St Mary of the Mount High School - St Mary Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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St. Mary of the Mount Cadets — 1918 St. Mary ' s Lyceum at U. S. Naval Academy Annapolis, Maryland Front row: Leo Mackey, forward; Myron Jennings, center; Rev. Father Munster; Thomas Lysauch, center; Mar- tin Burke, guard. Back row: James Eckerly, forward; John Wayman, guard; William Higgins, sponsor. Rev. Wm. J. Munster

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classrooms, large and commodious, are strictly according to state law and are con- ducive to study and learning. The purchase of the land together with the building costs of the school reached a total of one hundred fifteen thousand dollars. On Sunday afternoon, January 23, 1910, in the presence of practically every mem- ber of the parish, Bishop Canevin, assisted by twelve priests, dedicated the new school. Prior to the dedication ceremony. Bishop Canevin delivered an enlightening sermon entitled Christian Education. The impressive ceremony got under way about four o ' clock when four hundred members of the Holy Name Society, headed by the parish altar boys, walked in pro- cession from the church to the new school building where Bishop Canevin and the assisting clergy went to each of the classrooms and blessed them. As large as the new building was, it was not sufficiently large to accommodate the crowds that assembled to participate in the dedication, and many were unable to enter. After the formal ceremony of dedication, the proud parshioners inspected the building. On Monday, January 24, 1910, the school was officially opened with a High Mass celebrated by Father Griffin. The school was under the direction of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Provision had been made for four hundred children, but to the amazement of the pastor and sisters six hundred and thirty-five children reported for school on the opening day. If Father Griffin had had any misgivings alout building a school too large, they dis- appeared that memorable day. Because of this unexpected enrollment, it was necessary to add five sisters to the faculty. The first group of sisters to arrive from Scranton was accompanied by Mother M. Cyril, Superior-General of the community. With Sister M. Berchmans, their superi- or and principal, were the following sisters: Sisters M. Raymond, M. Angelica, M. Inviolata, M. Cornelia, M. Luigi, M. Maurice, M. Delphina, M. Augusta, Mary Ste- phen, M. DeNeri, M. Ferdinand, and M. Paulinus. The sisters received a cordial welcome on their arrival in Pittsburgh. Father Grif- fin and Father Dvmlea, the pastor of St. Malachy ' s, met them at the station. It was Father Dunlea, the brother of Sister M. Irene, I.H.M., who was instrumental in bringing the Immaculate Heart Sisters to Pittsburgh. The sisters were immediately conducted to their new convent home, a dwelling house adjoining the school. On entering the convent. Mother M. Cyril and the sisters knelt before the Sacred Heart statue and dedicated themselves and their work to the Divine Heart. Holy Mass was offered by Father Dunlea, and the sisters received Holy Communion for the first time in their new home. Significantly, the day of the sisters ' arrival was the First Friday of January.

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At its inception the school was organized as a grade school, but just one year after its opening, Father Griffin saw fit to add a two-year Commercial Department. Graduates from the school had no difficulty in securing positions with the various business firms of the city. To provide for those pupils who desired a more complete education than that offered by the commercial department. Father Griffin added the academic course of four years. Under the wise and efficient direction of Mother M. Cyril who, after the completion of her term of office as superior-general, had been assigned as principal of the school on the Mount, the growth and sticcess of the school were rapid. In 1917, just three years after St. Mary of the Mount High School was established, registration by the Bureau of Education was secured. The first academic class, graduated in 1918, were Daniel O. McFadden, J. Howard Devlin, J. Raymond O ' Donnell, Gladys Heg- ner, and Rosalia Krill. From the very beginning the pupils of St. Mary of the Mount School distinguished themselves in scholastic endeavors. For example, in 1924 the following write-up ap- peared in the Pittsburgh Catholic: ST. MARY OF THE MOUNT ADDS TO DIOCESE LUSTRE Children of Father Griffin ' s Paristi Capture Tliree Prizes in Hibernians ' Nation- wide Contest St. Mary of the Mount School, the pride of the big congregation of Father E. P. Griffin, Ph.D., Mt. Washington, winner of many scholarships and other prizes, has again added lustre to the Pittsburgh Diocese by capturing first, second and fifth prizes in the nation-wide contest for essays on Irish history initiated by the Ancient Order of Hibernians . . . Also, in 1924, the following headline prefaced a very laudatory article commending Mary Billante, a student at the Mount at that time: St. Mary of the Mount High School Girl 16 Wins First Prize for Girls in $18,000 Contest of Electric League of America Gets First Honors in More Than 4,000 Primers and Essays Turned in by School Children of the Pittsburgh Section. St. Mary of the Mount Takes Three in Twelve of Total for Girls to Go Up to Judges for National Judging As the Catholic is going to press it learns that Mary Billante, 16-year-old Italian pupil of the St. Mary of die Mount High School, Mt. Washington, has won the first jsrize, Pittsburgh section, in the $18,000 contest conducted by the Electric League of America. This same high school won in the girls ' division, also the eighth, ninth and twentieth prizes, so that this single school has three, or one- fourth of the total of twelve winners whose primers and essays will now go on to New York for national judging for the capital prizes, the first of which is a