Catholic High School - Panther Yearbook (New Iberia, LA)

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,qdt 4 ,,,..A-V, , Nf?'1a..,V:?!:,W The mansion of C. C. Henshaw, purchased by Monsignor Langlois in 1913, served as the first school house and later as the Brothers' residence before it was finally removed from the lot a few years ago. The Beginning . During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Catholic education for New Iberia boys was a definite problem. Numerous attempts to relieve the situation failed, and the matter was finally put into the hands of the Carmelite Nuns of Mount Carmel Academy, founded in 1870 for girls. But by 1903, it became evident that the nuns could no longer handle the education of the boys even after the addition of new facilities. Monsignor I. M. Langlois, the industrious pastor of St. Peter's Parish of New Iberia. then arrived on the scene. In 1913, he purchased the mansion of C. C. l-Ienshaw for 320, 000 to be used as a school building. Now, his only obstacle was to provide a faculty for his school. If there ever was an occurrence to prove the old saying, Every cloud has a silver lining, it was the outbreak of the religious persecution in Mexico around this time. Many priests and religious were forced to flee into the United States. A Baton Rouge pastor who knew of Monsignor Lang1ois's problem convinced five Christian Brothers from Mexico, who were passing through that city on their way north, to go to New Iber- ia. After seeing Monsignor Langlois, the Brothers de- cided to stay and teach at the school. On September 9, 1918, St. Peter's College opened with a student body of 106 and a faculty of five. The five were principal Brother A. Arsenius, Brothers A. Xavier Qdeceasedj, Anselm fpresently at Catholic Highp, Amable Marie fLouisj. and Gustavus fdeceasedj. These men, together with Monsignor Langlois made Catholic education for boys an astounding success in New Iberia despite the misfortunes of those who had tried before. A new addition was constructed to keep up with the amazing rate of expansion and was dedicated by Bishop I. B. Ieanmard of Lafayette on May 15, 1919. St. Peter's produced its first graduating class in 1922 After many years of expansion and improvement, in 1957 St. Peter's moved to its present facilities locat- ed on Admiral Doyle and DeLaSalle Drives. Since the school was no longer in St. Peter's parish, the name was changed to Catholic High School. This commemorative supplement to the 1968 Panther will try to awaken some fond memories of the past years of St. Peter's-Catholic High by presenting a collection of pictures from those memorable days gone by. 7

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First Graduating Class Of S.P. C. - 1922 TOP: Commencement, 1922, saw seven senioxs - Louis W. Broussard, Wilfred Conrad, Alfred Hitter ftopj, George Larnbremont, Carrol Martin, Antoine Moresi, and Anthony Muller, Ir. fbottomj - pass from the College. BOTTOM: Proudly displaying the S, P. C. banners, the first student council gathered on the steps of the school. augus-