St. Aloysius 1948 – Brother Cyr and his freshman class

St. Aloysius 1948 remembered in 1969

Brother Cyr and his Freshman Class, St. Aloysius, 1948

St. Aloysius 1948

Brother Cyr and his freshman class, 1948. St. Aloysius High School on Esplanade and N. Rampart. The school stood on that corner from 1892. It was first the old house used by the Ursulines. From 1925-1969, it was the building we all think of when we think of the Crimson and White.

Freshmen of 1948

If these young men were freshmen in the 1947-1948 school year, they were seniors in 1950-1951. So, these boys were eighteen during the Korean War. I don’t have more detail on the photo than the that it’s Brother Cyr’s class. If any of y’all can help with identification, please let me know.

While the late 1940s were not as tumultuous as the war years, they still had their moments. The economy suffered ups and downs, as the war efforts slowed down. The Atomic Age was three years old in 1948. The country debated where to go with these powerful weapons.

Brother Cyr and these young men were three years away from the invasion of Korea by the People’s Republic of China. Harry S. Truman sat in the Oval Office. FDR’s passing elevated his Vice-President in 1945. Truman stood for election in the fall of 1948. He took the oath of office a second time the next January.

Writing the BOSH Book

I encountered a number of challenges when writing Brothers of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans. Hearing “all my photos are gone” was the worst. I planned to do a second book, following my 2004 streetcar title, on Gentilly. That plan derailed in 2005. The books re-appeared on my radar a few years later. I returned to the idea of a Gentilly book. Katrina wiped out so much, my resources shrank.

That’s when I switched focus. The school fared better than most of the neighborhood in 2005. I limited the scope of Gentilly to Brother Martin. Then I expanded the timeline to include the two older schools. Between the province office and the alumni office, I found enough photos to proceed.

The Crusader Yearbook of 1969

The yearbook staff at St. Aloysius produced their last edition in the spring of 1969. It documented more than just a year in the life. The staff knew this ended an era. They tapped their files, pulling up photos like Brother Cyr and his freshmen from 21 years earlier. I’m glad they did. While there were no 1948 yearbooks around in 2010, I did have those memories preserved in 1969.