Holy Family High School - Spires Yearbook (Tulsa, OK)

Page 8 text:

FORE ORD nn y lf' E1 ll. f l. . U U U U U 5 E 55 Sixty years ago the first Catholic church in Tulsa was dedicated to the Holy Family, and in a short time the parish had begun to build a school which, though not yet completed, was opened by the Sisters of Mt. Carmel in the same year. Within threeyears it became necessary to make additions: atthis time the Sisters of Divine Providence took charge of the school. By 1907, however, though a rectory had been built and several improve- ments made to the church and school, the little parish had definitely begun to outgrow itself. When, in 1912, it was decided that a new church was needed, the present site--8th and Boulder--was chosen. The work progressed well, on the feast of the Immaculate Concep- tion of the following year, services wereheld in the basement of the church--after that, the old church was used only for school and parish activities. In 1914 the beautiful Gothic- style church, having been built without cess- ation, was dedicated to the Holy Family, not six years later a fine new school stood beside it, christened Holy Family School. From the very beginning, when Tulsa was merely a village in Indian territory, until now, when it has become theOi1Capital ofthe World, the history of Holy Family School has been closely bound up with that of the parish. When Holy Family was hardly more than a mission, its Indian children were being taught by religious teachers. As the population of the parish increased, the boundaries were tightened, but the school enrollment yearly grew larger, outgrowing itself several times, in spite of additions: within a few years after the dedication of the new church, Holy Family School stood in its shadow. During the years of early statehood, when the parish consisted of pioneers in an unsettled country, Holy Family took the children of those strong people and taught them. Through two World Wars, that school pointed to a cross upraised in the sky, told its youth of the love of the Christ who had died on just such across, and sent its boys to fight, to die, in the service of their country. In times of hardship, its students could find strength within the stone walls of that fortress of faith, in times of joy, they could enter thankfully into the beautiful palace of their kingg at any time they could visit their Friend inHis house. They were students of Holy Family School, but its move- ments were in harmony with those of the church, and the church was Holy Family Cathedral. For cathedral it had become, after the course of some years, and then its school was even more dis- tinctly set apart. Holy Family has a fine spirit, it was said, and it was true, for its students had a pride and a drive which often manifested itself. In theirdances, their classes, their activities, the traditions which they built up, they showed that spirit, and always it proved strong and eager. Their scholar- ship, their sportsmanship, their generosity always excelled--they were proud of their school.

Page 7 text:

11 'i' M n lb . W .d , K nl All G .. 55 - 5 L7 n f '1 4 X x . 1 .- I tl u ' 1 lg' . , . THE SPIKE 1960 it-,. 1 , lu .S X I f 0 , I , V, f V 5 '0 liagh A A K 5? U QC' N, -.7151 Q I' ,I . f'I 1 rug: wr, I , ,411 W. ,L,, V , ,, -V 1 .fuxk v' 'f !' . , .-4, V ,vrv-,Z , . ' 'J , ',! 1 ' . ,I I Vit I - HO LY FAMILY HIGH SCHOOL 820 S . BOULDER FULSA , OKLAHOMA

Page 9 text:

But HF has again outgrown itself, and its walls have shrunk--there is need once more for a new school. And this time, the school must move alone. The strong, massive cathedral, which serves so many people, cannot be moved as the little frame church once was. Constant as a great rock, juttingout in a restless sea, the mighty fortress that is the cathedral will continue to stand where it does--in the stream of the comings and goings of its people. Conscious of all these things, the students of HF have walked through its halls for the last two years, knowing that next yearHoly Family will not be a four-year high school, and that soon it will be given over entirely to the grades. They have played their games, cheered at them, knowing that soon the valiant tradition of the Crusaders will no longer exist, they have held their dances in the hall and known that soon these things will be endedg they have written their yearbook, THE SPIRES, for the last time. What will they have, then, losing all this? They will have the promise of the future. They, together with other students from other schools, will be the founders of tradition-- they will set up a standard for Bishop Kelley High. They will have greater opportunities in the field of scholarship, with more teachers, more classes, more equipment. Their realm of experience wi'll widen. Because of better supervision and more material, their program of athletics will be finer. In a way that is rare and lasting, they will learn the lesson of tolerance- -will learn to work well with the students of many schools. By entering the spacious Kelley High they will not lose, for they will meet Christ in the halls of Kelley as they have met Him here. Christ the Modern. In the science labs as well as in the religion class they will see N Him. And they will remember that He is as ------ 'fm much at home in the age of atomic fission as il 9 in the Middle Ages--the timeless, ageless Christ--that He is as surely present in the H H I simple, modern chapel as in the elaborate -E ,, I H cathedral. let thizitlixeeieggilois remember-thesethings, llnlllllll' Q Ennnnn get that they gi aduated fi om -In-un.. I I - I-I-,,u., Holy Family. Let those of us who will not be I I able to graduate from the school that wehave A, ,A 1 Kip.: fi? Ee. :I 1 H E come to call our own, learn to fuse the glory Q Q: .2 of our cathedral with the promise of Kelley. 7 ' V15-52? A -Q-Ag' Kqifi We have honored the traditions of Holy Family. Let us not forget the spirit of her teachings when, for the last time, we walk from beneath the shadow of the spires.