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TWO—A
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
FEBRUARY 27. 1943
Sacred Heart Junior College,
Belmont, N. C., Celebrates
Its Fiftieth Anniversary
“Appeasement’s Child” Is Subject
of Editorial in The Brooklyn Tablet
(Special to The Bulletin)
BELMONT, N. C. — Sacred
Heart Junior College and Academy
of Belmont observed its Fiftieth
Anniversary, Golden Jubilee, Feb
ruary 21-23, the highlight of the
observance being a Solemn Pon
tifical Mass celebrated by the
Right Rev. Vincent G. Taylor, O. S.,
D. D., Abbot-Ordinary of Belmont,
at which the sermon was delivered
by the Right Rev. Msgr. Arthur R.
Freeman, P. A., pastor of St. Pat
rick's Church, Charlotte.
Interesting incidents in the half
century of history of the famous in
stitution of learning are found in
a sketch prepared by Sister
Aquinas.
On July 12, 1820, the Diocese of
Charleston was created, and origin
ally comprises three states, North
Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia. In September of that
year, the Rev. John England, a
native of Ireland, was consecrated
as the first Bishop of Charleston.
Many and varied were the prob
lems of Bishop England. One of the
unhappy results of the epidemics
of yellow fever which has ravaged
the towns along the Carolina coast
was a large number of orphans left
as waifs on the city of Charleston.
Bishop England recognized that
here was a need for Christian
charity, to make provision for these
unfortunate little ones who needed
not only food and clothing but con
stant care and guidance.
Bishop England was successful
in interesting four young women of
bis native land, who were then re
siding in Baltimore, to take up the
work of caring for friendless or
phans, and they came to Charles
ton in 1829 to form the nucleus of
the Order of Sisters of Our Lady
of Mercy of Charleston, when they
assumed the garb of religious in
December, 1929.
As the years went on, their num
ber was increased by many other
young women who wished to dedi
cate their lives to God in the ser
vice of their fellow men, and thus
it was possible for the Sisters to
widen the field of their charitable
and teaching activity.
In 1854 a group of Sisters were
sent from the Charleston communi
ty to Savannah, and another group
was sent to Columbia.. In 1868,
when the Diocese of CharlestorL
was divided, and North Carolina
created a separate vicariate, Fath
er James Gibbons, later the be
loved Cardinal Gibbons, was con
secrated Bishop Apostolic-of North
Carolina.
Shortly after his arrival in North
Carolina, Bishop Gibbons learned
of the work being accomplished by
the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy
in Charleston, and applied for a
group of teaching Sisters to staff
a school in Wilmington, and as a
result of his application a number
of Sisters of Mercy from Charles
ton went to Wilmington where in
1869 the Academy of the Annunci
ation was opened as a boarding
school for girls.
In 1879, a representative of the
Benedictine Monastery in Latrobe,
Pa., came to Belmont, N. C., to
look over a site offered them by
the zealous advocate and promoter
of education, Bishop Gibbons, for
the establishment of an Abbey and
a school lor boys. The Benedictine
Fathers accepted Bishop Gibbons’
offer and the foundation of the
present flourishing Belmont Abbey
and school was laid the following
summer.
In 1888, when North Carolina
was under the administration of
Bishop Northrop, of Charleston,
the care of both North and South
Carolina became such an arduous
task that the lit. Rev. Leo Ilaid,
O. S. B.. Abbot of Belmont, was
consecrated Bishop and installed
in Wilmington as head of the Vi
cariate of North Carolina.
Bishop llaid had for some time
desired a girls’ school at Belmont,
and on October 18. 1891. he wrote
to the Superior of the Motherhouse
of the Sisters of Mercy at Wilming
ton, stating that a neighbor had
offered to sell his home and land,
between the monastery and the
town of Belmont, and that the
situation was all that could be de
sired for a convent school. Bishop
Haiti proceeded to close the deal,
and in August, 1892, a group of
Sisters left the Mothethouse in
Wilmington to take possession of
their new home in Belmont. The
Belmont building was not complet
ed when the Sisters arrived. There
were no doors, no way of locking
up. When the Sisters started up
stairs ^hey realized that darkness
was overtaking them and there
was no provision for light — not
a candle or lamp in their posses
sion. It was a memorable night —
in a strange house surrounded by
woods, without either locks or
light.
The Sisters lost no time in pre
paring for the first school session,
and in September of 1892 the
Sacred Heart Academy was open
ed at Belmont with a registratioa
of 21 students, 12 boarders and
nine day students. The first student
enrolled was Miss Mary Apple-
white, of Cronlye, N. C. The first
graduate was Miss Mary Goforth,
formerly of Belmont, now Sister
Mary Ignatius of the Benedictine
Sisters of Bristol, Va.
In 1894, the Sisters of Mercy
opened St. Ann’s orphanage ’ for
girls at Belmont. It was the first
Catholic orphanage in North Caro
lina, and Sister Clare Lockfaw, of
beloved memory was in charge, a
position she held until her death
in 1926. The orphanage was later
transferred by Bishop Hafey to
Nazareth, a town about two miles
from Raleigh.
- No history of the Sacred Heart
Academy would be complete with
out a mention of Father Felix, for
many years Prior of Belmont Ab
bey. From the time the Academy
was established until the time of
his death in 1924, Father Felix
taught classes at Sacred Heart. It
was not in the class room alone that
the students learned to know and
appreciate Father Felix. In their
weekly hikes, their frequent out
ings, and their annual nutting ex
peditions, he was their friendly
guide and most delightful com
panion. Gentleman, scholar, priest,
he was dearly beloved and genu
inely revered for his kindly sympa
thetic nature and wholehearted in
terest in all that concerned the
student.
With the passing of time it was
necessary that the Sisters remove
their quarters from the Academy
building in order to accomodate
an ever - increasing registration.
Thus, on the feast of the Sacred
Heart, in 1899, ground was blessed
by Bishop Ilaid for a new Sacred
Heart convent and chapel at Bel
mont. The following month the
corner-stone was laid for the erec
tion of an edifice made possible
by the offering of Miss Sadie Burns
upon her reception into the Bel
mont community, where she was.
known in religion as Sister M. Mer
cedes.
In its earlier years, Sacred Heart
Academy of Belmont was not a
high school in the strict sense of
the word as it is known today. It
was rather a Southern finishing
school in which special emphasis
was placed on the cultural, rather
than on the commercial and scien
tific phases of education. Sacred
Heart Academy had its beginning
in the frame building erected in
1892. In 1913, this building was en
larged by the addition of a gym
nasium, music rooms, and several
private rooms with outside porch
es. The completion of Victory Hall
in 1929 was an event of genuine
pleasure for students and facultj
members. The spacious auditorium,
cosy single and double bedrooms,
artistic music rooms, attractive art
looms, and interesting museum
heightened the students’ joy and
teachers’ delight in the work of
education. Again, in 1928. other en
largements were undertaken. At
this time the Academy frame build
ing was torn down and the present
modern fireproof administration
building was erected. In this build
ing the students were afforded
greater facilities for classroom
space; completely equipped lab
oratory. library and reading room,
recreation halls and a dormitory.
Additional outdoor facilities for
recreation were provided in the
erection of a larger pavilion, a
summer house, tennis, badminton,
and volley ball courts. These with
HUGHES SPALDING, treasurer
of the Endowment Fund Commit
tee of the Catholic Laymen’s As
sociation of Georgia, Atlanta at
torney and Trust Company of
Georgia official, who has recently
been elected a member of the
board of directors of Rich’s, Inc.,
one of the leading department
stores of the South. Mr. Spalding
is the son of the late Colonel Jack
J. Spalding, K.S.G., one of the
founders of the Layman’s Associa
tion. His wife is the former Miss
Bolling Phinizy, of Athens.
NEW MEMBERS FOR
LEAGUE OF PRAYER
AUGUSTA, Ga.—Recent addi
tions to the membership of The
League of Mary Immaculate, or
ganized to offer prayers for Vic
tory and a just peace, are Mrs.
P. H. Rice, Mrs. John J. McDon
ald, Mrs. Earl Babbitt, Mrs. Jack
Healey, all of Augusta.
an expansive lawn and beautiful
woods, have been the scene of gay
and colorful parties which have
become traditional at Sacred Heart,
i Through the years the Sisters of
Mercy of Belmont have spent their
energies in the Christian develop
ment of the moral, social and in
tellectual lives of their students.
The Belmont school for girls con
ducted by the Sisters of Mercy
ranks high as an educational insti
tution. Sacred Heart Academy is
fully accredited by the North Caro
lina State Department of Educa
tion and it is a member of the
Southern Association of Secondary
Schools and Colleges. Its library
more than fulfills the requirements
of a standard library and contains
almost 7,000 volumes. The Sister
Librarian holds an L. S. degree
from the George Peabody College
for Teachers and an A. M. degree
from the Catholic University of,
America.
In 1935, the name of Sacred
Heart Academy was changed to
Sacked Heart Academy and Junior
College. The Sisters had extended
their field of education; they were
prepared to supply academic,
physical and moral training of high
school graduates in two-year col
lege course^The college curricu
lum as formulated includes the
classical course, leading to a B. A.
degree, the scientific course, lead
ing to a B. S. degree, and the cul
tural secretarial course in prepa
ration for a business career.
Sacred Heart celebrates fifty
years of fruitful labor, as testi
fied in the noble lives of the young
women who have left her portals,
fifty years of arduous work light
ened and sweetened by the cooper
ation of hosts of friends, Catholic
and non-Catholic, fifty years spent
in the intellectual, social and moral
development of the sons and daugh
ters of her native state, North
Carolina, and many states of our
Nation.
Sacred Heart looks to the past
and pays tribute to the memory of
those departed Religious whose
holy lives left an indelible impres
sion on the alumnae, living and
deceased.
Bishop Leo Haid, Father Felix,
the late deceased Father Raphael,
Mother M. Augustine, Mother M.
Teresa, Sister M. Catherine, Sister
M. Mercedes, Sister M. Clare, Sis
ter M. Cecelia, Mother Scholastiea,
Mother M. Brendan, and the late
deceased Mother M. Genevieve
and then turning to the present
pays tribute to the living members
of the Community who have served
in the capacity of President of
Sacred Heart Academy: Mother M.
Bride, Mother M. Raphael, and the
present Mother Superior of the
North Carolina Sisters of Mercy.
Reverend Mother M. Maura.
Due to the fact that it was
writen by Thomas J. Hamilton, of
Augusta, “Appeasement’s Child”,
which has just been issued from
the press, has aroused excep
tional interest locally.
As The Bulletin is going to
press before its editor or review-
editor has had an opportunity to
read Mr. Hamilton’s book, which
has as its subject the Franco
regime in Spain, The Bulletin is
giving its readers in this issue the
benefit of the following editorial,
which appeared in the current
issue ot “The Tablet”, of Brook
lyn.
THE TRUTH ABOUT SPAIN
The North African Invasion has
brought to the forefront the value
to Britain and the United States
of friendly relations with the
Spain of General Franco. It n£eds
little common sense to see the
truth of the thesis argued by one
competent writer in the February
issue of “The Sign” that Spain’s
neutrality guaranteed the meas
ure of success thus far achieved
in North Africa. It need only
an elementary knowledge of the
character of the Spanish Chief of
State to accept the honest determi
nation of Franco's declaration
that Spain would fight invasion
from either side of the European
conflict and call upon the aid
of the side opposed to the invader.
Hitler knows that Franco means
what he says. His Nazi’s have re
mained out of Spain because he
reckons the cost as too high
despite the obvious advantages to
be obtained from such an invasion.
Our Ambassador in Spain, and
pur State Department take a
realistic view of the situation with
a consequent betterment of mu
tual relations.
A recent book, “Appeasement’s
Child: The Franco Regime in
Spain” by Thomas J. Hamilton,
takes an entirely opposite view
of the situation. Sunday's New
York "Times” and “Herald-Tri
bune” book review sections gave
this book first page notices. The
“Herald-Tribune” review was ob
jective in its outline of the book's
thesis, although indicating a
favorable reaction. Perhaps be
cause o his connection with the
staff of “T^he Times”, its review
by Mildred Adams was definitely
partial and biased. Just one ref
erence. without quotation marks,
to “the fat Caudillo’s will”, re
flects the bias of the reviewer.
It is significant in this relation,
that no such prominence has been
given to two works on Spain, which
paint an entirely different pic
ture of Spain, books written, not
by Catholics or by supporters of
Franco, but by men whose com
petence and whose objectively can
best be attested by their personal
backgrounds. These books are
“Spain, the Church and the
Orders”, by E. Alliston Peers,
an English Protestant, and
“Spain”, by Salvador De Mada
riaga, a Spanish “liberal”, both
published in English in 1939.
Once again it seems, an Ameri
can newspaperman has injected an
inappropriate sour note into Ibero-
Alnerican harmony. The appear
ance of Hamilton's book, and the
featuring of it by “The Times” and
“The Herald-Tribune” are ob
viously unfortunate and untimely,
just at the moment, when those
newspapers are reporting the cor
dial 70-minute conference be
tween His Excellency Archbishop
Spellman, and the Spanish Chief
of Stale, and not so long after
the declaration by our Ambassador
Carlton Hayes that the United
States has no intention of interfer
ing with the choice of the Span
ish people concerning their own
form of government, nor of har
boring any Spanish “Government-
in-exile”. The weight of evidence
is so great and from so many
sources in contradiction of Ham
ilton’s thesis that one may reason
ably suspect blind prejudice
against the Franco regime on the
part of the author and on the
part of those who have given such
untimely prominence to his work.
This is just one more piece of
evidence that some elements in
the United States, particularly in
the Press, will never forgive
Generalissimo Franco for having
driven the Soviets out of Spain
and for having saved his country
and his people from annilihilation
at the hands of the Red marau
ders and murder squads.
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