The BMHS band directors ran a summer camp back in the 1970s.
Band Summer Camp
Mr. Joseph Keller and Mr. Arthur Hardy, on opposite ends of the bottom row, offered a summer music program at Brother Martin High School in the 1970s. They opened this summer camp to both boys and girls. The students were quite diverse.The group stands at the doors to the “old band room.” At the time, you the band room stood separate from the rest of the school. To get to band class, musicians exited via the mall or the gym and walked around to the far side.
That meant there wasn’t a lot of activity behind the band room, once the class period started. Back in the 70s, when more students smoked, behind the band room became one of the spots to ease the nicotine fit. Band kids tell stories of one of the teachers randomly opening the doors to freak out visitors.
This was the summer before Mr. Keller’s last year at Brother Martin. Mr. Hardy took over as director in the 1974-75 school year. That’s when he brought in his friend, Mr. Marty Hurley. Mr. Hardy later moved on, becoming “Mister Mardi Gras,” as he produced “Arthur Hardy’s Mardi Gras Guide” full time.
The Joseph Taverna Band Hall
The school demolished the old band hall to make way for the Thomas F. and Elaine P. Ridgley Fine Arts and Athletic Center. This gorgeous facility includes the new band hall. It bears the name of Joseph “Prof” Taverna. Taverna directed the St. Aloysius Band from 1931 to 1961. Additionally, the Ridgley Center contains fine arts classrooms, the Chorus practice room, and the St. Aloysius Class of 1944 gym.
Archives update
The project moves along! We’ve got the scanner set up. So, documents and other ephemera assume a digital form. We’re also finding some great old photos and other documents that you’ll see here and on the book’s facebook page.
Another quick one from the archives. This is the Student Handbook for Cor Jesu High School, the predecessor school to Brother Martin High School on Elysian Fields. It’s a full rulebook, a breakdown of expectations the school had for students. Every school has one, including St. Aloysius and BMHS.
A quick flip through this handbook confirmed that it was indeed your basic set of rules. Then I came across Penance Hall:
Students who violate school regulations are usually assigned to Penance Hall, which begins at ten minutes after dismissal bell.
Section of the Cor Jesu Student Handbook on “Penance Hall”
Nothing says “Catholic School” quite like institutions like “Penance Hall.” Let’s face it, other schools have detention. “The Breakfast Club” is an entire movie set during a weekend detention session. But penance is so wonderfully Catholic.
I did find a St. Aloysius student handbook, but a quick glance of that booklet didn’t list a detention/penance hall setup. I’ll put it to you Crimson-and-White Crusaders. What did y’all call it?
Evolution to BMHS
The Cor Jesu Penance Hall continued into Brother Martin, but not by that name. It was simply “detention,” when I got there in the fall of 1971. Mr. Louis Levy was Vice Principal and Disciplinarian. Now, even though I never received official school detention, we usually held practice for the Debate team in the “old” hallway, the original Cor Jesu building. That’s also where Mr. Levy held detention. So, we learned the details of the process.
Mr. Levy came in the room (and mind you, I’m paraphrasing) and explained how the hour worked. “Gentlemen, you are going to learn to dance. You will dance by my numbers and by my steps…”
Naturally, detention period became known as “Mr. Levy’s Ninth Period Dance Class.”
I’m not sure what sort of busy work Dance Class attendees did during ninth period. I encourage any alums of Dance Class to share some details!
Archives Update
This booklet is typical of a lot of the things I’ve found in only two weeks of digging in the archival storage rooms. So far, it’s been a blast. I found this first copy in with a bunch of Cor Jesu football programs. Since that first copy, I’ve turned up two more. I took quick photos of the cover and Penance Hall with the phone. By tomorrow, we should have the workspace set up with laptop and scanner, to make full copies of these memories.
There’s a Purple Heart in the BOSH Alumni archives.
BOSH Purple Heart medal
I started a project to better organize the Brother Martin High School Alumni archives. Right at the start, I found a box containing a Purple Heart. The box is like the one my dad kept his brother’s medals in. While some folks engrave a name on the rear of a decoration, this one was unidentified. Whomever donated the medal to the school included a set of dog tags. So, it’s on the list of rabbit holes for me to fall into at some point.
The dog tags belong Richard Warr. All I have is the name at this point. D-Day makes a good day to present this, even if Mr. Warr was younger.
“Being wounded or killed…”
The Purple Heart began as the Badge of Military Merit. Washington authorized it on 7-August-1782. He awarded three of the medals. While the Badge of Military Merit wasn’t abolished, it was never awarded again. The military revived the decoration in 1927. MacArthur received the first medal in 1932. The Purple Heart is awarded for. “Being wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States or as a result of an act of any such enemy or opposing armed forces.” The earliest eligibility date for the award was originally set at 5-April-1917. Congress later authorized its award to earlier conflicts dating back to the Civil War.
Given that St. Aloysius opened its doors in 1869, there are a lot of Crusaders and Kingsmen who are eligible for the Purple Heart.
BOSH Honor Roll
I’ve yet to find a list of BOSH alumni who received the Purple Heart, so it’s time we get that started. If you or a relative attended one of the three Brothers of the Sacred Heart schools here in New Orleans and received the decoration, let us know, in a comment, or email me at edward@ebranley.com. Tell us the recipient’s name, which school he graduated from, when he graduated, and any other notes you’d like to add.
The Brothers of the Sacred Heart moved into Faubourg Marigny during the Civil War, Bay to City.
Bay to City
At the beginning of the Civil War, the Brothers of the Sacred Heart (BOSH) stood at a crossroads. The Institute operated St. Stanislaus College in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, since 1854. With secession of Louisiana and Mississippi, the Union Navy blockaded the Western Gulf Coast, anticipating an invasion of New Orleans. The Brothers closed St. Stanislaus to boarders.
To fully appreciate this move, consider a trip from the city to the bay. We’re not talking about an hour’s drive. In 1861, you’d load up a coach or wagon with your boy(s) and their luggage, and head about 100 miles east. That was a eight hour ride. With Farragut’s ships and gunboats, along with Butler’s 30,000 troops on Ship Island, safety was a serious concern. While families understood the concerns, they didn’t want to just give up on a BOSH education for their boys.
To the City
Brother Athanasius Faugier, S.C.
So, the BOSH contacted the Archbishop of New Orleans, Jean-Marie Odin, about setting up a presence in the city. Odin agreed, and connected Brother Athanasius Faugier, S.C, of St. Stanislaus, with Father Anthony Durier, pastor of Annunciation Parish in Faubourg Marigny. Fr. Durier helped the Brothers set up shop in the Marigny. This made a lot of sense. Brothers from France worked with a French archbishop to open a school in a very-French neighborhood. Fr. Durier loaned a house to the BOSH. They renovated that house to accommodate twenty-five boarders. They then rented a house on Union Street (now Touro Street) and opened the school. The school was about six blocks away from the boarding house. The 1883 Robinson Atlas segment above shows Annunciation Church in block 492.
Fr. Anthony Durier
This arrangement continued through the end of the rebellion. The BOSH packed up and returned to the Bay. It wasn’t long, though, that Archbishop Odin invited the institute to establish a permanent presence in New Orleans. The BOSH purchased the house at Chartres and Barracks Streets in 1869, and St. Aloysius opens.
Thanks to the faculty members of Brother Martin High School, who assembled much of this information for their Day of Experience, “Exploring the Origins of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans.”
Looking back at St. Aloysius memories for Martin Madness 2024.
St. Aloysius Memories
ad for St. Aloysius in the Daily Picayune, 24-August-1881
For Day Two of the “Martin Madness 2024” campaign at Brother Martin High School, please enjoy some memories from the Daily Picayune newspaper. Two advertisements for St. Aloysius entice families to come to the school. The first appeared on 24-August-1881. The school opened in the French Quarter, at Chartres and Barracks Streets, in 1869. The Brothers of the Sacred Heart (BOSH) were solidly established at that location by this time,
At top is a watercolor illustration of the original St. Aloysius from 1869. The Spanish built this house for their army during the colonial period. It changed hands from the Spanish to the French just before the Louisiana Purchase. Much of the property owned by the colonial governments passed to the Catholic Church just before the Americans took ownership of the city. Archbishop Odin, recognizing the quality work of the BOSH, invited the Institute to open a permanent school in the city. He sold them this house. The illustration is the “plan book” made to document the sale.
Esplanade and N. Rampart
ad in the Daily Picayune, 24-August-1892
The BOSH outgrew the French Quarter location. They acquired the mansion at the corner of Esplanade Ave. and N. Rampart Streets in 1892. This ad, from 24-August-1892, isn’t much different than the earlier one, with the exception of the location change.
St. Aloysius, 1892
Here’s the original school at that corner.
The Hat
If you haven’t listened to this week’s podcast yet, go! If you have, you heard me mention throwing money into the hat to support the school. While it was meant as a metaphorical hat (you have a credit card/venmo/etc), i really do have a hat. I’ll be at the PJ’s Coffee Shop at 5555 Canal Blvd., tomorrow morning, for Day Three of Martin Madness. Listen to the pod. Think back on your memories of the school, as a student, parent, faculty member. Stop by, say hi, and toss some cash in the hat!
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