by nolahistoryguy | Jun 9, 2025 | 1950s, BOSH, Brother Martin High, Gentilly, St. Aloysius, Treme
No uniforms meant St. Aloysius students could wear items like this Crusader belt buckle.
Crusader belt buckle
We have a number of fashion accessories in the Crusader Archives at Brother Martin High School. This belt buckle reminds us that Aloysius students dressed in regular civilian clothes for all but the last years of the school’s existence. While there was a grooming and dress code, the Navy uniforms don’t appear until the 1967-68. Since the NJROTC unit chartered at Aloysius, Cor Jesu never required uniforms for its students.
Uniforms but not Navy
The Brothers required students in grades tenth through twelfth to take NJROTC at Brother Martin. That policy changed in the 1975-76 school year. That meant not all students received free uniforms from the Navy. The school uniform morphed from a khaki shirt and trousers to a white, short-sleeved shirt and khaki trousers. The uniform shirt bears the red shield/gold cross emblem. NJROTC cadets wear their Navy uniforms on “drill” days. The modern cadet uniform resembles the Navy’s “junior enlisted” pattern, a khaki shirt with navy blue trousers. Naval enlisted from the ratings of E-1 to E-6 wear this.
St. Aloysius students wore the Crusader belt buckle at a time when so many of them ended their academic careers with high school graduation. This is why the question “where did you go to school” takes on a different meaning in New Orleans. Seniors wore their class rings to proclaim their school, but underclassmen in jeans or chinos relied on other fashion accessories. The letterman’s jacket or sweater was by far the most (and loudest) proclamation. The belt buckle offered students and alumni a way to say “I’m a Crusader” away from campus.
Wearing the school
So, with the exception of cadets on “drill” days, an item like our Crusader belt buckle here wouldn’t be out of order for the majority of present-day students. Even though the majority of Crusader graduates go on to college, where one went to high school remains significant. I’m hopeful that Mr. Rando and the staff will consider bringing back the school belt buckle. Web belts are still popular for young men. Perhaps even elementary schools would allow the belt buckles (hello recruitment!)
Additionally, I know Mr. Rando personally enjoys all the old accessories and ephemera we’re digging up. We also know that he’s a graduate of the Brother Jean Sobert, SC, Institute of Making a Buck for the School. These belt buckles would fulfill that mission!
The Book
Brothers of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans by Edward J. Branley
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by nolahistoryguy | Oct 9, 2024 | 1920s-1930s, BOSH, Brother Martin High, St. Aloysius, Treme
Building St. Aloysius 1925 began in the Fall of 1924.
St. Aloysius 1925
“Alumni See Start of New Building” is the title of a short article reporting on the start of the “new” St. Aloysius building. The first steps in the replacement/upgrade of the school began on 8-October-1924. The Times-Picayune covered the “first piling” formalities in the paper the next day. A group of Brothers and VIP alumni posed for a photo:
“It was a thrilling moment for 500 boy students of St. Aloysius College when the first pile was driven for the new building to be erected this winter. Here are some of the older folk who watched the process with interest: W. J. Drez, President of the Alumni Association; W. M. Wren sub-contractor; Maurice Dufour, class of 1900; Brother Paul, president of the college; Brother Alphonse, former president; Gus Llambias, class of ’97; Brother Theodorus, member of the council; and A. S. Montz, class of ’98 and architect for the building.
The Institute opened St. Aloysius in 1869, in the French Quarter, on the corner of Chartres and Barracks Streets. The popularity of a BOSH education led the Brothers to move from that location to the corner of Esplanade Avenue and N. Rampart Streets in 1892. By 1924, the school outgrew the original building at that corner. The city wanted to expand the N. Rampart Street neutral ground, so the original building had to be demolished. The contractors completed the new building by the start of the school term the following year. The city widened the street, giving NOPSI more room for streetcar operations. on the St. Claude and Esplanade/Canal Belt lines.
An interesting aside in the body of the news article refers to the properties around the original building. Since the building on the corner had to come down, the Institute acquired several houses away from the corner. They demolished those buildings, clearing the way for this construction.
The legacy and traditions of St. Aloysius High School continue on at Brother Martin High School.
by nolahistoryguy | Sep 28, 2024 | 1960s, Brother Martin High, Buses, Cor Jesu, F. W. Gregory Junior High, Gentilly, Lakeview, Mid-City, St. Aloysius
In the 1960s, Canal Street buses changed downtown.
Canal Street buses
From: 1965: NOPSI photo of a GM GMC TDH5303 bus. It’s running on the Canal-Lakeshore line, outbound, passing through the 1000 block of Canal Street. This photo dates to about a year after the conversion of Canal to bus service. The vintage-1923 arch roof streetcars ceased operation on Canal in May of 1964.
Cemeteries, Lake Vista, Lakeshore
So much can be said about the buses on Canal, and there are a few other items to be unpacked on this image. Let’s focus on the three Canal bus lines, post-streetcar. I rode those lines in both directions for the five years I attended Brother Martin High School in Gentilly. While my dad, who worked at the University of New Orleans, drove me to school in the morning, I rode public transit home. NOPSI provided two basic routes west from Gentilly. The Broad Street line ran from out in Da East, then Gentilly Blvd. The line turned onto Broad Street, just after passing Dillard University, continuing all the way to Lowerline, uptown. The other option using Gentilly Blvd. was the Carrollton line. Both of these lines crossed Canal. So, we would hop off and catch one of the three Canal lines to City Park Avenue. We caught the Veterans bus from there.
Lakeview
Then there was the second route, through Lakeview. We took the Cartier line from Mirabeau and Elysian Fields to Spanish Fort. The Cartier line started at Franklin and Mirabeau. It was, for all intents and purposes, a school bus route, passing by several elementary schools, F. W. Gregory Junior High, and John F. Kennedy Senior High. So at Spanish Fort, we transferred to the Canal (Lake Vista via Canal Blvd.) That line began its inbound run there. We’d ride Lake Vista to Toussaint and Canal Blvd. While the bus turned inbound on Canal Blvd., we got off and transferred to the line from this photo, Canal (Lakeshore via Pontchartrain Blvd.)
The Canal Lakeshore bus ran outbound on West End, turned right on Toussaint, then left on Canal Blvd. It terminated at the lake. For its outbound run, the line returned to Toussaint and went down Pontchartrain Blvd. So, we caught the inbound Lakeshore and rode it to Veterans, where we would pick up the Veterans.
Suburban transition
Cor Jesu and St. Aloysius High Schools didn’t have a lot of boys from Metairie attending the schools. As suburban expansion grew, the combined Brother Martin High appealed to a number of Crusader and Kingsmen families who moved out to Metairie. We kids from #themetrys were still a minority of the student body, back in the 70s. As the transition grew (now, most Crusaders live in Metairie and Kenner), the school offered school bus service, so families didn’t have to rely on less-reliable public buses.
To continued…
We’ll have more to say about this image in a couple of other posts. Thanks to Aaron Handy, III, for sharing this image to one of the bus fan groups on Facebook and triggering my memories!
by nolahistoryguy | Sep 4, 2024 | 1890s, St. Aloysius, Treme
The Esplanade Avenue opening of St. Aloysius High School was a big event.
St. Aloysius College, 1903
St. Aloysius Esplanade Avenue Opening
The Brothers of the Sacred Heart established a permanent school in New Orleans, St. Aloysius, in 1869. They purchased a house in the French Quarter, at Barracks and Chartres Streets. By the 1890s, the popularity of the school required a larger facility. So, the Institute acquired a school/convent complex on the corner of Esplanade Avenue and N. Rampart Streets. After renovations and fix-up work, the BOSH moved St. Aloysius and formally opened the new campus on 4-September-1892. The Daily Picayune reported on the grand event the next day, 5-September-1892.
The full text of the Esplanade avenue opening article
St. Aloysius’ Commercial Institute.
Solemn Blessing of the Magnificent New Edifice
The solemn blessing of the handsome new chapel and spacious school buildings of St. Aloysius’ Commercial Institute took place yesterday evening in the presence of a large and interesting assemblage.
The event was one of great importance in the Second and Third districts. For more than a quarter of a century, these renowned and progressive educators, the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, have been connected with every prominent educational movement in this city, by reason of their enlightened methods, and the flourishing literary and commercial institute which they so successfully conducted.
This institution was founded in 1869. The management was entrusted to teachers reputation in the intellectual training and advancement of yough was national, and it rapidly took it foremost rank among the leading high schools and colleges of the city. Twice since its inception have the steady influx of pupils necessitated extensive addition to the original college buildings. Notwithstanding these increased facilities and accommodations the late elegant location, corner of Chartres and Barracks streets, proved too circumscribed, and recently at an outlay of about $25,000 the purchase of the handsome building corner of Esplanade and Rampart streets, which was formerly used by the Ursuline nuns as an academy, was consummated; the buildings were refitted and remodeled at immense expense and is now one of the most thoroughly equipped school structures in New Orleans.
The dedicative ceremonies of yesterday were of a most impressive nature, and were conducted by his grace, Most Rev. Archbishop Janssens, assisted by Very Rev. G. Bogaerts, vicar general; Msgr. Frain, of the church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart; Rev. Rather Ritter, of the cathedral; Rev. Bournigalle, of the Ursulines Chapel; Rev. F. Thebault, of the archbishopric, and Rev. Father Avelbe, of St. Maurice’s church. The solemn procession was formed at the college entrance, the reverend clergy and acolytes and brothers led, followed by the pupils of the institute, some 300 in number, the invited guests bringing up the rear.
To the grand notes of the triumphal “Te Deum” the imposing cortege proceeded to the beautiful new chapel on the second floor. Here, the choir of St. Augustine’s church, led by the Misses Maureau and Mrs. Geo. Trundean, sang heartfelt anthems of thanksgiving while the archbishop, with prayer, holy water and incense, consecrated the sacred oratory. And then, on and on through the spacious and well-filled libraries and parlors and reception rooms of the handsome building, which the brothers have fitted up for their special purposes, and over the broad galleries and flagged courtyard to the great college building, where classroom after classroom was blessed and consecrated, the figure of the crowned savior was hung upon the wall of each apartment with symbolical pictures of the sacred heart of Jesus and Mary, to whom this brotherhood is particularly devoted. With the blessing of the immense playground, 150 by 100 feet, the buildings and grown were formally placed in the hands of Rev. Brother Justin, the superior of the order, to whose untiring energy and zeal so much of its success in this city is due. His grace then gave the papal benediction and the interesting ceremonies concluded. The new college buildings are situated in a delightful portion of the city, amid the most refined and picturesque surroundings. The classrooms are commodious, splendidly ventilated, and furnished with all the modern furniture and appliances of school life. The playgrounds are extensives secluded from the street and during recreation the pupils are constantly under the supervision of a prefect.
Eight brothers will be engaged in teaching this session. They are a body of men devoted to teaching as a life as a life profession, and will bring to their work methods and experience which public opinion for years has stamped as unexcelled. In addition to St. Aloysius Commercial Institute in this city, they have for many years conducted St. Stanislaus Commercial College at Bay St. Louis. The course of study is thorough and practical, and while the general cultivation of the languages and sciences which forms the basis of the learned profession is a prominent feature of the curriculum, the institute is particularly designed to prepare youths and young men for the active duties of business careers.
Making a life
the BOSH continued into the Twentieth Century to teach young men how to make a life in this world. While the number of professed Brothers has dwindled now in the Twenty-First century, the faculty and staff of Brother Martin High (and all the BOSH schools) project the vibes of these men from 1892. From the Quarter, to the Esplanade Avenue opening, to the iconic school building (1925-1969), to Gentilly Blvd, the Crimson Crusaders are our heroes.
The Original Article
Here’s an image of the actual Daily Picayune article (microfiche). It’s down here because of the length.
by nolahistoryguy | Aug 27, 2024 | 1960s, Brother Martin High, Cor Jesu, Gentilly, St. Aloysius, Treme
The St. Aloysius ring 1969 marked 100 years of educating young men in New Orleans.
St. Aloysius Ring 1969
St. Aloysius High School presented rings to their final class, 1969, in the fall of their senior year. The Brothers of the Sacred Heart announced the closure of the school the previous summer. The campus at Esplanade Avenue and N. Rampart Street would close after graduation in May, 1969. The institute combined the student bodies of St. Aloysius and Cor Jesu High School, forming Brother Martin High. The BMHS Class of 1970 received the first class rings of the combined school in the fall of 1969. With fond memories of the legacy schools, those underclassmen of 1969 carried on at the expanded campus on Elysian Fields.
The Legacy
1937 Senior Ring, courtesy Mr. Tommy Longmire
As we mentioned in our article on the 1936 ring, the original colors of St. Aloysius High School were purple and gold, and the mascot was the “Panthers” The Sacred Heart encrusting on the 1936 ring gave way to the Aloysius “A” the following year, for the class of 1937. The stone was still purple. When Brother Hernandez approved the name/color changes, the stone became red.
The Ring
The Class of 1969 ring followed the pattern for the school’s class rings since the change of mascot and colors in the 1930s. The school’s final class ring sported one major change. Instead of the text surrounding the stone saying “SAINT ALOYSIUS HIGH SCHOOL,” the 1969 ring replaced the bottom text with “100 YEARS” to mark a century of tradition in New Orleans.
The left side of the ring presents the bust of a Crusader. the knight wears chain mail armor, with a coronet of nobility on his head. He stands in front of two crossed swords. The class year appears above him.
The right side displays an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. A scroll above the image says, “Amateur Cor Jesu.” The date, 1869, marks the year St. Aloysius opened, on Barracks and Chartres Streets in the French Quarter.
A word from your sponsor
We hope you’ve enjoyed this series on the senior rings. While NOLA History Guy is not affiliated with Brother Martin High School, I am a 1976 graduate of the school. My book, Brothers of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans, traces the history of St. Aloysius, Cor Jesu, and Brother Martin from 1869 to 2010. Here’s the back-cover blurb:
When New Orleanians ask “Where did you go to school?” they aren’t asking what university you attended but what high school. That tells a native a lot about you. For over 150 years, the Brothers of the Sacred Heart have educated the young men of New Orleans, giving them the opportunity to answer the question proudly by replying St. Stanislaus, St. Aloysius, Cor Jesu, or Brother Martin. Images of America: Brothers of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans showcases photographs, illustrations, and maps tracing the role of the institute in making New Orleans a vibrant and dynamic city, able to overcome even the worst of adversity. From their roots in the French Quarter, moving to Faubourg Marigny, and finally settling in Gentilly, the Brothers of the Sacred Heart continue to make a major contribution to metro New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana.
The book is available at all the usual suspects — the link here clicks through to Amazon. If you buy (or have already purchased) the book, feel free to contact me (edward@ebranley.com), and I’ll be happy to inscribe your copy.
by nolahistoryguy | Aug 22, 2024 | 1960s, 1970s, Brother Martin High, Cor Jesu, Gentilly, St. Aloysius
Brother Martin High School Senior Class Ring is a generations-old tradition.
BMHS Senior Class Ring
Tonight, the Class of 2025 formally begins their final year at Brother Martin, as they receive their class rings. The class ring is an important symbol, a statement that the wearer completed what was for a long time, the top level of education for many in the working class. In New Orleans, the “where did you go to school?” culture dominated social circles for generations. The senior class ring became a lodge token, a quickly recognizable answer to the question.
St. Aloysius Crusaders and Cor Jesu Kingsmen took pride in their class rings. After all, many of those men didn’t go on to university. Some went straight into the service, with some not coming back to those senior rings. So, that senior class ring was a Big Deal. Even the men who went on to college often chose not to buy a college ring, preferring to identify with their high school.
New School, New Design
From the book: Brother Mark Thornton, S.C., reviewing the design of the first BMHS senior ring with Neil Bero, Stan Stopa, and Bobby Taylor in 1969. These young men would become part of the Charter Class of BMHS in the following year. Brother Mark became the combined school’s first principal.
When the Institute decided to combine Cor Jesu (CJ) and St. Aloysius (SA) into a new entity, they required a new design for classic symbols. So, L. G. Balfour created a number of concepts for this new addition to the long-standing traditions. The crimson-and-gold of CJ fit a gold ring with a red stone nicely. The “Crusader” and the “Kingsman” bore so many similarities, it wasn’t hard to tap both legacies.
Balfour knew the importance of getting this right from the start. After all, they stood to profit handsomely from the Class of 1970 and future seniors. Here’s their proposal for that first class ring.
L. G. Balfour Company
Symbolism of the Class Ring Design
Design No. 1
Coat of Arms side – in the shield we have taken the seal of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, paying special emphasis to this teaching order. Opposite this we have the fleur-de-lis, which denotes the Diocese of New Orleans. Below we have a scroll, which represents the history of this new school: one end will be the history of today, and the other rolled end, the future. On the face of the scroll we have the school monogram, “BM.” Superimposed over this we have the arms of a crusader, holding aloft a sword; but in this design, the sword is intended to be a cross held aloft by the crusaders. The crest is a crusader’s helmet, and is flanked by the founding date of the school, 1969.
Mascot side – here we have the graduating class date, 1970, and the mascot, the crusader. We have depicted him drawing his sword, in defense of his school, his ideals, and his homeland. On his shield is the stylized lamp of education, with the flame forming the letter “M.” The name “Crusaders” at the bottom of the shank finishes off this design.
Concept Artwork
The Ring
Based on the design description, Balfour created concept art for the ring. These illustrations present the symbolism. The coat of arms didn’t change for the actual rings.
The standing Crusader is quite similar to the Kingsman used by CJ (and adorned the wall of the Conlin Gym for years).
The Stone
Balfour offered two looks for the stone, cut and smooth. These illustrations present the ring in white gold, possibly a non-gold clad. As gold prices soared with the inflation of the 1970s, that clad alternative offered families a less-expensive way to continue the ring tradition.
Note that these concepts say “Brother Martin High” around the stone. “High” became “New Orleans,” as is visible in the side illustrations.
Under-stone shim
Many schools include a “shim” under the ring’s stone. The shim is visible from the inside of the ring. For example, Mount Carmel Academy includes a tiny scapular as a shim in their senior rings. Balfour proposed a number of shim concepts for the Crusader ring. None of them made the final cut.
Encrusting
Balfour suggested a “BrM” monogram encrusted on the red stone. That morphed into a simple, single, “M.”
While the majority of seniors choose the “M” encrusting on the stone, the school included a non-encrusted stone as an option. Of these two proposals, the simple “M” became the production choice. They simplified the font for the school name with, as mentioned earlier, “New Orleans” at the bottom.
The Brother Martin Senior Class Ring
Here’s the finished product. Congratulations fo the Crusaders of the Class of 2025, as they take continue to “make a life,” as Brother Hernandez was fond of saying.
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