St. Agnes Alumni WebNews House Kids @Home "A Website Memory Bank, where House Kids can deposit memories of long ago and read other House Kid versions of the same happenings". WebNews #11 Labor Day Edition, Monday September 5, 2005
(Background Music: "I've Been Working on the Railroad")
WebNews #11 Labor Day Edition: Monday September 5, 2005
"History of Labor Day: How it Came About; What
it Means "Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays
of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime
president of the American Federation of Labor. "All other holidays are
in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's
prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories
achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man,
living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation." Extract
From: U.S. Department of Labor Website.
In 1910, there were at least 68 girls at the "House". In 1920, there were
at least 41. In 1930 there were at least 78 girls. At some point, St.
Agnes became an all-boys institution but apparently not until sometime
after the 1930 census. The 1930 girls were between 9 and 20 years old.
They would now be women between 84 and 95 years old. Some of them may
still be out there. (Researched By Peter
Feliciano from U.S. Census Records.) 191019201930
U.S. Census Records. [Transcribed By Peter Feliciano]
House Kids: 7 More Names Added To "House Kids List":Coach Charles Faulk, brother of Coach Jim Faulk, was teacher and coach
at St. Agnes prior to WWII; Joe Cordaro (1935-1937); Izzy Ortiz
(1970-1978); Robert R. Keane (1936-1943); John M. Keane (1936-1939); Edward
H. Keane (1936-1941);
Thomas A. Keane (1936-1946).
Dominican Sisters of Sparkill - Women Making a Difference
Foundation Day - New York
By Patt Kenny (Associate on May 7, 2005) Exactly two months
ago today, I took a trip into the city and I brought all of you along
with me. It was a trip that I had been thinking of taking for a very long
time and I finally got to do it! I visited some very special addresses
and you were with me every step of the way, along with our Foundress,
Mother Antoninus Thorpe. My first stop was 697 Second Avenue, where the
community was founded in 1876 and was our original Motherhouse; my second
was 109 East 28th St., where Mother Antoninus died in 1879 at the young
age of 35; my third was 304 East 78th St. where her small community lived
for two and a half years and last, 329 East 63rd St., our second Motherhouse
until we moved its novitiate to St. Agnes Convent in Sparkill in 1895.
After serving as a home and school for young orphan girls, and its last
25 years as Thorpe Secretarial School, 329 East 63rd was sold in 1971
and is the only building with its original façade. It remains today as
condominiums. All the others are gone except for their addresses that
now house apartment buildings, a Con Ed plant, an Indian restaurant and,
believe it or not, a doggy gym. It was quite an emotional experience for
me knowing that Mother Antoninus and her companions walked and ministered
on these same streets. The streets and faces are different now but her
spirit remains as a reminder that her work has never stopped but continues
to challenge us every day. My trip was also quite comical, as I made my
way that afternoon, collecting symbolic dirt with a plastic container
and an ice cream scoop. Even so, I was all ready with an alibi if the
police stopped me -- I was an "urban geologist on a dig"! (Extract from:
Dominican Sisters of Sparkill - Women Making a Difference - Foundation
Day.)
Memorial: Charles Faulk:Brother of Coach Jim Faulk, was Teacher
and Coach at St. Agnes prior to WWII.