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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. UNREDEEMED DIAMONDS FOR INVESTMENTS Ladies’ Platinum Diamond Bracelet, annroximatelv.250 round square and marquise diamonds. Original cost $5.500.00—$2,250.00. Ladies’ Platinum Diamond Ring ove r 3' carat, perfect set in Platinum. Original value $950.00. Man’s 214 carat diamond ring, originally worth $1,200.00—750.00. Ladies' Platinum Diamond Ring, perfect. approximately 1L carats. Original value $1,100.00, our price—$675.00. Mention Bulletin when writing in. A ny Diamond sent to your bank for your inspection. DOBBS JEWELRY COMPANY 133 Whiteh all St.. S. W. Atlanta, Ga. J. H. EWING & SONS REALTORS 65 Forsyth Street, N. W. 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