PRESENTATI ON ROOTS OPENI NG THE PRESENTATI ON ARCHI VES On August - PDF document

SEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 18, I SSUE 3 PRESENTATI ON ROOTS PAGE � 1 H ONORI NG TH E BACK TO SCH OOL CELEBRATI NG 100 UFW CORPORATE YEARS I N LOS CALL FOR CLASS ANGELES COUNTY STANCE PH OTOGRAPH S 1919 - 2019 GROW THE ARCHIVES AUGUST 25, 1973 IN SUPPORT PAGES 1-10 PAGES 12-13 PRESENTATI ON ROOTS OPENI NG THE PRESENTATI ON ARCHI VES On August 27, 1919, Sisters Emerentiana Burns, Bonaventure Owens, Alphonsus Rahilly, Genevieve O’Reilly, Malachy Barry, and Annunciata Hollmann (pictured above) set sail from San Francisco on the steamer Humboldt bound for San Pedro Port. They arrived after a voyage of forty-two hours and were greeted warmly by the pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Father Gratian, who drove them to the small convent that was to be their new home. So begins the Los Angeles County chapter of the Sisters of the Presentation, San Francisco story. A story that spans 100 years and continues today through the works of the Southern California Presentation Associates and Alumni groups. In this issue, I am opening up the archives to share a timeline, brief histories, photographs and memorabilia from all of the ministries in Los Angeles beginning with the first Sisters’ arrival at Our Lady of Lourdes Grammar School through the individual ministries of the 1990s-2000s and everything in between.

SEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 18, I SSUE 3 PRESENTATI ON ROOTS PAGE � 2 Celebrating 100 Years in Los Angeles Los Angeles Our Lady of Lourdes Grammar School M inistries 1919-1990; 1995 -2015 Timeline Little could those first Sisters i m agi ne t hat pr i or t o t hei r withdrawal in 1990, the Lourdes ministry would transform over time from being a straightforward grammar school assignment to a bastion for parish visiting and outreach to all members of the Our Lady of Lourdes Above : A female resident and neighborhood, including local gang Grammar School her baby in the Our Lady of members, to a food bank serving 1919-1990; 1995-2015 Lourdes Convent while it was several parishes on the East-side of serving as the La Posada Shelter, Los Angeles, to a safe shelter for c. 1987. homeless women and children, to a basecamp for a variety of Catholic social services, and even, for a brief time, a free clinic. Although the Sisters formally withdrew from the ministry in 1990, Sister Christina Our Lady of Loretto Pizzorno, PBVM, ( pictured right ) Grammar School returned in 1995 and remained 1921-1974 until 2015 when she moved to the Motherhouse. 
 Bishop Conaty Memorial High School ( also known as Catholic Girls H.S. ) 1923-1977 Above: Our Lady of Lourdes Grammar School faculty, c. late 1960s.

SEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 18, I SSUE 3 PRESENTATI ON ROOTS PAGE � 3 Our Lady of Loretto Grammar School, 1921-1974 At the request of Right Reverend Bi shop Cant well and Rever end Patrick O’Donoghue, Pastor of Our Lady of Loretto Parish, nine Sisters left the Motherhouse in San Francisco on August 30, 1921, to take charge of the parish grammar school. The first Presentation convent (pictured left) officially opened nine days later on September 8, 1921. The Grammar School opened just four days later on September 12, 1921, with 228 students in attendance. Student population remained steady until 1943, when it jumped to a whopping 425 pupils, an increase of 226 in just one year. To the delight of their pupils and the parishioners, Sisters of the Presentation maintained charge of the thriving school until June 1974, when Sister Patricia Marie Mulpeters, PBVM, and her council Above : First grade students boarding the made the difficult decision to withdraw from the Our Lady of Loretto school bus, 1949. ministry. Above : Gathering of the Los Angeles Sisters at Our Lady of Loretto Convent, Los Angeles, c. 1950s.

SEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 18, I SSUE 3 PRESENTATI ON ROOTS PAGE � 4 Bishop Conaty M emorial (Catholic Girls) H igh School, 1923-1977 I n 1923, Si st er M . Rupert Looney joined the Loretto Community and along with Sister M. Euphemia M cFadden helped staff Catholic Girls High School. The school was originally founded to serve as an elementary school by the Sisters of Immaculate Heart in 1886, but was expanded into a high Above : Bishop Conaty Memorial High School ( formerly Catholic Girls school in the early 1900s High School ) Faculty and Staff, Los Angeles, 1931-1932. by Bishop Thomas J. Conaty, after whom the school was eventually renamed. Its faculty was unique in that it incorporated several congregations of women religious. Each congregation concentrated on a special area of curriculum or administration, for example Presentation Sisters focused on Social Studies and Religion. Above : Bishop Conaty CSF Honor Students, c. 1950s. Below: Heading to class at Bishop Conaty Memorial High School, c. 1970s. Above : Entrance to Bishop Conaty Memorial High School ( formerly Catholic Girls School), 1950.

SEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 18, I SSUE 3 PRESENTATI ON ROOTS PAGE � 5 Saint Rita School, Sierra M adre, 1936-1942 Los Angeles M inistries Timeline Saint Rita School Sierra Madre 1936-1942 Saint Rita School, Sierra M adre, 1936-1Saint At the time of the Sisters’ arrival, the school offered a six year grammar grade course and a newly added two year junior high school course. Unfortunately, there are very few archival materials from the Sisters time in Sierra Madre. Judging by the detailed accounts of community life found in the annals however, it appears the Sisters enjoyed their brief time at the “Dollhouse,” the Sisters’ affectionate Saint Benedict School name for their small convent (pictured upper right). In August 1942, Montebello at the request of the Archbishop, staffing was turned over to the 1941-1986 Franciscan Sisters whose provincial house was located in Sierra Madre. The school still exists to this day albeit under new leadership. Right : Saint Rita School, Sierra Madre, CA, c. 1936 Saint Mary Magdalene School, Los Angeles 1947-1970

SEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 18, I SSUE 3 PRESENTATI ON ROOTS PAGE � 6 Saint Benedict School, M ontebello, 1941-1986 
 In 1941, Reverend Albert Brousseau, OSB, pastor of Saint Benedict Parish in M ont ebel l o, asked Si st er s of t he Presentation, San Francisco, to send teachers for the newly built parochial school. On August 27, 1941, Sisters M. Clement Donovan, PBVM , Clotilde Jacobs, PBVM, and Mother Reginald Leahy, PBVM left Our Lady of Lourdes Convent to take up permanent residence in Montebello. The school opened on September 22, 1941, with 246 students in attendance. Like the Our Lady of Lourdes ministry, the Saint Benedict ministry expanded over the years beyond the elementary school. This expansion included various outreach activities to the nearby Simon’s Brickyard community (pictured above) , teaching Saturday and evening catechetical classes, and parish visiting. In the spring of 1985, the Presentation Sisters announced that they would no longer be in charge of Saint Benedict Convent and School because no one was available to take the chair of principal. The Franciscan Sisters of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who had already had a presence in the convent for several years, assumed sponsorship. Two Presentation Sisters, Sister Mary Carl Fischer and Frances Sherman, however continued to work in the parish and live in the convent for one more year. Above : Saint Benedict students and their teacher proudly display their Vacation School project, a hand- drawn biblical timeline, Montebello, CA, 1965 Above : Saint Benedict Community, 1979.


 SEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 18, I SSUE 3 PRESENTATI ON ROOTS PAGE � 7 Saint M ary M agdalene School, Los Angeles, 1947-1970 Above ( left to right, top row to bottom row ) : First Faculty at Saint Mary Magdalene School, Sisters Paula Guhs, PBVM, Amabilis Meehan, PBVM, Pastor John Conlon, Sisters M. Ursula Lowe, PBVM, Damien O’Connor, PBVM, M. Loyola (former member Sophia Schuster), Lorraine Marie Lucier, PBVM (M. Inviolata), Eileen Diggins, PBVM, and M. Rosalie (former member Mary Rainsford). At the request of the pastor, Fr. John Conlon, Sisters of the Presentation, San Francisco once again expanded their presence in Los Angeles by staffing Saint Mary Magdalene School at 1223 South Corning Street. The convent officially opened on August 9, 1947, and the school a short while later in September with a student body of 294 pupils spread across eight grades. On January 11, 1948, both were officially dedicated to the delight and edification of all those in attendance. In January 1970, after having hosted several southland Sisters gatherings and teaching thousands of children, the decision was made to withdraw from the school at the end of the academic year (June 1970). The school was then merged with Holy Spirit School and the Holy Faith sisters provided all the staffing for the newly combined student body. Above: Sisters enjoying one of the many Above: Saint Mary Magdalen Boys Choir, c. 1950s. Magdalen ‘southland’ gatherings, 1965.