I I •, niversity of Western Ontario. initiated hy Father Fallon of . Diocese of London and eon,- i , a“: 0C,O,, ‘ !r V ' M nn,0r ° f ,He ,enn8 ° f affi,ia,io I 10 ' 1 2 of - The Assumption College shall constitute a College of Arts and as such shall enter into and form a part of the Faculty of Arts of the Western University: it shall enjoy the rights and assume the ohliga- tions common to all the affiliate,I colleges; it shall he represented in the Board of governors and the Vnate and in the Council of the Faculty of Arts: its staff of teachers shall have equal standing and tg ts with the officers of instruction of the University College of Arts: its students shall he admitted to the degrees of the Western University and to the medals, scholarships and prizes offered l,y the Uni- thrstatute! of V Ont7rio ,: ” an ' Hr,li ' ‘ ' ' i ' 1 ' ,h ‘‘ Wc » ter n University Art of 1908. chapter 145 in in iUTZiZZ UTtrr r ' Voi T •«» «»» • affiliation was effected: in 1930 there were 116; Summer Sel, ' ,ml nurnh 1570. ' , m - H ' « School. Night School and |.,A. S l C ! r 1n Fal,,0 - r Fa,l T aSWMfc served as president from 1922 to 1928 and again from t r V d,; ' ViT , ' r T ' U r , 2 - T . h , e ± ,sroom B,,iWln K •’ ‘•‘ed during his first admin- 1932 ri«S. Fatllr l , K rr l) WM { r 1928,0 1981 an 1 Father Thomas A. MacDonald, from Wer i V , L r m , , J ' , Man |- a « ra Uate ° f tl - firf » « »«• following affiliation of the College with the L niver ity, took olbn m 1940, the ninth Bu ilian president of Assumption College. Father John H. O Loane succeeded Father Guinan in 1946 and is now guiding the destinies of the college and its proposed expansion. B