St. Aloysius Shield
CRIMSON SHIELD
THE ONLINE MAGAZINE OF BROTHER MARTIN HIGH SCHOOL
 St. Aloysius Shield
March 2013
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History of St. Aloysius - I
The first reference to a school called St. Aloysius in the The Daily Pic­ayune occurred in a January 22, 1870, ad for its 15-year-old sister school. This was less than six months after Aloysius opened in the French Quarter.
Times-Picayune 01/22/1870
St. Aloysius Academy (the word "Academy" never appears in Brother Macarius's A Century of Service for the Sacred Heart in the United States by the Bro­thers of the Sacred Heart) began as the result of a letter from the sec­ond Archbishop of New Orleans to the second Provincial of the United States. Jean-Marie Odin, C.M., a French Vincentian missionary who had come to the Crescent City after serving as the first bishop of Gal­veston TX, wrote to Brother Stanislaus, S.C., also a Frenchman, on February 1, 1869:
You are aware that for a long time I have been anxious to see your community established in New Orleans. For this purpose I bought on last Saturday, January 30th, a brick house strongly built, situated at the corner of Charters and Quartier [Barracks] Streets, one block from the Archbishopric.

The first faculty consisted of Brothers Stanislaus, director, Gontran, Francis, and Symphorian.

  • Only six boys answered the roll call on op­ening day, September 26, 1869.
  • Undaunted, 26-year-old Brother Stanislaus advertised in the English, French, and Ger­man language papers and by the hard work of the teachers soon won the confidence of the public.
  • By the end of the first session, the student body had increased to 60, bringing in enough money to hire a German professor for $20 per month.
  • Brother Conrad, a Westphalian, was sent to teach German for the 1870-1 session.
Brother Stanislaus, S.C.
Brother Stanislaus, S.C.
The next Daily Picayune reference appears Sunday, September 29, 1872 and indicates the school had already earned a strong reputation.
Times-Picayune 09/29/1872 
Spanish was no longer offered.
A Picayune item on November 4, 1872, also praises the school.
Picayune Article 11/04/1872 

The fact that the brothers continued to invite enrollees into November may indicate instruction was individualized so that a student could start at any point and progress at his own pace.

The notice of the opening of the 1873-4 session included Italian in the curriculum, although that language lasted only one year. Also, pupils of all denominations are received and their religious opinions are unrestricted.

By 1875, St. Aloysius boasted 125 pupils.

To be continued ...

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