College of the Holy Cross - Purple Patcher Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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- -n- 4 - '-T I 1 . -1-n - 4 c H l - 1- -ul Q4 1 l 1 1 ' - - , -3 3' - l- 1 l - .c' .'- - - ,ia rn .4- - , 1 Z - - Q 5 -gli , 1.. .. -4-ll ll - i- ,,, QFQQJLK llglzeill I Yesterday welcome. He immediately set about to Work out his plans. His first concern was for teachers, and he decided to invite the members of the Churchls most celebrated teaching order, the Society of Jesus, to undertake this important task. The Jesuits arrived in September, 1843, and on the second of November, in that same year, the school received its first pupil. The Seminary building in which the first classes were conducted was quite an impressive structure. ln his foresight, Bishop Fenwick knew that the needs of the college would one day exceed the capacity of this small building. Hence, before the college was officially opened, the corner stone of the first building had been laid with all the ceremonies of the Church on June 21, 1843. Rev. Charles Constantine Pise, D.D., of New York, delivered the address on that memorable occasion, in which he chiefly referred to the system of teaching that is characteristic of the Society into whose , ' Q,afff f ff iff I 7 as w,fg7zaffJf'7gpv'W? ?gi f 'rf f -, , ,::f- 1' 'f -1-Q - S e 'Z L. -1- l . ' i

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i : gi i - 1 ,ll 1 al 1- 1 - - 1 -l4 -1 4 . - l 'xl 4 l I Qin- . 1 F Q ' - l- - I- , ll ' 1 3: l ' 'il 1 l I- , W lg 'T j ii -Q -1--il -105 ff se f .. , ., 5,0 , L l i-11-1 - i.-L .q 1w- i Wil ww., H-ff' 11277-'-lm-'YY Holy Cross E HAVE reaped the benefit of four years at Holy Cross-a short space of time, surely-but behind those fleeting years were the unalterable and honored traditions of almost a century, and these have become a part of us. Ninety-one years ago the corner stone of I-loly Cross College was laid by the Rt. Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, second Bishop of Boston. The sixty acre site atop the summit of Pakachoag was located at the southern end of WO1'CCStCf, a thriving town of 10,000 inhabitants. The preceding year it had been given to the Bishop by the Rev. James Fitton, who had founded there in 1836 the Seminary of Moulit Saint James. Using at first a residence on the p1'operty for his school Fr. Fitton erected in 1838 a more suitable structure. The illustrious prelate had long desired to establish a college for Catholic men in New England, and consequently the gift of Fr. Fitton was most ,l --'Q -2-1-v i....., ' Ai' -,.1.1i-- Y lui- ,l- I l 1.1 3. E! r -iq-1 ' - J-i' 4 I

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care the duty of teaching was entrusted. From the College Diary, writ- ten in the handwriting of the first Rector, Rev. Thomas F. lVIulledy, SJ., the following lines are quoted from the address of Father Pise: The rzlihce whirl: is to be rzfnrezl by Ihr' lihfrralily of the RI. Rev. Benwlicr Joseph Fenwick, of Boston, was lhen flezlirairvl to tlnf nzlrvrizzrrzlrelit of Arts, the cultiiiaiion of the Sciflzces, and to the promotion of patriotism, morrzlily, wirtzm mul religion, 'with all the solemn services of the Crzilzoliz' Clin:-rl1. In January, 1844, classes were transferred to the new building. Wlhen the college had been in operation about two months the whole institution numbered but twenty students, six faculty members and three lay brothers. However, in accordance with growing needs, Rev. James Ryder, SJ., the successor of Fr. Nlulledy, added an east wing in the following year, which contained a dining room, chapel, study hall and dormitory. As the student enrollment became larger, it was evident to Bishop Fenwick, who was now failing in health, that he had founded an institution which would be a memorial to him in future years. Shortly before his death, on August 6, 1846, he ceded to the Fathers of the Society of Jesus full control and pos- session of the college. Progress in all fields of activity was noteworthy as the years went on. The first class ready to grad- uate Was the class of 1849. Rightly did the college apply for the privilege of incorporation, but the ap- plication for a charter was not granted until lVlarch 24, 1865. Delay in the granting of this charter was due to a misinterpretation of the purpose of the founder in making the college strictly Catholic. Dr. Brownson in his Q1mrlw'ly Review proved the har- mony existing between the privileges requested and the requirements demanded by the State, and these