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Catholic diasis began organizing schools after the mid-19th century. As far as we know, this did not begin earlier to any extent because there were so few Catholics in the country. This only begn to change to change with the dreadful Irish Potato Famine (1840s). Huge numbers of half-starved Irish began flooding into America. After the Civil War (1860s) immigration levels and for the first time included large nunbers from Catholic southern Europe, especially Italy. As the number of Catholics increased so did the preceived need for Catholic schoolsd in largely Protestant country. The United States takes great care to keeping religion out of the public schools. That was not the case in the 19th century which is part of the reason that Catholics felt a need for their own school system. We have not yet found details about 19th century Catholic schools. The eraliest school we have found so far fates to the 1890s. But as the numbers of Catholics increased and their economic achievements increased, we see many Catholic schools in the 20th century. We have archieved information on quite a few. This required a major commitmnt because public finncing was limited to the public schools dominated by Protestants teachers, administrators, and school boards. And Catholics were largely working class with limited financial resources.
Unfortunately we don't know much about this school. All we know for sure is that it was a Catholic school, commonly called a parochial school in the United States. There is no location or date available. We think it may be a California school, but we are not at all positive. The only hint from the photograph as to location is the wood plank construction of the school. Dating is a little easier because we can estimate it from the children's clothes. The boys wearing Fauntleroy outfits with ruffled collars is a good indicator of the 1890s or early 1900s. We believe that this portrait was taken in the 1890s, although the early 1900s is possible. We know it was a Catholic school because of the emblem on the wall and the nun in the portrait.
We notice the St. Nicholas Greek School in Newark, New Jersey. The children are all wearing sailor suits and are pictured in some kind of school exercise, apparentkly as part of the end of the school year. It could be that the children are dressed up special for the event, but probably more likely is that the sailor suits are their school uniform. Parochial schools began to be organized in the mid-19th century after large numbers of Catholics (Irish) began emigrating to America. Greeks came in the later wave of immigration which began to reach large numbers in the 1880s. Children wore sailor suits toi school in the late-19th century, but the sailor suit as a school uniform was not very common. Most parochial schools did not adopt uniforms until after World War II. The children re standing outside Lyric Hall, Plane Street (University Place), where the church was located on the second floor. The photo was taken in 1906. A reader writes, "A very interesting school uniform. Quite a contrast to the other American schools featured in HBC pages. I think this was a special occasion. They seem to be lined up for some kind of parade or exercise." Yes that is what we do not know. Was this a special outfit just for school events? We are not sure what the children wore to school on a normal school day.
The photo dealer believes this cabinet card portrait is a SAS Catholic school in Wisconsin. We are not sure what SAS means, but it is clearly a Catholic school. What we are also not sure aout is the ocassion. The children are too old for First Communiion. But wse re not sure if this is a Confirmation photograph or a graduation portrait. Many Catholic schools were 8 year progrms. (There were many Catholic primary schools, but very few Catholic scondary school.) The children look to be about 13 years old. This is the approximate age for both confirmation and grduation. The boys all wear similar Norfolk knicker suits in the same color. The girls all wear junior wessding dresses like First Communion dresses. They are pictured with a priest and nuns at the back in front of their brick school. The portrait is undated, but looks like the 1910s A reader writes, "Like HBC, at first I thought it was a first communion class but the boys appear a bit too old for that. I guess it is some sort of graduation class, first communion at an older age, or confirmation. I do notice that some of the boy's appear to be wearing brand new suits bought a bit large for them and all are wearing Norfolk styled knicker suits with long black stockings. The belt on the jacket is the giveaway. The boy in the front row our left his right appears to be wearing a hand-me-down suit as it is way too large and seems worn."
This is a Catholic school where photographs were taken during World War I. There are of course quite a number of St. Anthony schools in America. It appears to be an all boys' school, at least the boys were photographed separately. This was not common at Catholic primary schools which were normally coed. St. Anthony is located in St. Louis, Missouri. One photograph was taken in the Spring when the younger boys were doing their First Communion. The older boys may be doing their Confirmation. The second photograph shows the boys patriotically dressed in a variety of military uniforms. We assume that this was taken after America entered the War (April 1917).
Tis cabinet card portrait looks to be parochial school because of the priest in the portait (figure 1). He is probably the principal. The school is no named, but we believe it was located in East Orange, New Jersey because that is where one of the students lived--Helen R. Zieglar. The portarit was saved by her parents which provided the 1921 date on the back of the card. She was born in 1915 which means that this is probanly a 1st grade class we are looking at . We mostly see girl's fashions as they are placed in the front. Quite a few are wearing large hairbows, but not as many as in the 1910s. The girls are wearing dresses, only one sailor dress and blouses and skirts. One girl wears a white middy blouse and skirt. Interestingly, three of the boys are wearing sailor suits, a summer and two winter suits. We had thought that sailor styles were more common for the girls by this time. One boy had an Eton collar. Another looks to be wearing a tunic, but we are not certain. It is difficult to make out just what the other boys are wearing. But only one of these 1st graders wears the white shirt and tie that the older boys were wearing at this school. We also have a portrait of Helen's class a few years later, probably about 1925.
The School of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen is a Catholic school located in Baltimore, Mary land. It cares for children frok kindergarden to 8th grade or from 5-14 years of age. Taking children through the 8th grade is common for Catholic schools as there were not normally any Catholic junior high schools. We know nothing about the history of the school. The school website, however, has an archive of First Communion and graduation portraits dating back to 1926. We do not know if this was when the school was actually founded. This archives provides some insights on dress and uniform policies at one specific parochial school. This is useful because we are only beginning to develop information on the parochial school system in America.
This is a Catholic school in Lille, Maine, photographed in 1942. We don't know the name. I suspect the influence of French Canada here, especially in the manner of the children's dress. The boys wear mostly short trousers with suspenders over white shirts. One boy is wearing short pants and knee socks. It is likely that many of the boys in Maine would also wear long stockings in 1942. This was lso the common practice in Catholic schools in Quebec during the 1940s. Some of the boys may wear knickers, but I think short trousers would be more likely. Lille, Maine, is very close to the New Brunswick border in Canada, and Catholic schools in New Brunswick were culturally similar to those in French Canada (Quebec). There is a fairly large French-speaking population in New Brusnwick, a culturally conservative province.
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