Rivet High School - Epic Yearbook (Vincennes, IN)

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 f J7J.77 RX mi fouLjt Cmjl Four years ago a new school was opened, or, rather, an older school was renamed. After several years of extreme financial prob- lems, St. Rose Academy and Central Catholic Schools were combined and renamed Rivet. At the time of the consolidation, several ques- tions were raised, such as Will it work?” Will it last? Will the system adjust and be as good as before? “Will traditions be car- ried over? We have seen these questions answered affirmatively. The two schools have evolved and become one strong unit. We've seen other changes also — such as the new junior high system being started this year in the annex of the former Old Cathe- dral School. With all new programs, many problems arise, but by working together, the students, faculty, and administration have been able to resolve these problems and cre- ate an effective and outstanding educational system. In 1974, progress is our only direction just as it was for Fr. Rivet when he started an edu- cational system in Vincennes upon the recom- mendation of George Washington. The times have certainly changed since Father Rivet's day. Many different Catholic schools have come and gone — St. Clare's Convent and Female Academy (the forerunner of SRA), St. Francis Xavier, Gibault High, St. Rose Acad- emy, Central Catholic, Old Cathedral, Sacred Heart, and St. John’s. Our own cornerstone, stating Gibault School 1 924, reminds us that this is the fifti- eth anniversary of the building of the school. Yet buildings and names have insignificant importance when compared to the tradition of Catholic education which survives and contin- ually adapts to meet the new world in which we live. 5

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Father Jean Francois Rivet, born in France in 1757, came to this western outpost of Vincennes in 1795. Edu- cated in France, he held the chair of rhetoric at the Royal College of Limoges at the outbreak of the French Revolu- tion. He fled to America in 1 794 where he met Bishop Carrol of Baltimore who prevailed on the young priest to come to Vincennes to teach the Indians. He was to teach them not only book knowledge, but culture as well, and for this an Act of Congress paid him an annual salary of $200. The conditions found by the priest in this small outpost were deplorable. He not only taught, but also assisted with pastoral duties at the little church of St. Francis Xavier. Difficulties of a language barrier as well as an unsettled governmental policy with the Indians added to his hardships. He was undoubtedly influenced by the Ordinance of 1 787 which read in part: “Religion, morality, and knowl- edge being necessary to good government and the hap- piness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” In 1 800 Vincennes was made the capital of the Indi- ana Territory with William Henry Harrison appointed as its first governor. Shortly thereafter, Harrison called together the leading citizens of the community and organized Jefferson Academy with his friend Father Rivet as the first Headmaster. The missionary served in this capacity for a little less than three years before he was stricken with what was then called “quick consumption.” He became very ill and it was evident he had not long to live. In the absence of a priest to attend his spiritual needs, Fr. Rivet wrote out his own dying confession, had himself carried into the little log church he had served so faith- fully for the past nine difficult years, and administered to himself his last Holy Communion. He died on February 13, 1 804, and at his request was buried in the center of the Old French Cemetery, adjacent to the present Old Cathedral. A simple white stone cross marks the grave today. In November 1962, Fr. Rivet's last Will and Testament was found in a long locked drawer in the Cathedral Library. In his own handwriting there is a detailed list of his clothing, books, household furniture and several mis- cellaneous possessions, among them, one door of yel- low wood, onions in the cellar, wood of an old house, a pencil, a little silver chandelier, a trunk without a key, a bed pot, and 152 pounds of tobacco.” — from A Guidebook to Historic Vincennes, Indiana” 4 Isaac Beckes, President of Vincennes University, and Msgr. Leo Conti view Rivet marker.

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Beth Roellgen — 1973 Tennis Champion in Women's Singles. 6