St Francis Preparatory School - San Fran Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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Two lands separated by the wide Atlantic stniggled against in- ternal confusion in the year 1858. On the one hand, seething dis- putes between North and South led the wise men of America to realize that an eruption was im- minent, Indian raids still posed a serious problem in the West, and as a whole, the Nation avidly fol- lowed the Lincoln-Douglas de- bates. Then across the sea, Ireland was poverty-stricken and depopu- lated because of earlier potato fam- inesg absentee landlords were ty- rannical, and religious persecution was rampant. This was the state of affairs when newly-appointed Bishop .Loughlin of Brooklyn re- quested educators from Ireland to help in the work of his Diocese. Help came from a group of Franciscans who had earned the name of hedge teachers . This intrepid group moved their classes to the fields when their buildings were destroyed. At the sound of approaching redcoats, all hid be- hind hedges until the soldiers were out of sight. In May of 1858 two of these Franciscans arrived, and a few months later purchased an abandoned Protestant Church on Baltic Street to begin their work in the New World. After remodel- ing, with the Brothers housed in the basement, the doors of St. Francis Academy first opened in September of that year. In the ensuing hundred years the meteoric rise of the United States to a major world power was like nothing the world had ever seen. Following the Civil War, America was caught up in a whirl- wind of growth and activity. Rail- roads sprawled across the land. While the country was left aghast at such tragedies as the massacre of General Custer, the blizzard of '88, and the great Chicago fire, new States were carved' out of the E TURY OF western frontier. Four wars en- gulfed us, the Spanish-American War, two World Wars, and the Korean conflict. Each illustrated our resistance to oppression. Sci- ence was not left behind in the race, for this country was responsi- ble for such varied innovations as the benefits of electricity, Henry F ord's tin lizzie , barbed wire, radio, television, the movies, bath- tub gin, and the subway system, to name only a few. This germ of expansion was also carried forward by the Fran- ciscans. A year after the opening of the Academy, the Brothers staffed St. Ioseph's on Dean Street. As the years rolled on more schools were found-ed-St. Paul,s, Our Lady of Mercy, St. Michaels, Im- maculate Conception, St. Charles. Perhaps the most startling of their foundations occurred in 1888. Then was held a soap coupon drive to end all coupon drives. When it JOSEPH PONESSA GEORGE VAN co'rT JOHN MCDERMOTT, JR. KEVIN SMITH. Editol-,in,Chief Sports Editor Activities Editor Faculty Editor f 'r w e E , 1 - g if Q . K f. ' . ,,' ,,p A ,M ff. 'JZ 1' . f Vi? .' . 7, ff-A, f

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REVEREND BROTHER ALPHONSUS, O.S.F. Assistant Principal Instructions to the faculty via the Assistant Principal ' 5 if f Y ai Q V 1 ,C ' r ' I '. il Y-2 li ' IF, f it f ik i 'L I MESSAG Providence disposes all things for a reason. Consequently, the student body on this centenary occasion should be distinguished from the thousands gone before. May that dis- tinction consist in your continued as- sociation with St. Francis as fellow laborers with us in the great work that seems imminent. Specifically, we would- hope that some may make the heroic contribu- tion of religious vocation, that many might lend their personal service, and that all will include us in their prayers. 7 Skyward View of the same City as photographed by a con- ' 9 5 8 temporary Franciscan student while taking a breather from maneuvers performed with Pre-p's modern Flying Club. Courtesy of St. Frrmcis Flying Club

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FRANCISCANISM I AMERICA was over Mr. Kirkman was build- ing a new factory and the Brothers had named their newest premium Camp Alvernia. In sum, over forty educational institutions ' provided the channels through which the work of the Brothers was accom- plished. America and F ranciscanism have fused over these hundred years. One complemented the other, for as the United States grew, so F ran- ciscanism was supported and ex- tended. And with the spreading of Franciscanism came the spreading of the Christian Philosophy which shares the very ideals on which our democracy is based. Thus its teachers served as a bulwark for America by preserving and spread- ing the essence of our Constitution, and by planting righteousness in the hearts of its students, the fu- ture citizens and leaders of our Nation. I -si ' 5 I 3 JAMES MURRAY WILLIAM COLEMAN Graduate Editor Undcrclassmen Editor K-1 An editorial pause during historical research 9