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Post by dgriffin on Aug 18, 2009 7:14:39 GMT -5
 From "Catholic Charities In America," John O'Grady, 1971 New Era of Protection of Catholic ChildrenAfter the Civil War there was a new awakening on the part of Catholic leaders in regard to the care of wayward children. The war had increased the number of children who needed care away from their own homes. It had also given Catholics a new sense of importance ..... " ' It's interesting that O'Grady offers the Civil War as a reason for a newfound feeling of self-respect and self-importance among Catholics. War (and good PR) has a way of leveling the entitlement lines of society and re-shaping them into contours of valor and accomplishment. So does money. We sometimes forget, but there was at one time real anti-Catholic sentiment among Americans. It has often been described as anti-immigration parading as self-righteous religiosity. (There is an analog with immigration and draconian illicit drug laws in the late 19th and early 20th century.) But in fact, my great grandfather could remember "No Irish Need Apply" as well as vandalism perpetrated on Catholic churches, so in Utica at least resentment found its way out as both. But indeed, my great grandfather Patrick was able in the latter part of the 1800's to found a business, build a political career of local service and see (most of) his family as accepted members of Utica society. In one of the above clippings from 1912, we see the county legislators singing Irish Christmas songs in the merriment of the season . O'Grady doesn't appear to mention it, but another factor in the rise of Catholic self-esteem was that the Irish were beginning to bubble up (no pun intended) in society and had begun to do well economically as their sons were trained and became business owners and tradesmen with money to organize and support churches and charitable institutions. Also, newly arriving Italians were taking the bottom rung on the ladder and the abuse that went with it. And since the Italians were also Catholic, "the Papists" would soon be a majority. |
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Post by Clipper on Aug 18, 2009 9:59:02 GMT -5
Hell Dave, the "no Irish need apply" still applies to promotional opportunity in the UPD and other meaningful city jobs. LOL
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Post by dgriffin on Aug 18, 2009 18:42:02 GMT -5
Time was when it was just the opposite and the Irish mafia ran the UPD. Everybody gets a chance, I guess.
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Post by jon hynes on Aug 18, 2009 21:12:04 GMT -5
Fiona, I don't know where the DanDee Donut in that area was/is. Would the house and school have been anywhere on this map? South St. is at the top, Eagle at the bottom, with Mohawk running up and down, north and south. Here's what I remember from the '50s & '60s: If you knew where the Naval Reserve was, DanDee was just South of that across the driveway (road) that led to the Tehan's store in the back. The now McDonnald's is North of where the Naval Reserve was close to Mohawk Street. In the back of McDonnald's (West) was Chicago Market. Further North and West of the Market was Oneida County Boiler Works (actually on Mortimer) North of the Boiler Works was the Emil Steinhurst & Sons (Which is now an apartment building) Cavallo's Restaurant on the North West corner of Mohawk and South. George's Pharmacy on the North East corner of Mohawk and South. Somewhere on South between Steinhurst and Mohawk was a Blacktop Paving Co. And City General Hospital at the North end near South Street and the West Side of Mohawk. |
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Post by dgriffin on Aug 18, 2009 21:51:42 GMT -5
Fiona, I don't know where the DanDee Donut in that area was/is. Would the house and school have been anywhere on this map? South St. is at the top, Eagle at the bottom, with Mohawk running up and down, north and south. Here's what I remember from the '50s & '60s:
If you knew where the Naval Reserve was, DanDee was just South of that across the driveway (road) that led to the Tehan's store in the back.
Rather vague in my mind, but I think I can picture it.
The now McDonnald's is North of where the Naval Reserve was close to Mohawk Street. In the back of McDonnald's (West) was Chicago Market.
That brings it back. Yes, I can remember taking my Dad (from the Steinhorst Apartments) shopping at the Chicago Market and he wanted to stop out in front at McDonalds and pick up a coke to go.
Further North and West of the Market was Oneida County Boiler Works (actually on Mortimer) Uh.... something back there, I seem to remember. Like area of St. Vincent and Mortimer?
North of the Boiler Works was the Emil Steinhurst & Sons (Which is now an apartment building) Was it formerly the Utica Brewing Buliding on the 1883 map?
Cavallo's Restaurant on the North West corner of Mohawk and South.
That I remember! For some reason as a kid, even though I can't tell you anything about it, I seem to remember being mesmerized by something on the sign when we drove by.
George's Pharmacy on the North East corner of Mohawk and South.
I remember that, too, but I didn't remember the name.
Somewhere on South between Steinhurst and Mohawk was a Blacktop Paving Co. No recollection of that at all.
And City General Hospital at the North end near South Street and the West Side of Mohawk. As I said, I remember going to the hospital for a shot when I was possibly 11. Was it cleared away for the Chicago Market? I remember stocking shelves at the store possibly 7 years later in my first yeart at MVCC. Looking at the map, it doesn't seem the hospital could have remained when Chicago Market went up, assuming Mohawk St. didn't change course and move to the east a bit.  |
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Post by dgriffin on Aug 18, 2009 22:44:18 GMT -5
Continuing from John O'Grady's "Catholic Charities in America, " 1971.
"In a lecture given at the Cooper Institute in November.
1864, Dr. Ives stated that while the parish schools and the
two Catholic orphanages were doing good work and were
liberally supported, half of the Catholic dependent and neg-
lected children of New York were left without protection and
religious training. Through the Society for the Protection
of Destitute Catholic Children Dr. Ives hoped to see Catholic
children brought up in their own faith. The society had no
desire to become a proselytizing agency; he would accord to
Protestant children the same rights which he demanded for
Catholic children}
Beginnings of the New York Catholic Protectory
Within a few weeks after its organization the Society for
the Protection of Destitute Catholic Children rented two
houses connected by their yards on Thirty-sixth and Thirty-
seventh Streets near Second Avenue. In these two houses the
boys’ department of the New York Catholic Protectory had
its beginnings. This department was given over to the Chris-
tian Brothers, who have since retained charge! A few months
after the boys’ department had been under way the board
of directors of the Catholic Protectory was able to announce
the opening of the girls’ department in a rented building on
the corner of Eighty-sixth Street and Second Avenue, known
as the House of the Holy Angels, under the direction of the
Sisters of Charity.
When it became apparent that, with its limited facilities in
the city, the New York Catholic Protectory could not meet
the demands made upon it, the directors purchased a 114-acre
farm near Westchester in 1865. On this site thc board planned
immediately to erect buildings for boys and girls.
One of the greatest and most enthusiastic Catholic gather-
ings in the history of New York witnessed the laying of the
corner stone of the new boys‘ building by Archbishop John
McCloskey August 4, 1865. It was very evident that the
Protectory made a strong appeal to the Catholics of New
York.“
The financing of the Catholic Protectory was a challenge
to the zeal and ingenuity of its board of directors. By order
of the archbishop a collection was taken up in the Catholic
churches of New York in 1864. This collection brought in a
total of $8,053.46. In 1867, $6,324.36 was received in dona-
tions. It was not the intention of the board to depend on
private benefactions exclusively. Protestant institutions were
looking to the city and state for support. Why should not
Catholic institutions receive a fair measure of compensation
for the care of public wards.
Early Policies of the New York Protectory
It was the original purpose of the Catholic Protectory to
care for wayward and homeless children over twelve years
of age. In this it was to supplement the work of the orphan
asylums. Under pressure of increasing demands for child-
care in New York City the institution found it impossible to
adhere to this original objective. Due to insistent demands of
parish priests and public officials, those in charge of the Pro-
tectory had to receive many children under twelve years of
age for whom there was no room in other institutions. In the
early years of the Catholic Protectory it must be remembered
New York City did not have its present agencies for child-
care; it had very fsw facilities for the specialized care of
children. The care of children in their own homes was as
yet in an embryonic state.
In the early days of the New York Catholic Protectory its
officials were not very sanguine about the possibilities of finding good country homes for city children. "Some years pre-
vious to the establishment of the Protectory," said Dr. Ives
in 1864, "I had been in the practice of securing good homes
in the country for untrained and destitute Catholic children
and although I succeeded in finding places for many I can
call to mind only a single instance where the child did not
abscond or prove utterly ungovernable and worthless. Our
experience has been substantially the same since the
commencement of our work in the institution. We have appren-
ticed a considerable number of orphans to good Catholic
masters and we are pained to say that the majority of these
orphans have proved to be wholly unmanageable. Now from
these facts it seems to me quite manifest that the system
which is flooding our western country with undisciplined,
vicious children is much to be deprecated." "
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Post by dgriffin on Aug 19, 2009 17:55:33 GMT -5
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Post by dgriffin on Aug 19, 2009 18:01:32 GMT -5
"Placing Program of Protectory Prom Unfeuibla
Evidently the Protectory did not long adhere to this point
of view, for in the report of 1867 there was a very vivid
description of an 8,000-mile trip through the middle west
taken by the brother rector and. the president of the board
for the purpose of making arrangements for the placement
of children in farm homes. Possibly the officials of the insti-
tution believed that with more careful selection and super-
vision the farm-home would work out satisfactorily. The
Protectory officials may also have been carried along on the
general wave of enthusiasm for the transfer of the Irish from
New York to western farms. It became apparent subse-
quently, however, that it was impossible for any institution,
no matter how efficient, to select and supervise farm—homes
in the vast territory between the Rocky Mountains and the
Atlantic coast.
The founders of the New York Catholic Protectory
regarded the institution as an agency for the spiritual salva-
tion of the children of the streets. By proper religious
instruction and the teaching of useful trades they expected
to raise their wards above their slum environment. They
thought that many of these products of the street would some
day become tillers of the soil instead of returning to the
dangers of city life. The idea of making a properous farmer
out of the city boy played an important part in molding the
policies of the Protectory, as of- other Catholic institutions.
Facts would have taught them differently, but there were
very few facts at hand. The boy without training placed
in a carelessly selected farm home without any arrangement
for supervision might not succeed, but the boy with the right
degree of training who was placed in a carefully selected
and supervised home had every hope of success.
Lincolndale Agricultural School for Boys
Even after the various programs for the placement of
children on farms had proven unsuccessful the officials of
the Protectory still believed that, with the application of the
right formula, the farm home would largely meet their prob-
lem. Not until 1912 were they ready to try the new formula,
when they gave their support to a new agricultural school
for boys at Lincolndale, under the guiding genius of Brother
Barnabas. This school planned to continue its efforts to care-
fully selected boys and to find homes for these boys not far
from New York."
From John O'Grady's "Catholic Charities of America," 1971.
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Post by dgriffin on Aug 19, 2009 18:12:49 GMT -5
I think the story of schools for orphan boys, as well as troubled boys, as presented here by O'Grady is a fascinating account. But it does slog a bit as he drones on about some of the bishops. Coming up is a look at the troubles the schools experienced as they tried to become self supporting and in some cases competed with local industry. Also, citizens rally against the government's support of sectarian schools, even though the institutions perform a service to society that the government admits responsibility for in that day and age.
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Post by dgriffin on Aug 19, 2009 18:15:56 GMT -5
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Post by dgriffin on Aug 20, 2009 19:58:18 GMT -5
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Post by dgriffin on Aug 20, 2009 22:10:00 GMT -5
Continuing from John O'Grady's "Catholic Charities of America," in which he spends some time on Industrial Schools as a means to the spiritual and temporal salvation of Catholic male youths who were homeless.
"Larger Catholic Institutional Program Urged
Dr. Ives‘ work in the development of the New York Catholic
Protectory really made him a leader in Catholic lay action.
The Church was beginning to feel the pulse of a new lite.
The Catholic laity was coming into its own. The Church
was less fearful of the laity. Layman were becoming edn-
cated and ready for leadership. All they needed was a cause
and a leader who could capture their imaginations. Both in
a sense were supplied by Dr. Ives. He held up before Cath-
olics of the country their failure to make proper provision
for wayward and neglected children. Dr. Ives believed that
what the Catholics of this country needed was a larger insti-
tutional program that would supplement existing orphanage:.
He believed •that the Church needed industrial schools
throughout the whole land. Industrial schools in every city
would save the homeless Catholic youth to the Church and
make them better citizens.
The Protectory satisfied a great and crying need, but it did
not complete the program of Catholic child-care. In fact, no
institutional program could constitute the sum total of the
Church ’s contribution to the welfare of dependent, neglected
and delinquent Catholic children. In 1868, when enthusiasm
for the development of Catholic industrial schools had reached
a high point all over the country, a writer in the Catholic
World ventured to point out some of the limitations of the
program: "We are told that our city contains no fewer than
40,000 vagrant and destitute children. . . . What are we doing
for them? We have orphan asylums; but most of these chil-
dren are not orphans and even if they were the asylums have
not room for a tithe of them. We have the Protectory at
Westchester, but that is only for young criminals. We spoke,
in a former number of the Catholic World, of the noble
mission-school which the zeal and perseverance of one good
priest has founded in St. James Parish in this city. If almost
every church in New York were able to build an institution of
a similar kind we might rest satisfied."“
Archbishop Spalding Furthers Catholic Industrial School
Movement
Archbishop Spalding of Baltimore may be regarded as a co-
worker of Dr. Ives in popularizing the movement for Catholic
industrial schools throughout the country. From his wide
contacts throughout the country the archbishop was well aware
of the great losses sustained by the Church through its failure
to provide for the dependent, neglected and delinquent chil-
dren. He regarded the industrial school as the most practi-
cable means of meeting this problem. One of the first projects
to which he directed his attention on his transfer from Louis-
ville to Baltimore was the establishment of an industrial
school.
In a letter addressed to the priests and laity of Baltimore
regarding the proposed school he said: "For years we have
been losing hundreds of our poor children, particularly orphan
and indigent boys. They are taken up from the streets or
from the haunts of poverty, and are placed in institutions
where their faith is either entirely neglected or artfully un-
dermined. Do we not send all over the country thousands of
persons, who, from their names, should be Catholics, but who,
unfortunately, have abandoned the church and who rear up
their families in ignorance, sometimes in hatred of her sacred
principles! Thus the evil is propagated and continually mul-
tiplied from generation to generation. Hundreds of thou-
sands, if not millions, who should belong to the church in
this country, are now, unhappily through the criminal neg-
lect of parents and the agencies above referred to, estranged
from her communion .... The only practical remedy is the
establishment, on a large scale, of protectories or industrial
schools, in which poor boys, exposed to the danger of losing
their faith, may be religiously educated and trained up to
pursuits which will tit them to become useful members of
society and ornaments of the church.""
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Post by dgriffin on Aug 20, 2009 22:22:48 GMT -5
Archbishop Spaulding was no fool. To priests and the prayerful he spoke of the boys' spiritual needs. To politicians he spoke of the boy's social needs and ways to keep them from becoming criminals.
Dr. Ives had chosen well when he turned the institutions over to the Christian Brothers. These guys were serious dudes with a mission. "Men astutely trained," a phrase usually applied to the Jesuits, more than described the Christian Brothers as well. The brothers truly believed themselves on a mission from God in the care of youngsters, in a way only males would appreciate, and with a very tough discipline. The Xaverian Brothers who taught me were easy by comparison, though I can still feel their heavy hand almost fifty years later.
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Post by dgriffin on Aug 20, 2009 22:35:21 GMT -5
More PR, nice spread. This is readable if you can enlarge it, but it depends upon your browser. Better to import it into a simple graphics program like IrfanView and enlarge it. It's almost 2 megabytes in size, so if you're on dial up, you probably won't see it at all. I'll clip out pieces and post them later or tomorrow. Utica Sunday Tribune, February 6, 1916.![]() www.windsweptpress.com/images/real home env.jpg[/img] |
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Post by dgriffin on Aug 20, 2009 23:14:20 GMT -5
![]() www.windsweptpress.com/images/getting up.jpg[/img] Before it was sold a few years ago, I would from time to time take myself off for a weekend retreat with other men from a variety of religious denominations (I have none, really) for a weekend retreat at Our Lady of Hope, south of us on The River (what we call the Hudson locally.) One of many absolutely beautiful monasteries and retreat houses in the area, OLOHope had been built as a minor seminary, that is a school for high school boys who planned to enter a real seminary after high school or college. We slept in their old dorm rooms, just like that pictured above, about thirty beds each, small beds not truly made for comfort. Though we were men in our forties and fifties and older, we bantered after the lights went out, kidded each other about minor faults and told jokes until mostly everyone dropped off to sleep. Then, someone would fart and we'd be at it all over again until ten minutes had passed and we were quiet, happy boys drifting out to dreamland. After a greasy breakfast in the morning, we'd begin a hard day's work of trying to work on what I suppose was for each of us our path to maturity. Adulthood was a title the world had conferred on us years before, but none of us really believed it was complete without a spiritual dimension to our lives. |
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