Loyola University - Wolf Yearbook (New Orleans, LA)

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cated at the rear of the church. The plan of studies, as well as the organization of the entire adminis- tration, was identical with the downtown Immac- ulate Conception. In fact, members of the staffs of the two colleges were at times interchanged; they held their commencements together. The St. Charles college was called Loyola after St. Igna- tius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order. There is an amusin £ anecdote that jroes with the founding of Loyola college, which has been proven to be only a legend. According to tradi- tion, in 1904 the Rev. William Powers, S.J., then superior of the province, summoned the Rev. Al- bert Biever, S. J., Loyola ' s founder and first presi- dent. Father Power, it is said, gave Father Biever a dime for carfare and told him to go uptown and found a university. Thus, Loyola has the distinc- tion of having been founded on a dime and a streetcar ride. Nine students registered at Lovola in 1904. Only one was classified as a college student and the rest attended the academy. Registering first was Charles L. Seeman. Father Biever was as- sisted on the faculty by the Revs. William Salentin, Austin E. Fields and Lawrence White, all of the Society of Jesus. Sub- jects such as Latin, Greek, French, math, history, geographv. penmanship, elocution and religion were taught. The first grad- uate was Basil R. Beltran, later to become a distinguished Phil- ■r ' adelphia physician. The college grew and in 1906 Father Biever called a Catho- lic men ' s conference to raise funds for a new building. A Mr. W. E. Claiborn was made acting chairman of the group. In 1907 the Marquette Association for Higher Education, with Mr. B. A. Oxnard as president, was organized for the purpose of establish- ing a university from the two colleges. This group was also re- sponsible for the financing of Marquette hall. At the beginning of the academic session on Sept. 11. 1911. the college parts of Immaculate Conception and Lovola were to form a university with all studies being carried on at the St. Charles Ave. site. The two preparalorv schools were merged to form Jesuit High School, which maintained classes at the Baroime location and is now located on Carrollton Ave. These consolidations were done in response to a general demand from iv

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Ill February, 1733, Father de Beaubois agreed that there was then sufficient need for such a school and he cooperated in a request of Bienville, the governor, to the home administration in France that a Jesuit college be established in New Orleans. This petition was ignored by the French government and the college was to wait until another century. After an absence of some years the Jesuits returned to New Orleans in 1847 when the charter of the province was given. The charter, known as the Societe Catholique d ' Education Re- ligieuse et Litteraire was expanded March 6, 1856 by an amend- ment which empowered the corporation to confer literary hon- ors, degrees and diplomas. This resulted in a college of liberal arts and sciences, known as Immaculate Conception, to which a preparatory school was attached. Popularly known as the Jesus School, it was located on Baronne and Common Streets in downtown New Orleans where the present Pere Marquette building is located. The first classes were held Feb. 1, 1849, under seven faculty members. The preparatory work and college studies together took six years to complete and were organized under one admin- istration. The system of studies followed the Ratio Studio- rum of the Jesuits, emphasizing philosophy and the classics. As the city began to expand, so did Jesuit education. Fol- lowing the Centenary exposition of 1884 the city ' s population began to shift to the section above Napoleon Ave., then known as Greenville. Foreseeing the development of a new parish, the Rev. John O ' Shanahan, S.J., superior of the Southern Jesuits, purchased the tract of land opposite Audubon Park on St. Charles Ave. Dec. 28, 1889. The negotiations were carried on through the efforts o f Edward Douglass White, then Chief Jus- tice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana. On this land, purchased from Paul Foucher, son-in-law of the first mayor of New Orleans, Etienne de Bore, a wooden church was erected May 29, 1892 by lay brothers of the New Orleans mission skilled in carpentry. The Rev. John Downey, S.J., was first pastor and superior of the residence of the Holy Name of Jesus. This church was later dismantled and moved to West- wego (it has been demolished since) to make room for Thomas hall which stands on its original site. On Sept. 7, 1904, the St. Charles property became the home of an academy and college, both known as Loyola College, lo-

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the public and an urgent request from His Excel- lency, the Most. Rev. James J. Blenk, then arch- bishop of New Orleans. Sixty-nine students registered when Loyola opened as a university. The original faculty, with the exception of Father Biever, was gone. New fac- ulty members and the first officers of Loyola, as a university, were the Rev. Patrick A. Ryan, S.J.. vice-president; the Rev. Louis G. Baslmal, S.JL secretary; the Rev. Paul Faget, S.J., treasurer; the Rev. Louis Le Blanc, S.J., chaplain; and the Revs. Augustine C. Porta, Joseph B. Frankhauser, Peter P. O ' Sullivan, Henry R. Fleuren, Joseph Gerlach, Robert M. Brooks and Michael J. Walsh, all members of the Society of Jesus. The degree of master of arts was conferred on Mr. Francis T. Gouaux, A.B., M.D., and Mixime J. Perret, A.B. William A. Tonglet was the high man in his class for the degree of bache- lor of arts and Carl E. Ramos was top man earning his B.S. degree. Valedictorian was Joseph J. Gerache of Vicksburg, Miss. Early in 1912 the university applied for a charter from the Louisiana General Assembly to be recognized as a university. After hearing that some members of the legislature were say- ing that the Jesuits had not shown themselves capable of con- ducting a university, Father Biever, himself, stood on the senate floor and delivered a fierv speech in defense of the Order. The sun does not set on any part of the universe in which there is not a Jesuit university, he declared. The assembly granted the charter first in April and gave its final approval July 10. Thus Loyola was authorized to grant all university degrees. The class of 1912, because the charter was not finally approved until the summer after its commencement, did not receive degrees under the charter. At the 1912 exercises Fred Grant was saluta- torian and Lawrence Knobloch was valedictorian. The first de- grees under the charter were conferred in March, 1913. As a result of the earlv and complicated evolution of Loyola Univer- sity, she welcomes 1911 and 1912 graduates as alumni. FIRST BUILDING Jie first building on Loyola ' s campus, as we know it to- day, was the small Burke Memorial Seismographical observatory located between Marquette hall and Holy Name church. It was 20