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AUGUST 25, 1945
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
NINE
Officers of Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia \How Lavmetl’s Association
VICE-PRESIDENT FINANCIAL SECRETARY EXECUTIVE SECRETARY r> Ii I •
jfgsp^—^. MM ^ e » an Work m beorgia
MARTIN J. CALLAGHAN
Macon
MISS CEC1LE FERRY
Augusta
HUGH KINCHLEY
Augusta
SECRETARY
AUDITOR
TREASURER
Looking back for three decades
U is interesting to recall the
, stirring days when the Catholic
Laymen's Association of Georgia
was setting forth on its unchar
tered course toward the accom
plishment of its ordained purpose
“to promote a better feeling among
Georgians, irrespective of creed.”
The story of the first year’s
operation is well told in the re
port which was rendered by James
J. Farrell, the first executive sec
retary of the Laymen’s Associa
tion, at the second convention,
held in Augusta in June, 1917.
Space does not permit publish
ing the entire report, but some
extracts from it, such as those
that follow, are particularly
worthy of recollection.
JOHN B. McCALLUM
Atlanta
Maoon Council, K. of C.,
Committees Appointed
ALVIN M. McAUI.IFFE
Augusta
oavannah
MACON, Ga.—At the meeting
of Macon Council, No. D25,
Knights of Columbus, held on Au
gust 7, Grand Knight Charles C,
McCarren announced the appoint
ment ol the following committees:
Catholic Activity - War Activity:
John J. McCreary, chairman, Don
C. Chestnut, Edward P. Lackay,
Thomas S. Union, Robert E. Mc
Crary, William II. Mitchell, Law
rence M. Loll, William C. Barker,
Charles LeH. Adams, II. F. Wig
gins, L. E. Mock, George B. Mock
and Frank N. Burch. Council
Program, Blood Donor and Sports:
Charles McBrearty, chairman;
Thomas Shahcen, R. F. Mallard,
J. V. Sheridan, Richard E. Collins,
Raymond M. McDonnell and G. A.
Kennington. Membership, Relief
and Employment: Martin J. Cal
laghan, Jr., chairman; Felix W.
Woodward, John H. Hughes. W. D.
Jarrett, and John E. Harrison.
Insurance: John F. McBrearty,
chairman; Martin J. Callaghan,
Julian If. Wood, Carl G. Cain,
Joseph Hadarits, Carling Schats-
man and Robert W. Hurley. Reso
lutions and Press: Holst C. Beall,
chairman; Charles J. Kearney,
Hillman B Tanner, James B. Mo
dena, Dr. W. C. Joanis, Dr. J. M.
Coppage, J. P. McGoldrick.
Members of the council, home
from service who were welcomed
at the meeting were Lieut. Phil
J. Sheridan, who spent fifteen
months in a German prisoner-of-
war camp, and Sgt. Edward P.
Lackay, who saw service on Sai-
Atlanta Journal Magazine
Article Describes Life of
Georgia’s Trappist Monks
(Special to The Bulletin)
ATLANTA, Ga.—Georgia’s com
munity of Trappists, and their
Monastery of Our Lady of the
Holy Ghost, near Conyers, in
Rockdale County, are the basis for
an excellent article, entitled “A
Day at the Monastery,” written by
Grover Abies, principal of the
Warner-Robins High School, which
was a feature of the August 19 is
sue of The Atlanta Journal Maga
zine.
Illustrations accompanying the
article show the new temporary
frame monastery building, a view
of the barn, which was the first
home of the monks when they ar
rived in Georgia last year, scenes
in the chapel, the carpenter shop,
the cobbler shop, and in the barn
yard.
There is also a picture of the
Father Guestmaster at the monas
tery, with District Conservationist
C. R. Johnson, who is explaining
how barren, idle land on the mon
astery property may be returned
to profitable use by planting
kudzu. This illustrates a compan
ion article by Gordon Webb, of
the U. S. Soil Conservation Ser
vice, telling the long-range plan
which the Trappists are setting up
for their l,52!5-acre farm, with the
aid of government technicians.
POSTHUMOUS CITATION
FOR SAVANNAH OFFICER
pan and in other areas of the
Pacific theatre of war.
Hagler
Truck Co,
Phone 2-1841
Augusta, Georgia
“SHIP BY TRUCK”
SAVANNAH, Ga.—The Subma
rine Combat Insignia with four
stars has been awarded post
humously to Lieut, (j. g.) Charles
E. Traynor, Jr., U. S. N. R., who
was presumed dead by the Navy
Department in March. The cita
tion and silver submarine pin with
four gold stars was sent to Lieu
tenant Traynor’s mother, Mrs.
Thelma M. Traynor, of Savannah,
by Vice Admiral C. A. Lockwood,
Jr., commander of the submarine
force. U. S. Pacific Fleet.
Lieutenant Traynor graduated
from Benedictine Military
School here and from Spring Hill
College, Mobile. Ala. Before en
tering tlie U. S. Naval Academy at
Annapolis, in September, 1941, he
was connected with the Union
Bag and Paper Company in Sa
vannah. He volunteered for sub
marine duty in May, 1942.
The citation reads:
"The U. S. Albacore failed to
return as scheduled from an of
fensive in restricted waters, heav
ily patrolled by enemy air and
surface forces. There is no infor- 1
mation as to the number of suc
cessful attacks the Albacore made
on this patrol; but as she estab
lished an enviable record on pre
vious patrols, it can be assumed
that she was delivering the same
type of devastating attacks against
the enemy up to the time she was
reported missing.
“As engineering and electrical
officer of the U. S. S. Albacore,
lieutenant (junior grade) Charles
Traynor’s performance of duty
materially contributed to the suc
cess of this submarine against the
enemy.. The commander subma
rine force, Pacific Fleet, forwards
this commendation in recognition
of his performance of duty, which
was in keeping with the highest
traditions of the naval service.”
BENEDICTINE GRADUATE
HAS MERITORIOUS RECORD
SAVANNAH, Ga.—Lt. Thomas
J. McGinn, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs.
T. J. McGinn, has returned home
on leave with a meritorious record
of overseas service. Serving with
the 34th Infantry Division in Italy,
he earned the Purple Heart with
two Oak Leaf Clusters and the
Mediterranean theatre ribbon with
three battle stars. A graduate of
Benedictine Military School, Lt.
McGinn reports to Camp Hood,
Tex., for further assignment at the
expiration of his leave.
“While the publicity bureau,
opened in Augusta in January,
1917, has been in operation about
seven months, it should be re-|
membered that the earlier weeks
were devoted almost altogether
to preparation. While the pur
pose was to disseminate the truth
about Catholicity and Catholics in
Georgia, t!i» entire absence of
precedent, or any program of work
that might be used as a pattern,
necessitated much preliminary
work before any results could be
expected or even sought. So that
it was not until May that full
swing was reached, since that
time results have exceeded expect
ations.
i “The bureau opened in a room f
of the Grogan & O’Dowd building
| in Augusta with a publicity man- 1
i ager and with one combination !
stenographer and office helper, j
! There was absolutely nothing on :
hand to begin with except a copy
of the Constitution and By-laws, a I
| list of those attending the meet-1
1 ing in Macon last September, and i
a copy of the proceedings of that
meeting. Everything had to be
secured. Today the bureau occu-
; pies three rooms, has two step-
I ographers and an auxiliary force
j of from one to six as required.
! “The first thing desired was
; the building up of a proper mail
ing list. It was thought 5,000 J
would be enough to begin with, )
. and a call was made to all the '
members to send in names. The j
response was most hearty, the co-
bcing indicative of the spirit be- :
mind the organization, and which !
lias obtained through the work, i
With the list furnished at the first 1
call as a nucleus, it was not :
long before a satisfactory catalog
, was arranged, though it was next
to impossible to cover all the
' counties equally, even if it should
be desired, some local conditions
make it imperative that ;peeial
attention be paid to various lo-
i calities. Those whose names were
j first secured and who showed a
1 kindly feeling toward our work, ’■
in turn furnished other names, !
until about 10,000 were on hand
j within sixty days.
] “Several experimental counties I
i were selected, but a regular ad-!
; vertising campaign was started '
j within I he Tenth Congression
al District, each paper running
three-inch advertisements “About
Roman Catholics” for four weeks
at the expiration of which another,
and adjoining tier of counties was
selected, making a total of eighty
counties.
“Other forms of publicity used
were the news letter, these being
sent from time to time with brief
items of Catholic interest in the
Georgia press, and direct let
ters to the editors who made men
tion, favorable or hostile, of Cath
olic matters. Through our mem
bers and a press clipping bureau
we kept tab on every paper in
the state. Every favorable men
tion we receive is followed by
a letter of thanks and apprecia
tion from the manager, and evety
hostile or misleading mention is
corrected at once, with the re
quest that the correction be print
ed as prominently as the state
ment at fault had been.
“In the counties where we were
unable to get the papers to pub
lish our replies, we have secured
a list of the registered voters and
have sent them various pamphlets,
every voter receiving a circular.
“As the cost of printing our
various expositions in the 200
newspapers throughout the state
would ■ have been prohibitive, we
determined to send pamphlets
throughout the state and up to
July»3 had mailed 115,000.
“Perhaps the greatest good has
come from the direct letter. It
was to produce correspondence
that the advertising campaign
was planned and each brochure
was written partly with this in
view. It is impossible to give
in a report any idea of the impor
tance of this branch of our labors.
Questions have poured in from
every section of the state, natural
ly the bulk from the counties
where we have advertised and een-
tcred our efforts. It is exceed
ingly difficult work, requiring pa
tience, research, judgment and
tact. It is almost impossible to
use form letters even about the
most common questions; as had
been hoped, for there is a per
sonality about each inquirer that
must guide in making reply. It
is seldom that a question can be
answered briefly, most letters re
quiring several paragraphs to each
question, and in many cases, whole
letters of several hundred words
are required for a single ques
tion. And this .letter calls forth
more questions on the same sub
ject until the final answer would
make a volume of fair size if re
duced to print.
“Ours is a laymen s movement
pure and simple. As laymen we
were suffering and enduring such
a campaign of misrepresentation
as would inevitably, if not cheek
ed, render Georgia impossible as a
place for our children to live in.
The Veazey Law, obnoxious as it
is, was but a start. Other and
more far-reaching legislation was
just ahead. The attacks had reach
ed a point where even those will
ing to be fair to us were deceived
and had become inclined, to put it
mildly, to accept as true many ol
the untruths told about us. We
had reached that stage where si
lence was misconstrued, we had
to do something.
“After 'a full comprehension of
our situation we arranged a ten
tative campaign of education to
reach those not totally blinded by
prejudice. We sought to apply
modern publicity methods to put
the truth before Georgians. We
have wasted little time on irrecon-
cilables, desiring first to build a
foundation among non-Catholies
upon which we might later depend
to destroy prejudice. At first we
knew it was not likely that we
would bring over any dyed-in-the-
wool anti-Catholic to accept our
statements as true. We have
tried that. But we know that so
carefully was our first plan
thought out that it has not chang
ed in any essential, and only modi
fied to meet unexpected happen
ings favorable to us.
“It is needless to say that had
it not been for the help given
by the Knights of Columbus
through the Religious Prejudice
Commission, the publicity bureau
would have hardly been able to
acomplish anything at all.
“We have laid our plans to ben
efit ourselves not so much as to
help our children; to make living
conditions better for them is a
huge task. The falsehoods about
Catholics have been told and re
told in a propaganda that for bit
terness has seldom been equalled
anywhere. The things said about
Catholics have been said without
contradiction so long that they
have actually become accepted as
truth. We are forced to keep out
side before the people of the
State.”
Memorial Service at
Church in Waycross
on Army Air Force Day
WAYCROSS, Ga.—In observ
ance of Army Air Forces Day, an
appropriate memorial service was
held at St. Joseph’s Church, with
Chaplain Paul V. Golembicwski,
of the Vaycross Army Air Base,
delivering a sermon on the spirit
ual significance 1 of the day. In
the course of his sermon, Father
Golembicwski stressed the doc
trine o f the Communion of Saints
and the duty of the Church Mili
tant to pray for the souls of the
faithful departed, particularly for
the souls of the nation’s fighting
men who had lost their lives in
battle, in the air, on land, or at
sea.
The services included the reci
tation of the Rosary, prayers for
the dead, prayers for chaplains
serving with the Armed Forces,
and Benediction of the Blessed
Sacrament.
Father Golembicwski was assist
ed by the Rev. John H. Hilmann, S.
M., a.id the Rev. John J. Dallas,
S. M. Sgt. William Dumont and
Sgt. Elmer Smith served as aco
lytes.