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Published by the Catholic Lay men’s Association of Georgia. Ikfitt “To Bring About a Friendlier Feeling Among Neighbors irre spective of Creed” VOL. XVII. No. 7 AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, JULY 25, 1936 ISSUED MONTHLY—J2.00 A YEAR St. Genevieve’s Auditorium Nearing Completion MOTHER DEPLANCK FOUNDER OF COLLEGE OF SAINT GENEVIEVE Beloved Religious Famed Educator in France, Eng land and United States Mother Suzanne Deplanck, a truly apostolic soul, destined by God to do a great work, not only in her own dear France, but over the Channel in England, and then later across the Great Atlantic to America, had an unusually laborous life, the effects of which are still bearing remarkable fruit. Suzanne Deplanck, born in Lille, France, May 21, 1857, was the daugh ter of Alexander Deplanck and Eu genie Calvine. Suzanne’s earliest childhood was spent among beautiful surroundings in an atmosphere of re ligion. At a very tender age she was deprived by her father by sudden death. Madame Deplanck realizing her children’s loss tried to be both mother and father to them. She con secrated herself entirely to the de velopment and education of her chil dren. At the age of ten, Suzanne was sent to a boarding school in Loos-les-Lille, conducted by the Sisters of Christian Education. Being of an intelligent and diligent nature, she made rapid prog ress in her studies. Her vivacity, charm and rare frankness gained her the hearts of both teachers and Schoolmates. Suzanne was pious and very early in her school life she felt an attrac tion for mortification. Her ardent imagination and generosity made her dream of later leading the austere life of a religious. She confided her dream to an intimate companion, who immediately begged to share in the plan, and so the two made a compact to become missionary Sisters. Suz anne and Antoinette straightway be gan to exercise themselves in the aus terities of the ‘saints.” As a first sac rifice they took the resolution to de prive themselves of dessert. What was their surprise at dinner when the Sis ter presiding at the table insisted that the dessert be eaten. Antoinette im mediately complied with the Sister’s wishes. But Suzanne thinking it would be cowardly, refused to break her resolution. It was only after she had had a long explanation with her dear mother that she consented to re linquish this mortification. Thus in her early life she learned the lesson that obedience is better than sacri fice. God sent a tremendous sorrow to Suzanne at the age of twelve. He Called her mother home to her eter nal reward. This was a great trial for one so young, as our future lit tle missionary was left to face the difficulties of this life without father or mother. Madame Rogez, her old est sister, assumed the responsibility of mother for Suzanne, her brothers and sisters. Suzanne continued her studies at Loos-les-Lille and successfully pass ed the public examinations and re ceived her degree. She then bade adieu to her dear school and went to Lille to live with Madame Rogez. Here she took her place in the social world and enjoyed its varied activities. From time to time, however, she felt the emptiness and uselessness of these brilliant functions; however, she Would not dwell long on such thoughts. God had not as yet shown her His designs for her future; so she continued to enjoy society life in Lille, giving herself, as was her na ture, to her friends. Here, as at school, her charming personality made her a general favorite. One evening when going out with her sister, Suzanne realized as she was entering the carriage that she had left her fan upstairs, so quickly she ran to her room in search of it. In her excitement she did not notice that in reaching for the fan, her long kid glove came in contact with the lighted gas. In less time than it takes to tell, the glove on her right arm Caught fire and was all ablaze. Hap pily she had the presence of mind to bury her arm in the covers of the bed and thereby stifle the flames. The arm, however, was so badly burned and caused the patient so much pain that she was confined to her bed for many months. So badly burnt was it that for a while doctors feared that they would have to am- l I (Continued on Page Sixteen) The long desired auditorium of St. Gewevieve’s-of-the -Pines is now rearing its walls among the other buildings of the campus. Willis Irvin of Augusta, Ga., has planned the beautiful building in tapestry brick with stone trim ming. Dion A. Roberts of Asheville is the contractor, and the building is advancing rapidly under his able direc tion. It will cost approximately $30,000 when finished. The new structure will be one and a half stories high, will have a gallery, a seating capacity of 600, and facili lies for an outdoor gymnasium. It is anticipated that it will be finished for the reopening of the college in the fal 1. College Building at St. Genevieve's School Starting With 22 Pupils Now Has Three Hundred and Thirty Twenty-eight years ago last De cember there appeared daily in the Asheville newspapers an advertise ment which read: “Hillside Con vent. A school for young ladies under the direction of the Sisters of Chris tian Education. Members of any denominations are admitted to the school. Pupils are received at any time during the year but not for a shorter period than a month.” It added that it was to open cm Janu ary 6 at 48 Starnes Avenue, under the directorship of the Rev. Mother Today Deplanck. ay as visible record of 28 years growth and achievement, the great buildings set on a 20-acre tract that comprise Saint Genevieve of the Pines house a school which is being supplemented by a modern au ditorium and gymnasium. The College at St. Genevieve’s was the most recent addition to the buildings there; It is one of the most at tractive buildings of its kind in this entire section of t he South. Three Splendid Departments at St. Genevieve’s College Grammar School and Acade my Conducted There as Well as the Junior College Section St. Genevieve-of-the-Pines com prises three main scholastic depart ments: The College, the Academy, and the Grammar School, all of which form a complete system of education. Q- JUNIOR COLLEGE The Junior College is fully accred ited by the State Department of Ed ucation of North Carolina under whose laws it is incorporated. Under the direction of Reverend Mother Deplanck, college classes were formed in 1909, the year follow ing the opening of the first school in Asheville. In 1912 the College was fully organized as an institution and formally recognized. The College building is located on an extensive cammis. The structure was erected in 1922, and is a hand some fireproof building in tapestry brick. The plans were drawn by Mr. R. S. Smith, the famous' architect, who came to Asheville from England at the request of the late George Vanderbilt to erect his magnificent mansion, Biltmore House. The ground floor contains the reJtation rooms, the assembly and recreation halls, the students’ library, a recep tion room, and the offices of the Dean and the Registrar. The upper stories are occupied by the students’ apartments. The well-e quipped chemical, physics and biological lab oratories are in the Science Build ing—Villa Notre Dame- The Junior Collegiate department consists of the Standard Classical Course, the Standard Literary Course, the Lycee, or French School and the Secretarial Course. The Classical and Literary courses in clude those standard subjects studied the first and second years of college works. Graduates of the Junior Col lege. who have continued their col lege courses have made outstanding records in the colleges and universi ties they have attended, among them are Duke University, North Caro lina State College for Women, Uni versity of North Carolina, Mundelein College and other noteworthy insti tutions of higher learning. The Lycee, or French School, com prises a two years’ course leading to a Professor’s Diploma for French This division of the college system is affiliated with the “Alliance Fran- caise,” and a Bronze or Silver Medal offered by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Paris is awarded to stud ents who win honors. The Secretarial Course is a special one or two years’ course, which in cludes shorthand, typewriting, book keeping and secretarial training. Awards are given each year for speed in shorthand and typewriting. Students finishing this course have obtained outstanding positions of re sponsibility in the business world. Miss Katharine Zimmerman, a sophomore in the Junior College won first place in a North Carolina state wide Latin translation contest con ducted in November, 1935. The con test was held in conjunction with similar events throughout the coun try in connection with the observ ance of the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Horace; the translation was his eleventh ode, Book II. Miss Zimmerman received an award from the state officials of the contest and this honor marks a noteworthy scholastic achievement. * Each year the Junior College graduates who obtain the highest honors receive scholarships from leading colleges and universities. This year Miss Rosemary Dolan and Miss Marguerite Wehry won a scholarship to Mundelein College, Chicago, Ill| The college student may participate in the activities of several clubs, each of which is di rected by a member of the faculty. The leading societies are: the Hill side Literary Society, the Dramatic Club, the Jeanne d'Arc Club, the St. Cecilia Club, and various athletic clubs. The growth of Saint Genevieve's has gone hand in hand with the growth of Asheville from town to city. Asheville was not large in the autumn of 1907 when Mother Dep lanck and five other nuns arrived after travelling the great distance from England and France to the mountains of Western North Caro lina. “It was so cold. We stood on the square and some lady came up to us and helped us to find our way, said one of the French nuns who was a member of that pioneer band, recalling that early day. Mother Deplanck was indeed a pioneer and many in Asheville still remember her as __a remarkable personality who counted among the important and well-loved people of the community. She had left the motherhouse to found a school in England, and when that was established she turned her face to America and came to found the first of several convents of her order in this country. It was in the middle of winter but women of Asheville—which was by no means overrun with schools—be came interested. Mrs. O. C. Hamil ton, for one, drove arourd in her carriage interviewing such as she thought might like to enter their children in the new school. The re sult was that 48 Starnes Avenue opened with 22 pupils. There was one boarder ,and the boarder had a dog. Nobody knew just where to keep the dog but he was made wel come. The new school was called “Hill side” after the school in England — probably the only homelike thing to those far-travelers about the new venture. The first commencement was held the following June. Of course there were no very definite courses work ed out during that first year. Sub jects were suited to the needs of the pupils who ranged in individual re quirements over a large number of grades ,but the stress for all was laid, as has always been the policy of the school, on French. This first com mencement took place at 74 North Main, where the school had moved toward the end of March. Work was not over, however, for the nuns taught summer school all summer. When the regular woTk recommenc ed in September there were seventy students enrolled, which necessitated the adding of a neighboring house, “The Colonial”, for the younger children. The final move was made in Janu ary of the year 1911 to what had been an inn on Victoria Road. There were no more moves, but many addi tions was the history of the school from then on. Here the convent adopted the name of Saint Gene vieve, the patron saint of the city of Paris; and in recognition of the trees which beautify the grounds of the new home “of the Pines” was added. More nuns were coming over from the mother house all the time. Among those who came in 1912 was Mother M. L. Lorin, who was to succeed Mother De*Planck as superior. The nuns look back on the years at that time as particularly peaceful, and the people of Asheville perhaps re member some of their pleasantest connections with Saint Genevieve’s at that time, because, with the school firmly established and yet with a certain amount of leisure which they have not today in a larger school, the nuns were able to take classes (Continued on Page Sixteen) New Auditorium at St. Genevieve’s MARKS LATEST STEP IN THE COLLEGE’S 28 YEARS OF PROGRESS