St. Anthony’s History by Decades

How do we know where we’re going unless we know where we’ve been? Historians believe those words well enough to share some interesting stories with anyone who will listen.

St. Anthony of Padua parish has had a long and varied history. The archive collection is currently housed in the rectory and provides a wealth of information—too extensive for most people to tackle. This column will try to present a précis of parish history by decades, just to take us on a brief journey through more than 140 years of history.

Our initial offering begins in 1873—a very important year in the story of St. Anthony’s. Thanks to the response and requests of our many faithful followers, we continue exploring our rich parish heritage.

The goal is to continue with a vibrant, living archive collection. By sharing our research with you there is no better way to keep our history alive. Thank you for your continued support, and a special thank you to those who contributed new photos and details to supplement our files.

Illustrations have been reproduced from originals contained in the parish archive. Other source credits have been duly given.
 

1873 in History

Ulysses S. Grant is President; Levi Strauss invents jeans; the first Heineken brewery is opened; the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union is formed (coincidence?); the Jesse James gang robs its first train after four years of planning (trans-continental railroad completed in 1869); HMS Pinafore opens.
 

1873 at St. Anthony’s

On August 29, 1873, two Holy Cross Sisters from the Mother House at St. Mary’s in Indiana arrive in Lancaster at the invitation of paster Rev. Anthony Kaul. Mother Mary Augusta and Sr. Mary Stanislaus (Fr. Kaul’s sister) are sent to evaluate the situation and report back their superior, Mother Angela. They decide favorably.

Within a week, Srs. Mary Gertrude (Kuntz) and Mary des Victories (Martin) are sent to St. Anthony’s to join Sr. Stanislaus in starting a school for the parish. Sr. Stanislaus also begins music lessons in the house where sisters lived at 518 East Orange Street. This music conservatory will become Sacred heart Academy, another important institution in the history of the parish.

Also in August, Fr. Kaul’s sister, Mary Kaul, presents the parish with the first bell to be mounted in the church tower. It is to be the smallest bell in the tower and has been purchased from Joshua Register and Son Bell Foundry in Baltimore, Maryland for $299.30.
 

The Kaul siblings (left to right): Fr. Anthony Kaul; Br. Leopold (Joseph) Kaul, CSC;
Mary Kaul; Sr. M. Stanislaus (Elizabeth) Kaul, CSC.

 

Sr. M. Augustus, CSC.
 

 

Ink drawing of the four bells in the St. Anthony Church tower
(Drawn by James A. Rouf, parishioner).
 

 

1883 in History

Chester A. Arthur is President; the Brooklyn Bridge is completed after 14 years of work; Life magazine is published for the first time; the first vaudeville show opens in Boston; Edison produces the first electric lighting with overhead wires in New York.

 

Artist's perception (ink drawing, 1880) facing northwest
as seen from a no-longer-existing 110-foot tower at
Lancaster County Prison on East King St.
Factories brought many people to the city.
Rolling Mill Railroad Equipment Co.
(compound of buildings with smokestacks)
was located at the corner of West Walnut and North Plum Streets.

 

1883 at St. Anthony’s

Fr. Kaul’s father, Pirmin Kaul, dies, leaving him a sizable bequest. The pastor uses the money to invest in real estate, including the purchase of several houses on Marion Street behind the rectory. These he sells to parishioners for a reasonable price. They are still in use. Fr. Kaul’s interest in Lancaster development has included negotiating on behalf of the Sisters of St. Francis from Philadelphia to acquire the land and buildings for St. Joseph’s Hospital. Constructed in 1877, the original hospital was designed by Edward F. Durang, the same man who planned both St. Anthony’s Church and Sacred Heart Academy. With the help of several influential parishioners, the Sisters finally take possession of the hospital property on August 23, 1883. They pay $26,500.00 for it.
 

Photograph of St. Joseph's Hospital as it appeared in 1883.
Lancaster Regional Medical Center occupies the site.
 

 

1893 in History

Grover Cleveland is President; the World's Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago with the most extensive public use of electricity seen until that time. Thousands of people visit some of the most beautiful buildings ever seen at an Expo; Edison opens the first motion picture studio in New Jersey; the financial panic of 1893 hits, sending Wall Street into a tailspin; Lizzie Borden is acquitted of the murder of both of her parents; New Zealand is the first country to extend the vote to women on a national basis. (Wyoming has allowed women’s suffrage since 1869, but just in that state).
 

1893 at St. Anthony’s

Rev. Anthony Kaul is appointed Dean of the Lancaster and York Diocesan School Boards. Alterations begin on the church property, including installing concrete pavements around the church. Side pews are installed in the upper church. In December of 1893, Fr. Kaul convenes a meeting of Catholic representatives from all over Lancaster to discuss his plans to erect a new building on parish grounds. It would house the school as well as facilities for social, recreational, and educational projects for the whole parish and would include an auditorium. The building would be called the Catholic Institute. The architect would again be Edwin F. Durang of Philadelphia. Preparations also begin to celebrate Fr. Kaul’s 25th anniversary of ordination in 1894
 

Photo above: Church interior ca. 1893. Side pews have been added, note the gas light standards in the pews. The baptistry (west side) and St. Anthony shrine (east side) have not been added at this time. Some of the treasured items pictured have been lost or are unaccounted for. Many are still in our possession, notably (from left to right): the pews and communion rail are used in the lower church, the St. Anthony statue (front left side), Blessed Mother statue, Our Mother of Perpetual Help icon (right of BVM), Sacred Heart of Jesus statue (left of St. Joseph statue), Guardian Angel statue (right of St. Joseph), large crucifix (far right wall), and the Pieta statue at the base of the crucifix. Though not all listed items are seen in the church today, they are part of our vast archive.
 

1874 in History

 Ulysses S. Grant is President, Vice President is Henry Wilson, and Speaker of the House is James G(illespie) Blaine, who is the cousin of the former Eliza Gillespie—known to the Sisters of the Holy Cross as Mother Angela, superior of St. Mary’s Academy in Indiana. On the world scene, New York City annexes the Bronx; the game of lawn tennis is patented by Walter Wingfield under the name, “sphairistrike;” Hawaii signs a treaty with the US granting exclusive trading rights; Levi Strauss and Jack Davis receive US patents for jeans with copper rivets, selling at $13.50 a dozen; the Philadelphia Zoo opens as the first public zoo in the US; E.T. Gerry founds the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in New York; Thomas Nast uses the elephant to symbolize the Republican party in Harper’s Weekly, and Syracuse University welcomes the first Greek sorority—Gamma Phi Beta. Mary Outerbridge, while vacationing in Bermuda, watches English officers play tennis and introduces the game to America.
 

1874 at St. Anthony's

Fund drives are the order of the day. The church itself is nearly finished, but the mortgage will not be met until 1895. This means that St. Anthony church can be dedicated but cannot be consecrated until the debt is fully paid. The people of the parish are working hard to raise the money and a Centennial Tea Party is held on April 6, 1874 in Grant Hall on Duke Street, to the rear of the courthouse. Ladies of the parish preside at different tea tables and wear costumes from France, Germany, Ireland, and the USA. Admission price includes tea and finger foods at any table, plus the cup and saucer to take home. Music is provided by Ferdinand Weber, the Maennerchor chorus, and is sponsored by the Clemmens Bank.

Hoping for the same success as the Centennial Party, the parish sponsors another fund-raiser on November 25, this one to be held at Springer Excelsior Hall on Grant Street. It is called the Bazaar of Nations. This event lasts a week and includes not only refreshments but articles for sale and humorous readings. Net proceeds are $1,800.00; however, the event is not without its problems. Some young jokesters—called “scurvy fellows” by the press—manage to spread red pepper all over the floor, with predicted results. Fr. Kaul is not amused.

An ad appears in the Lancaster Daily Express of September 5, 1874, about the Academy of the Sacred Heart, which began as a conservatory across the street from the church at 518 E. Orange Street in 1873. Fr. Kaul’s sister, Sr. Stanislaus, taught music there and the school has since become an institute of higher learning for young ladies under the direction of the Sisters of the Holy Cross. Music, fine arts, English, French, and German are taught to boarding and day students. Having outgrown the space on Orange Street, the Academy is at this time located in a building rented from Sarah Rogers by Fr. Kaul at 416 East King Street (now the site of Charles F. Snyder Funeral Home).

 

Rev. Anthony F. Kaul, 1879, 33 years of age
 

 

St. Anthony of Padua church, 1874. The rectory has not yet been built;
note the fence in the front of the building and that the clock has not yet been installed in the tower.
 

1884 in History    

Chester A. Arthur is President; the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions proclaims an 8-hour workday on May 1, then called Labour Day. Harry Truman is born on May 8; on August 5 the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe Island in the New York harbor; the Greenwich meridian is fixed as the world’s prime meridian in October; the Oxford English Dictionary begins publication; Grover Cleveland defeats James G. Blaine for the US Presidency (the aforementioned Blaine ran unsuccess-fully for President three times). The Washington Monument is completed on November 11; Mark Twain writes Huckleberry Finn.

1884 at St. Anthony's

When Sacred Heart Academy (see picture at 1913 at St. Anthony's) was built in 1877 (at the cost of $30,000.00) the parish then had a recreation room, an auditorium, and a music room in which to hold events. Since Fr. Kaul had financed the building of the academy, there was a close connection between the Academy and St. Anthony church. Until the completion of this building commencement exercises for Sacred Heart Academy were often held at Fulton Hall on Prince Street.

On June 24, 1884, the academy’s commencement exercises are held in St. Joseph’s Room in the main hall of the academy. To honor Bishop Shanahan, who presides at the ceremony, the girls present him with a beautiful prie-dieu (kneeler) of purple velvet for his 25th anniversary; valedictorian for the class is Mary E. Gorman. The rest of the class consists of Kate Kenhard, Clare R. Schaubel, Mary A. Kirby, Bertha Amer, Margarette Slaymaker, Mary Kemp, and Kate Quinn.

The parish is still struggling to pay the debt on the building of the church and Fr. Kaul establishes a Debt Fund for the parish. Anyone who contributes $30.00 or more becomes a full member and his name is placed on record as a Perpetual Benefactor. In the next ten years, $15,500 is received this way. There are also other fundraisers. On June 24 St. Anthony Parish Sodality sponsors a picnic at a very popular place on the Conestoga Creek known as Tell’s Hain. These picnics have been known to bring in as much as $300.00 for the church. The old tavern building can still be seen along the west bank of the Conestoga Creek on Conestoga Drive less than a mile from Rte. 30 at Bridgeport. It has been altered, but the basic structure remains. It contained a ballroom and an indoor “garden” where a variety of refreshments were available. There was a door on the ground level for carriages and their horses to be parked. The upper floor was used for dancing. The extensive grounds hosted many picnics for the parish. On this occasion, music for dancing is provided by Taylor’s Orchestra

 

Known as "Fulton Hall" in 1884, we recognize the
North Prince Street Structure today as the Fulton Operation House.
 

 

Find this structure today along the west bank of the Conestoga River at Bridgeport.
"Tell's Hain" was the site of parish social events. Carriages entered the arch at the far right of the structure.

 

1894 in History

This period is called the Gilded Age, the Gay 90’s or the Progressive Era. Grover Cleveland is still President; Adlai Stevenson is Vice President; Thomas Edison’s kinetoscope is given its first public showing, introducing the first moving picture; Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time; a fire at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago destroys most of the remaining buildings; West Palm Beach is organized as a city; in New York City 12,000 tailors go on strike against sweatshop working conditions; Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book is published; on September 1, Boston Corbett—the Union Army soldier who shot and killed John Wilkes Booth—dies.

1894 at St. Anthony's

Rev. James Sass is Fr. Kaul’s 11th assistant since 1876. With the end of the church debt in sight, Fr. Kaul announces the first plans for the erection of an Institute Building between the church and the parochial residence, east of the church. The architect is to be Edwin Durang, who also designed the church. There will be a basement gym, first floor classrooms, second floor library and meeting rooms, and a third-floor stage and auditorium. Fr. Kaul’s motivation is to “keep young people off the streets.”

Plans are also discussed for building a Catholic church in Quarryville, to be called St. Catherine of Siena. Prominent parishioner and attorney David F. Magee is to solicit subscriptions to fund the church. The church is to be a mission of St. Anthony parish for a few years after it is built, until a permanent priest is secured in Quarryville.

Fr. Kaul’s 25th Jubilee as a priest is celebrated in the parish. Bishop Thomas McGovern and 65 other priests attend the banquet which is hosted by Fr. Kaul’s mother Magdalena Kaul. The event is held at Sacred Heart Academy. Jubilee cigars are distributed, as provided by J. Albright and Brothers.

From Fr. Kaul’s account book: to Lancaster Planing Mill for installation of side pews: $350.00; to Stiffel and Freeman for one safe for the rectory: $73.00; to C.H. Reynolds for painting the exterior of the church and rectory: $275.00.

 

Rev. Anthony F. Kaul, 1894, 48 years of age.
 

 

Photo above: Celebrants, church dignitaries, and participants in the 25th Jubilee of Rev. Anthony F. Kaul on Wednesday, June 13, 1894. Pictured center, top, wearing miter is Bishop Thomas F. McGovern, D.D. Fr. Kaul is standing one step down and to the left of the bishop. Members of the Knights of St. John flank left and right. The cross-bearer is William J. Henrich; the "little pope" is Frank Goldbach (front left lower corner).

 

1903 in History

Theodore Roosevelt is President following McKinley’s assassination in 1901. (Since he was 42 when he assumed office, T.R. remains our youngest president.) The Wright Brothers make aviation history at Kitty Hawk; Pierre and Marie Curie are awarded the Nobel Prize in physics; the treaty is signed by the US and Colombia to begin digging the Panama Canal.
 

Photo above: The St. Anthony Lyceum Executive Council (ca. 1903). Pictured left to right, front to back:  First row: Mary Dosch (Cosgrove), Mary Long (Hoenninger), Elizabeth Eppley, Anne Kempfle (Gegg), Flora Ursprung (O'Brien); Second row: George Heidig, Anna Dosch, David F. Magee, Harry Albert, Carrie Allwein, H. John Heinmenz; Third row: William Ewing, George Ransing, William Cosgrove, Robert Allwein, J. Harry Hiemenz; Fourth row: Oscar Smith, Harry Siefert, and John Drachbar.
 

1903 at St. Anthony’s

Assistant priests are Rev. John Melchior and Rev. Augustine Kappes. Fr. Kaul has just returned from Europe after consulting physicians there about his detached retina. This is the beginning of his eye problems. Parishioners are getting used to the new electric lights installed in the church where the gas light standards used to be. On April 19, the first Communion class of 63 children is entertained in the rectory for breakfast, which will become a custom with Fr. Kaul. Meanwhile, the young people of the parish enjoy participating in the Lyceum Club, formed to engage both men and women in activities not only social but educational. They meet in the Parish Institute building, erected in 1895 as a school and parish center. With a new interest in sports, a basketball court is installed on the basement floor during the winter of 1902–03, with the sidelines parallel to Orange Street. Players dodge around the big post in the middle of the floor. The baseball team is also very active and plays in the PA State Legion Park at the northeast corner of King and Parkside Avenues.
 

The Lyceum basketball team, 1905. Pictured left to right: Front row: Albert Nutto; W. O. Frailey, Jr. (captain); Les Ruof; Back row: H. John Hiemenz, Charles Long (manager), and Eugene Heimenz.

1904 in History

Theodore Roosevelt is President; Henry Ford sets a new automobile land speed record of 91.37 mph; the first large scale bodybuilding competition is held at Madison Square Garden on January 16; the US gains control of the Panama Canal zones for $10 million on February 23 and US Army engineers begin work on the canal shortly thereafter; on April 8, previously named Longacre Square, Times Square is named for the New York Times; on May 5 Cy Young of the Boston Americans pitches the first perfect baseball game against the Philadelphia A’s; as part of the World’s Fair, in July the third Modern Olympic Games open in St. Louis; at the same fair the ice cream cone is invented during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition; on October 27 the first underground line of the New York City subway opens at Broadway; on Times Square the first New Year’s eve celebration is held; and, in the same city, a policeman arrests a woman for smoking a cigarette in public

1904 at St. Anthony's

Assistants to Fr. Kaul are Rev. Augustin Kappes and Rev. Charles Pietrowicz. The church was finally paid for and consecrated in 1895. Immediately thereafter, Fr. Kaul planned the Institute building which has been erected to the east of the church on parish grounds. By 1904 the St. Anthony Institute is in full operation, especially the dramatic presentations that are performed in the third floor auditorium. Our archive contains programs and photographs from many of the shows including one called The Steel King performed on January 27, with music provided by Edward Bentz’s orchestra. The Bentz family was prominent in the early days of the parish with every member involved in some ministry to benefit the church. Their home at 536 East Chestnut Street was the gathering place for the Lyceum group, a debating society for young men and women of the parish. Sad to say, The Steel King is the last show for Edward Bentz, who dies of typhoid on May 9 of the same year. He is 25.

A publication entitled The Parish Kalendar is printed. It is called “a magazine of interest, informative to members of the parish.” Obviously, Fr. Kaul is still employing ways to improve the parish funds since the magazine includes some interesting information about pew rents. Most pews are rented by the quarter, but there are some pews that are reserved for non-renters, and for these, people can pay either 10 cents or 5 cents, depending on their need. There are even some free pews in the back for really needy people. The 11:00 Mass on Sundays is reserved for children. Adults who wish to attend must pay 10 cents at the door to get in.

This is also the period of time when Pope Pius X issues the decree that there are to be no female voices in choirs. Fr. Kaul ignores this. St. Anthony parish choir is heavily dependent on the women who comprise it. The pastor is well aware of this fact.

Photo above: The St. Anthony buildings in 1904. The rectory (left) was completed in 1896. Note the pointed roof on the St. Anthony's Institute (right, today's Resurrection Catholic School) which was completed in 1895.
 

Photo above: The St. Anthony's Lyceum Executive Council of 1902. Photo was taken in the third floor auditorium of the Institute. Left to right front row: Flora Ursprung, Mary Long, and Lewraine Magee; middle row: Anna Dosch, Elizabeth Eppley, Anna Kempfle, David Magee, Fr. Kaul, H. John Hoemenz, Carrie Allwein, Agnes Hiemenz, and Mary Dosch; back row: Oscar Smith, John Drachbar, Robert Allwein, George Ransing, Edward Bentz, Frank Matt, William Ewing, Harry Hiemenz, Harry Seifert, and William Cosgrove.

1913 in History

Woodrow Wilson is President; the Federal Reserve System is organized; the Lincoln Highway becomes first auto road across the US; the 16th amendment is passed authorizing federal income tax; the Mexican revolution begins; Henry Ford institutes the first assembly line in his auto factory; the first crossword puzzle is printed in the New York World; Grand Central Terminal in NYC becomes the world’s largest train station; the Buffalo Head nickel is struck by the Philadelphia mint, replacing the erroneously dated Liberty Head nickel. (Making them extremely rare, only 5 Liberty Heads—dated 1913—were made in 1912

1913 at St. Anthony’s

St. Anthony School boasts an enrollment of 112 boys and 118 girls; Sacred Heart Academy is enjoying the 3-story addition built to connect the Sisters’ residence with the new building; Our Sunday Visitor is placed on sale for the first time; Fr. Kaul begins negotiations with the Redemptorist Fathers to purchase the estate of Thomas A. Willson in Ephrata, at the request of Willson’s widow, Clare. (In existence today, the Redemptorist Fathers do purchase the property and name the mansion St. Clement’s Mission House. Our Mother of Perpetual Help parish is located on the property today, still staffed by the Redemptorists.) In December of 1913, the first nativity scene is placed in the St. Anthony side chapel.

The Sacred Heart Academy



Parishioner and builder William Bentz (left) and St. Anthony assistant priest Fr. Denis Reardon are pictured at Willson Farm in Ephrata, PA, 1913.


1914 in History

Woodrow Wilson is President; Ford Motors begins an 8-hour work-day and a minimum wage of $5 for a day’s labor; the baseball stadium Weeghman Park opens in Chicago. It is to become Wrigley Field; Woodrow Wilson signs a document instituting a national celebration of Mother’s Day in May; Babe Ruth makes his major league debut with the Red Sox; on August 4 German troops invade Belgium at 8:02 AM and Britain declares war on Germany. The US remains neutral; E. H. Shackleton leads an Antarctic expedition; the Panama Canal is inaugurated with the passage of the USS Ancon; the Federal Trade Commission is established on September 26; Joseph P. Kennedy weds Rose Fitzgerald of Boston on October 7; Henry Ford sells 248,000 automobiles; Jack Dempsey starts fighting under the name “Kid Blackey.”

1914 at St. Anthony's

Assistants to Fr. Kaul are Rev. Herman Gies, Rev. Denis Reardon, and Rev. Stanislaus Dobinis; the St. Anthony parish basketball team consists of Paul Ransing, Francis Heidig, Raymond Teufel, Joseph McGreever, and Richard Brickner; St. Anthony rectory, built in 1896, is painted and papered by Mattern and Yeager Company at a cost of $275; Charles Keen is janitor; $355 is earned during the strawberry festival; $500 is realized after the Men’s Supper; assistant priest Fr. Herman Gies leaves in July and is replaced by Fr. Denis Reardon; there are 112 boys and 118 girls in the school; a fire escape is built onto the school at the cost of $150.

It is in August of 1914 that the Redemptorist Fathers take possession of the Clare Point Stock Farm in Ephrata. The farm is bought from Clare L. Willson and consists of 81 acres including a mansion house (which cost $50,000 to build,) four houses, two barns, and two quarter-mile horse tracks. Monsignor Kaul is instrumental in coordinating arrangements for the purchase among Mrs. Willson, Bishop John Shanahan and Very Rev. Joseph Schnaeder, C.Ss.R., Provincial of the US and Canada. The Redemptorists still retain possession of the property in Ephrata with the parish of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.

Michael Haberbush, one of the three original donors for St. Anthony parish, dies on October 26. Mr. Haberbush has been the owner of a harness shop on the square in Lancaster. The Haberbush family is prominent both in the history of the parish and the support of Sacred Heart Academy. He dies in the home of his daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, Dr. L. Chadman. Mr. Haberbush has an impressive history. The story of his family can be read in the archives

A group of 1914 St. Anthony school student assembled on the church steps.


Attendees of Mass celebrated at St. Clement's Mission House in Ephrata, PA circa 1914.


Michael Haberbush.


Buildings in the southwest corner of Penn Square, Lancaster, PA circa 1914. Note the Haberbush business at the far left.

1923 in History

President Warren G. Harding dies in office, and vice president Calvin Coolidge* assumes the office; the first Time magazine is printed in NYC; the Hollywood sign is built; Walt Disney Studios is founded in California; the “Roaring Twenties” are about to begin.

________

* In 1924, Coolidge was to host a National Rally of 100,000 members of the Holy Name Societies of the US in Washington, DC. Representatives from St. Anthony’s were there. The President gave them a heartfelt speech of approbation at the Washington Monument. It was estimated that 250,000 people were there to witness the event.

1923 at St. Anthony's

Fr. Kaul has been designated a Domestic Prelate, with the title of Monsignor, since 1919. Pope Benedict XV issued the decree. Assistant priests are Rev. John Weber, Rev. Roy Keffer and Rev. Denis Reardon. Sr. M. Stanislaus, CSC, sister of Msgr. Kaul, dies on May 6 at the age of 79, after 50 years of service to the parish and to Sacred Heart Academy. (Later, a shrine is built on the grounds of the Academy in honor of Sr. Stanislaus. It is modeled after the grotto at Lourdes.) The first girls’ basketball team is organized, coached by Edgar Musser. In May of 1923, St. Anthony’s is honored with a visit from Cardinal Von Faulhaber, Archbishop of Munich, who later stood against the Nazi government in World War II. The Cardinal and Bishop Philip McDevitt are guests at the rectory.

Lourdes Shrine at Sacred Heart Academy (May procession 1949). May Queen is Margaret Schreiner who is
Sr. M. Pius, CSC.



The 1923 St. Anthony's Girls' basketball team. Front row: Frances Greenawalt, Elizabeth Resh, Cecilia Drachbar, Bernadette Reiner, Ruth Ream; back row: Ava Huber, Coach Edgar Musser, Dorothy Miller, Anne Eichmann

1924 in History

Calvin Coolidge is President; William Howard Taft is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; Rhapsody in Blue is performed for the first time in Aeolian Hall in New York City; IBM is founded; on February 22 Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President to do a radio broadcast. Coolidge is also the only President ever to preside over a rally of US Holy Name Societies in Washington, D.C. on September 18; MGM movie studio is founded in Los Angeles; Ford Motor Company produces its 10-millionth car; J. Edgar Hoover is appointed head of the FBI; Nellie T. Ross of Wyoming becomes the first woman governor in the United States (note: the vote was granted to women in Wyoming in 1869); on November 27 New York City’s Macy’s department store sponsors their first Thanksgiving parade; US bootleggers, made rich by the prohibition laws, begin using Thompson sub-machine guns to defend their positions; Leopold and Loeb are sentenced to life in prison for the kidnap/slaying of Bobby Franks. Celebrities born this year are Marlon Brando, Doris Day, Dennis Weaver, George H.W. Bush, Truman Capote, and Jimmy Carter

1924 in St. Anthony's    

Pastoral assistants are Rev. John Weber, Rev. Cletus Helfrich, and Rev. John Eberle. Msgr. Kaul once again uses his influence to negotiate the sale of the Dray Farm near Columbia to the Sisters of the Precious Blood (it will become St. Anne’s Home); the pastor continues to ignore the dictate about women in the choir and turns over the operation of the organ to Edna Rooney Frailey, assisted by Cecilia Drachbar. A new hall has been built as an extension of the St. Anthony Institute. Since the upper floor of the building was destroyed in a fire in 1915, the parish had been compelled to use the basement church for their dramatic productions until this time. Rebuilding the stage on an upper floor was deemed a fire hazard, so it was decided to form an extension onto the school extending north toward Marion Street. This extension included a gym/auditorium that is sill in use today. It was completed in 1922. William Bentz was the contractor. St. Anthony girls’ basketball team, the Blue Birds, makes extensive use of the new gym, with the coaching of Edgar Musser.

 

Msgr. Kaul celebrates 55 years as a priest; pastoral assistant, Rev. John H. Weber, wins a $9000 Zook-built home in Glen Moore Circle in Lancaster for selling subscriptions to Lancaster newspapers. He earns 100 million credits. Fr. Weber gives the home to his mother, Rosa Weber, of 511 Poplar Street. Fr. Weber is Msgr. Kaul’s most dynamic assistant—and one of the longest-lasting. Weber has been at St. Anthony’s for seven years. (In his 60 years at St. Anthony Church, Msgr. Kaul had 42 assistants.) Certainly the bowling league has appreciated Fr. Weber for his 180.46 average. The assistant could actually be seen at times performing manual labor to build the parish hall. He has also played in the parish orchestra and directed some dramatic shows including An Old Fashioned Mother, which is performed on January 15. This play is acclaimed as the finest ever to be presented in the parish. Charles H.B. Chambers is featured in a starring role. It is no wonder that Msgr. Kaul names Fr. Weber “the best,” when Weber leaves at the end of 1924 to take over the pastorate of St. John’s in Steelton

Fr. Eberle and Msgr. Kaul relaxing during a 1924 parish picnic in Williamson Park.
 

The 1924–25 St. Anthony's Girls' "Blue Birds" basketball team. This team played boys' inter-collegiate rules. Left to right, front row: Margaret Keen and Frances Toland; middle: Cecelia Drach-bar (who was also the church organist), Berna-dette Reiner, Ruth Ream, Ava Huber, and Elizabeth Resh; top: Coach Edgar A. Musser, Frances Greenawalt, Catherine Resh, Dorothy Miller, and Marguerite Greenawalt, team manager. Visit the 1923 Girls' Team picture.

The cast of the 1924 box office success An Old Fashioned Mother, directed by Rev. John H. Weber. Left to right, front row: Fred Flick, Carolyn Seber, Charles H.B. Chambers, C. Herbert Yost, Agnes Ziegler, Charles A. Keen, Emma Heil, Anthony Tretter, Cecelia Drachbar, Mrs. Frank Goldbach; rear: Patrick Hagan, Esther Weber, Dorothy Miller, Gervase Long, Bernadette Reiner, Donald Herzog, Fr. Weber, Herman Seber, Mary Flick, Josephine Eisch, Mary Dochat, and Mary Daum.

1933 in History

Herbert Hoover turns over the presidency to Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 4; the 20th Amendment is passed, changing the inauguration date to January 20; Golden Gate Bridge construction begins; the Lone Ranger hits the radio waves; the first singing telegram is sent by the New York City Postal Telegraph Company; King Kong is the biggest movie of the year; as the Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins becomes the first woman to hold a presidential cabinet office; the first drive-in theater opens; the 21st Amendment officially repeals prohibition. This year signals the beginning of the end of the Great Depression.

1933 at St. Anthony’s

Assistant priest was Rev. Louis Yeager. Msgr. Kaul had celebrated his 60th jubilee in 1929, the same year that extensive renovations were made to the church. This was the occasion when he made his well-known speech that ended in the words, “I am so glad you are all willing to love me. I am willing to love all of you.” By 1933 the cataracts that plagued him for so many years have robbed him of most of his sight. He makes his last public appearance on October 18, 1933, when he attends the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the opening of St. Joseph’s hospital. As previously noted, Msgr. Kaul had a special interest in St. Joseph’s Hospital. Meanwhile, parishioners are busy in the various clubs and organizations sponsored by the parish. Members of the Catholic Club and St. Rita’s Club put on a number of Minstrel Shows. Students from Sacred Heart Academy also use the auditorium, and on November 22, 1933 present a play called Knave of Hearts featuring six young women of the parish.

The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Anthony F. Kaul Pastor, St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1870–1934


The cast of a 1933 "Minstrel Show"
Only these parishioners are identified: kneeling, far right: Anne Bradshaw standing, second from right: Catherine Bradshaw.

1934 in History

Franklin Delano Roosevelt is President; despite the December 1933 repeal of Prohibition with the 19th amendment, gangsters and crime still make the news. John Dillinger escapes jail using a wooden pistol and goes on a rampage until he is mortally wounded by the FBI four months later; in April, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker begin a killing spree in Texas ending in their May 23 death in a shootout; Pretty Boy Floyd is killed in October; on the national scene the Dust Bowl storms begin; FDR establishes the US Securities and Exchange Commission; US occupation of Haiti ends on August 15; the Hays Office begins its censorship of the movie industry; It Happened One Night becomes the first film to win all five Oscars; the musical Anything Goes starring Ethel Merman premieres in New York City on November 21; Joe Louis wins his first fight against Jack Kracken in Chicago; the Dionne quintuplets are born in Ontario, Canada.

Msgr. Anthony Kaul's final portrait, 1934.

1934 at St. Anthony's

Rev. Louis Yeager and Rev. Louis Chagnon are the assistants. Msgr. Kaul’s eyesight is failing because of cataracts and a detached retina. Surgery has improved his vision somewhat, but he is weakening. Msgr. Kaul’s handwriting has always been beautiful and clear despite his failing eyesight, but on February 4 his assistant, Fr. Yeager, assumes the paperwork. Msgr. Kaul resigns on February 13 as pastor becoming pastor emeritus. He is considered to be legally blind; Fr. Yeager takes over as administrator. Msgr. Kaul continues to say Mass every day with an assistant leading him to and from the altar. Parish life goes on. Sr. Jane Frances, CSC is principal of the St. Anthony School; there are 13 girls and 17 boys in the eighth grade graduating class; An Old Fashioned Mother is again performed in the school auditorium with entertainment provided during intermission by St. Rita’s Club Kitchen Band; parish May Queen is Helen Melchior (whose brother had been one of Msgr. Kaul’s many assistants); St. Anthony mens’ basketball team of 1933–34 wins the city championship; Lancaster Catholic High School holds its commencement exercises in St. Anthony Hall honoring 75 graduates; J. Norman Klos of St. Anthony Parish earns highest academic honors; Msgr. Kaul celebrates his 88th birthday on June 8. He is the oldest priest in the diocese

The Eighth Grade Class of St. Anthony School, 1934. Left to right—first row: Mary Kline, Margaret Trees, Kathryn Wagner, Margaret Mowery, Esther Howe, Cecelia Tretter, Agnes Klingseisen; second row: Miss Baer, Kathleen Carpenter, Mary Long, Ruth Long, Rose Lombardo, Rosemary Geiger; third row: Robert Trees, Kalman Lawrence, Joseph Hohman, Peter Rottmund, Fabian Sabatine, Hohn Thomas, Edward Butz; fourth row: Harold Carrol, Raymond Nissley, Robert Hildebrand, Bernard Grimm, Richard Geiger, William Everts; fifth row: James Kaufman, John Butz, Lancelot Lawrence, and Milton Frailey.


The 1933–34 St. Anthony's men’s basketball team. Players' identification not provided.

1943 in History

Franklin D. Roosevelt is President; the nation is in the midst of World War II; FDR becomes the first President to travel by airplane when he makes a trip from Miami to Morocco to meet with Churchill about the progress of the war; the Pentagon is dedicated; the Battle of Guadalcanal is fought; General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes commander of the Allied Forces; shoe rationing is begun; the Jefferson Memorial is dedicated; Duke Ellington makes his appearance at Carnegie Hall; the Howard Hughes movie The Outlaw opens and is pulled because of censorship within one week; Oklahoma opens on Broadway.

1943 at St. Anthony’s

Rev. Herman Gies is the third pastor since Msgr. Kaul’s death in 1935 at the age of 89. The first was auxiliary Bishop George L. Leech whose pastorship lasted less than one month. On November 11, Bishop McDevitt died and Bishop Leech was appointed to the office. Rev. Louis Yeager, who had been an assistant to Monsignor Kaul, takes over as pastor until Father Gies is appointed on February 6, 1936. Assistant priest is Rev. Rudolph Fuhr. By 1943, Father Gies has instituted many changes in the church: a quarterly is printed entitled “Our Parish Interests” (several of these still exist in the archives). In this is listed the names of contributors to the collection and the amounts they give; a new pavement is installed in front of the church; Bingo games are in full swing; a new organ is purchased for the church from the Pergola Theatre in Allentown, with pipework and installation by Sebastian Gundling; lists of young parishioners who have died in the war are posted in the lobby of the church; on February 7 the music department of Sacred Heart Academy presents a Piano Ensemble and Glee Club production with the sponsorship of many St. Anthony patrons; on May 10, SHA uses the St. Anthony school auditorium for the plays, In a Flower Garden, and Ichabod Crane, with young ladies playing all the parts, including the men.

Rev. Herman Gies
Pastor, St. Anthony of Padua, 1936 - 1945


The present-day organ case of the c. 1915 three-manual

Anton Gottfried organ purchased from the Pergola Theatre, Allentown, Pa. Enclosed in the case are some 2159 speaking pipes in 34 ranks, a set of tubular chimes, and an organ harp. The pipes shown in the picture are decorative non-speaking pipes. The Gottfried organ replaced the church's original organ, a Heilner & Schumacher of Baltimore, which provided liturgical music from 1875–1939. Photo credit: Donald-Duck, http://www.trivago.co.uk

1944 in History

The United States has been involved in World War II ever since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; the US captures the Japanese-held Marshall Islands in Majorca; the United Negro College Fund is incorporated; the US Navy captures a German U-505 submarine (it is on display in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago). On June 6, D-Day begins with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops in Normandy; on July 6, 1st Lieutenant Jackie Robinson is arrested and court marshaled for refusing to move to the back of a segregated US Army bus. He is acquitted and given an honorable discharge; the Battle of Guam is fought July 21 to August 10; IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, called the Harvard Mark 1; The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet radio show debuts; General Douglas MacArthur returns to the Philippines; Aachen becomes the first German city to fall on October 21; Appalachian Spring, a ballet by Aaron Copeland and Martha Graham, opens in Washington, DC; on November 7 FDR is re-elected to an unprecedented 4th term; General George C. Marshall becomes the first five-star general; Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie debuts; Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe, commander of the US forces at Bastogne, refuses German demand for surrender with one word: “Nuts!” Four days later the Germans are repelled at Bastogne

1944 at St. Anthony's

Rev. Herman Gies assumed the office of pastor following Msgr. Kaul’s death on July 24, 1935. Fr. Gies was one of Fr. Kaul’s many assistants from 1912–1914. Rev. Louis Yeager filled in as pastor until Fr. Gies could be appointed to the position in 1936. His assistant is Rev. Rudolph Fuhr who becomes active in the dramatic presentations of the parish. At this time, Father Gies institutes a parish publication entitled Our Parish Interests in which the monetary contributions of the parishioners are listed in detail. The magazine also includes articles of interest to Catholics, such as “Ten Com-mandments for the Parents of School Children,” “The Dangerous Summer Time,” and some advice from a couple married 65 years entitled “At a Wedding Anniversary.” Fr. Gies has instituted the magazine in keeping with the advice of Pope Pius XI who has been called “The Pope of the Press.” The pastor also makes an attempt to enforce the rule of an earlier Pope about no women in the choir, but apparently meets with such strong objections that he decides that enforcement would not be worth the aggravation and quietly shelves the idea. Brother Leopold, CSC (Msgr. Kaul’s older brother Joseph) dies at Notre Dame in June at the age of 99; May Queen from the class of 1944 at Sacred Heart Academy is parishioner Patricia Sullivan, who is to become a well-known actress in the Lancaster area. The Sodality, Holy Name Society, and St. Rita’s Club continue to be active at this time and dramatic presentations can be seen both in St. Anthony auditorium and at Sacred Heart Academy

Rev. Herman Gies, pastor.


The cast of the 1943 St. Anthony School production of Snow White. Left to right—front row: Freddie Ruof, Eddie Mastromatteo, Jackie Gallagher, Martha Hohenwarter, Walter Faul, Dick McCullough, Joseph Sabatine, and Fr. Rudolph Fuhr (director); back row: Anne Bradshaw (co-director and the author's aunt), Josephine Lombardo, and John Musser


The Sacred Heart Academy Class of 1944. Left to right: Shirley Spera, Lois Groh, Anna Kroiss, Rita Flick, Rosemary Aukamp, Gloria McCartney, Regina Baumann, Ann Noel, Florita Henkel, Patricia Sullivan (May Queen), Romaine Templeton, Jean Schuler, Theresa Fulginiti, Betty Mohler, Helen Veri, Theresa Madonna, and Yvonne Auer.

1953 in History

Harry S. Truman is President until Dwight D. Eisenhower takes office on January 20, 1953; Truman announces the existence of the first hydrogen bomb; the Robertson Panel meets to discuss the UFO phenomenon; the Korean War ends; Dr. Jonas Salk tests his new polio vaccine on his family and himself; Queen Elizabeth II is crowned; the first James Bond novel is published by Ian Fleming; Arthur Miller’s The Crucible opens on Broadway; the 25th annual Academy Awards are presented on television for the first time; the first Chevrolet Corvette is manufactured in Flint, Michigan; Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay scale Mt. Everest; the animated film, Peter Pan opens. Gas is 20 cents a gallon, transistor radios are being sold, and the first color televisions are selling for $1,175.00.

1953 at St. Anthony's

Pastor Rev. Robert Hartnett takes over a church that has been completely transformed and renovated by his predecessor Rev. Paul Gieringer. Assistant priests in 1953 are Rev. James Coyle and Rev. Mercurio Fregapane; parish cemetery custodian of many years Herman Goldbach has died; Fr. Hartnett is suffering from cataracts, similar to Msgr. Kaul; included in the fifteen-member graduating class of Sacred Heart Academy is parishioner Dorothy Linton, who will become Sr. John Anthony, CSC.

The upper church as it appeared following the 1950 renovation.


Rev. Robert Hartnett
1953 St. Anthony of Padua Pastor

1954 in History

Dwight D. Eisenhower is President; Vice President is Richard Nixon; the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut; the first mass vaccination of children with the polio vaccine takes place on February 23 in Pittsburgh; hydrogen bomb tests are being conducted at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific; journalist Edward R. Murrow and producer Fred Friendly produce the 30-minute See it Now broadcast, exposing the harsh methods of Senator Joseph McCarthy to the general public; in April, the Army/McCarthy hearings convene, with Senator McCarthy calling the Army “soft on Communism.” In June the hearings end in a defeat for McCarthy with the accusation of Senator Joseph Welch: “Have you, at long last, no decency?” In December, the US Senate votes to condemn Senator McCarthy for conduct that brought the Senate to dishonor. In the rest of the world the US Air Force Academy is established in Colorado; the first Boeing 707 is released; in the case, “Brown v. the Board of Education,” the US Supreme Court rules that segregated schools are unconstitutional; the words “under God,” are added to the Pledge of Allegiance; the first issue of Sports Illustrated is published; the last new episode of The Lone Ranger is aired on the radio; the Miss America pageant is on television for the first time; 29 million US homes now have television; Hurricane Hazel wreaks destruction on much of the United States; Texas Instruments produces the first transistor radio; the United States Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima) is dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery; the immigration port at Ellis Island is closed; the first Burger King opens in Miami; the first successful kidney transplant takes place in Boston; the Boy Scouts of America organization is desegregated; the first TV dinner is introduced

1954 at St. Anthony's

Rev. Robert Hartnett is the pastor and his assistant is Rev. Mercurio Fragapane. Fr. Hartnett was appointed pastor after the death of Fr. Herman Gies in 1945. At this time the custodian is William H. Reus, organist is Fred Sullivan, and choir director is Joseph Ransing. St. Anthony School has approximately 350 students and is fully staffed by Sisters of the Holy Cross from grades 1–8. Principal is Sr. M. Melanie, CSC. Classes with more than 40 students are not unusual, and the sisters handle the discipline well. The space on the west side of the school is the girls’ playground and on the east side is the boys’ playground. On Sunday, May 16 the second annual Holy Name Amateur Show is held in the St. Anthony auditorium for the children of the school. First place goes to Barbara Binzen, age 13, for her tap dance solo; second prize is awarded to Donald Dis-cavage, age 9, for his accordion solo; Ronald Shank, age 12, comes in third with a piano solo, and honorable mention goes to Miriam Quigley, age 10, for her Irish dance. Master of ceremonies is parishioner and television personality Leo Kelly. Of note during this year is the death of a parishioner, Richard W. Trees, at the age of 74. His parents, Jacob Trees and Caroline Hoenninger, had been the first couple ever to be married in St. Anthony parish. They were married by Fr. Anthony Kaul on April 11, 1871. (Publisher’s note: On Holy Saturday, 1954, Clayton and Dora Mitzel became the proud parents of a baby boy).

The grass lawn girls' playground of St. An-thony's School. Pictured is the area, looking north, between the church and the school. The area now is paved parking. Pictured left to right—front: Jane Hammers and the author, Dianne Danz; back: Loretta Oreszko, Phyllis Mehaffey, and Ann Kiely.


A popular place to "hang out" even over the summer break from school, St. Anthony students enjoy the grass lawn in front of the school. The view is looking east on Orange St. with the convent pictured in the distance. Pictured are (left to right) Tom Kiely, David Danz, Mike Kiely, and Bill Danz. The shadow is of another Danz—the author.


The list of contestants from the printed program of the "Second Annual Holy Name Amateur Show" which was presented at 8:00 p.m. Sunday evening, May 16. Peoples' interests obviously were not limited to Sunday night television and 1954 student talent must have been spectacular

1963 in History

Lyndon Baines Johnson is inaugurated President following the assassination of John F. Kennedy on Friday, November 22. Already in police custody, on November 23 Lee Harvey Oswald is formally charged with the assassination. The next day Jack Ruby kills Oswald. The Warren Commission is formed to study the assassination. The Cold War, the Space Race and the Vietnam War are all going on; astronaut Gordon Cooper flies the last Mercury mission; Medgar Evers is assassinated; singer Patsy Cline is killed in an airplane crash; The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan is published launching the womens’ movement; Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28—to an audience of 250,000 people; Beatlemania begins with the popularity of the song, “I Want to Hold Your Hand.

1963 at St. Anthony's

Fr. Hartnett resigns for health reasons on May 24. On August 11 Rev. Alphonse Marcincavage takes over as pastor; assistant priests are Rev. Richard Waldron, Rev. Stephen Sheets, and Rev. K. H. Martini; the new Legion of Mary is in operation; Sacred Heart Academy has been deemed structurally damaged by the Holy Cross Motherhouse and has been closed since 1958. The Diocese of Harrisburg buys the property and the decision is made to tear down the school and make the area into a parking lot. The wrecking ball does its work on September 30. The parking lot is finished by June 1964. Many parishioners resent the razing of the beloved school. This, coupled with the fund drive for Reilly Hall at Catholic High, contributes to the falling of the weekly collection for the church. Expenses are high because of refurbishing the new convent for the Sisters and the construction of the new parking lot. The parish falls into serious debt

On the left in this picture is the last view of the original building of Sacred Heart Academy. At the right is the heaped remains of the rest of the structure. Our church parking lot exists on the spot today at the southeast corner of East Orange and North Ann Streets.


An extensive three-story addition (to left of tree) to the residence at 533 East Orange Street served as the convent of the Sisters of the Holy Cross until 2003. Today the convent remains an integral part of parish life housing ministries, religious education, and activity groups. The building's chapel remains available to parishioners for meditation around the clock.

1964 in History

Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 Lyndon Baines Johnson is President; Republican Barry Goldwater announces his candidacy for the Presidency; President Johnson begins his “War on Poverty;” the Surgeon General, Luther Leonidas Terry, comes out against smoking for the first time; the Beatles’ first album, Introducing the Beatles, by Vee-Jay records, comes out on January 10; Hello, Dolly opens at the James Theatre in NYC; plans are announced to build New York City’s World Trade Center in lower Manhattan; on February 9 the Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show; Muhammad Ali beats Sonny Liston for the Heavyweight Championship of the World (in less than 3 minutes); Jimmy Hoffa is convicted of jury tampering; Malcolm X secedes from the Nation of Islam; Jack Ruby is convicted of killing Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald; the show Jeopardy debuts, as the brainchild of Merv Griffin; the Ford Mustang is unveiled on April 17; on April 22 the New York World’s Fair opens; three civil rights workers are murdered in Mississippi by local law enforcement officers; Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 abolishing racial segregation; the Viet Nam conflict is underway with casualties of 1387 as of July 8; the movie Mary Poppins debuts; the Summer Olympics are held in Tokyo with the USA finishing first; Johnson beats Goldwater in the Presidential election; the television classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is presented for the first time on NBC

1964 at St. Anthony's

Pastor is Rev. Alphonse Marcincavage. His assistants are the Revs. Bernard Petrina and Raymond Orloski. With the demolition of Sacred Heart Academy in 1963 and in order to ease the parking problems at St. Anthony church, the lot across the street from the church is now graded, blacktopped, and made into a parking lot. At the same time, the area in front of the school is made into a parking area and now connects the lots on east and west sides of the building, which are also used for parking. On October 12, Sr. M. Justa, CSC, who has been a beloved music teacher and member of the faculty at Sacred Heart Academy for many years, is honored by the Holy Cross Alumnae of Sacred Heart Academy on the occasion of her Golden Jubilee. The celebration is held at Lancaster’s Hotel Brunswick. Fr. Marcincavage is a speaker at the banquet and reveals the contents of the Sacred Heart Academy cornerstone from the recently demolished building. Coins of the time, medals, a German newspaper, and an issue of the Lancaster newspaper The Evening Express (dated August 19, 1876) were found in the stone. An ad for the Academy was in that Lancaster paper. St. Anthony School continues to flourish and most of the 8th grade graduating class move on to Lancaster Catholic High School. (The members of the 8th grade class of 1964 continue to share a close bond to this day

Additional parking is provided when the school yard lawns are paved.


The 1964 Golden Jubilee of Sr. Mary Justa, CSC is celebrated. Left and right of Sister are Mrs. Vincent Danz and Mrs. Leonard Autrey, respectively.


Members of the 1964 congregation of St. Anthony of Padua Church shown leaving Sunday Mass. Note that the original solid walnut doors are still in place at that time.


Members of the 1964 Eighth Grade Graduating class of St. Anthony of Padua school.

1973 in History

Richard M. Nixon is President; Lyndon Johnson dies on January 22 making Nixon our only living President; the Vietnam War ends; CBS sells the New York Yankees to George Steinbrenner for $10 million; the first hand-held cell phone is produced by Martin Cooper in New York City; Federal Express begins; the Sears Tower is finished and becomes the world’s tallest building; Elvis Presley appears in his famous Hawaii concert; Secretariat wins “The Triple Crown” (the Kentucky Derby, Belmont, and Preakness Stakes); Skylab is launched; Henry Kissinger becomes Secretary of State; Spiro Agnew resigns as Vice President and is replaced by Gerald Ford; the Watergate Scandal begins, escalates, and culminates in the resignation of Richard Nixon on November 27. Gerald Ford becomes President

1973 at St. Anthony's

The Rev. Joseph McManus, CSsR is the pastor. The Redemptorists have been serving at St. Anthony’s since 1967 when Rev. Charles O’Leary, CSsR took over for diocesan priest Fr. Marcincavage. Assistants are Rev. Thomas Rowan, Rev. John Duffy, and Rev. Vincent Crotty. The parish has celebrated a 100th Anniversary year in 1970; many tourists to Lancaster County have begun coming to Mass on Sundays at St. Anthony’s; the parish has been enjoying Masses on Saturday evening, as begun by Bishop Joseph Daley; the Parish Council is once again organized; the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross celebrates the 100th anniversary of their work in the Diocese of Harrisburg on December 9 with a Mass and a program, followed by a tea; historic tableaus depicting the Sisters’ history and their service to the parish are enacted by the students of St. Anthony’s School. The students are directed by the school principal, Sister Rose Alma, CSC.

Rev. Joseph McManus, CSsR


In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Sisters of the Holy Cross' educational mission in our school, Sister gently places the cast members in this 1973 production in the school cafeteria

1974 in History

Richard M. Nixon is President (until August 9) and Gerald Ford is Vice President. The Watergate investigation begins; Nixon refuses to surrender 500 tapes and documents to the investigating committee; Patti Hearst is kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army; on March 1 seven White House officials are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-ins; Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth’s home run record with his 715th run on April 9; on May 9 impeachment hearings begin against Nixon; on June 26 UPC codes are scanned for the first time in Troy, Ohio; Nixon resigns the Presidency on August 9 and Gerald Ford takes over as President. Ford pardons Nixon on September 8 to avoid more scandal in the US government.

1974 at St. Anthony's

Rev. Joseph Mc-Manus, CSsR is pastor. His assistants are the Revs. Vincent Crotty, John Travers, and John Duffy. (In 1967 Bishop Leech requested the Redemptorist order to take over the running of St. Anthony parish. Fr. Ronald Conners, Provincial of the Baltimore Province of the Redemptorists, sent three priests to Lancaster. Rev. Charles O’Leary was pastor assisted by Fr. Wallace Berrier and Fr. Paul Gillen.) Fr. Travers is very active with the youth groups of the parish and many of the slides he takes of their activities are to find a home in the archives of the parish. The Parish Council begins in January with James Rottmund as president and James Ruof as vice president; in March, Ann Wagner serves as the first woman lector; also in that month two girls from the parish, Pamela Lautsch and Rebecca Riley, become members of a championship basketball team as the Lancaster Catholic High School girls take the honors at the Farm Show Arena in Harrisburg on March 23; they defeat the “Highlanders” of Baldwin High School in Pittsburgh; William Mowery heads the St. Anthony’s Organ Fund and sends letters to parishioners asking for pledges to support the refurbishing of the organ which is badly in need of repairs; parish renewal groups are formed, with the guidance of the Redemptorist Fathers, to strengthen the faith of some and renew the commitment of other Catholics with meetings and faith sharing in various places throughout the parish. On December 15, in St. Anthony School cafeteria, the senior citizens of the parish are honored with a banquet and entertainment. Principal, Sister M. Rosalma CSC, is the organizer of the event helped by the elementary school children who have spent time decorating the cafeteria. The St. Anthony’s Youth Club handle the kitchen duties. 120 women and 32 men are present for the festivities

Members of the Championship 1974 St. Anthony's Girls' Basketball on the court.


Letter sent to parishioners soliciting donations for the 1974 refurbishing of the ca. 1915 Gottfried organ that still leads us in songful worship today. The $25,000 1974 repair plan was the first since the instrument's installation in 1939. Again in need of "help," costs today far


Teens join Fr. John Travers in real 1974 fun—the "Fun House.


How groovy 1974 teens "chilled" before the next adventure.

1983 in History

Ronald Reagan is President; the economy begins recovery; the third Monday of every January is designated as a national holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first woman in space; Space Shuttle Challenger is launched with Guion Bluford as the first African American astronaut; Tom Brokaw becomes lead news anchor on NBC; 11-year-old Samantha Smith is invited to the Soviet Union to meet General Secretary Yuri Andropov in answer to a letter she wrote to him; Mt. Kiluea in Hawaii erupts; Michael Jackson performs the first “moonwalk” at Motown to music from his Killer album; Return of the Jedi and Flashdance are the top movies of the year

1983 at St. Anthony's

Resident priests are Rev. Charles McDonald and Rev. Vincent Crotty. In 1980 a building plan for external church repairs was launched and, thanks to parish pledges, the renovation is well in evidence by 1983. A “Respect Life” shrine is dedicated in the baptismal alcove on the west side of the church. Parishioner James Ruof paints the words above the stained-glass window of John the Baptist; Sr. Joanella, CSC, is principal of St. Anthony School; 4th grade student Danh Dinh wins the school slogan contest with the phrase “St. Anthony is the name. Education is the game.” The custom of Manna Bags for Thanksgiving begins

1983 4th grader Danh Dinh's winning slogan

1984 in History

Ronald Reagan is President and George H.W. Bush is Vice President. The US and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations after a hiatus of 116 years; two space shuttles are launched this year—Challenger and Discovery; Apple chairman Steve Jobs and CEO John Sculley introduce the Macintosh computer; Michael Jackson wins 8 Grammys; on April 23, Mary Heckler of the US Public Health Service announces the identification of the HIV virus which causes AIDS; Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India is assassinated by two Sikh members of her bodyguard; popular singer Karen Carpenter dies of anorexia nervosa; Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale chooses Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate; Reagan sweeps the Presidential election, winning every state except Minnesota (Mondale’s home state) and Washington, D.C.; Bishop Desmond Tutu of Africa wins the Nobel Peace Prize; Disney World, Florida, celebrates Donald Duck’s 50th birthday; the US Army awards 8612 medals for the 1983 Grenada campaign, even though there were never more than 7000 soldiers on the island.

1984 at St. Anthony's

Resident priests are Rev. Vincent Crotty and Rev. Charles McDonald, both of the CSsR congregation. In January, during Catholic Schools Week, the five Catholic schools in the area are honored in the Lancaster New Era. At this time St. Anthony School has 247 students and is staffed by three Sisters and nine lay teachers; principal is Sr. M. Joanella, CSC; assistant principal and mathematics teacher, Gloria Sweet, is honored for 15 years of service to the school during a teacher appreciation luncheon; 6th grade student Lori Redington wins a school composition contest for her essay on the theme of Catholic Schools Week; a healing Mass is held at St. Anthony Church on March 8 with celebrant Rev. Dennis Kelleher, CSsR; sixth grade student, David Schreck raises $227.97 in an event known as the Danny Thomas Marathon for St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis, TN. Pledges are solicited for each math problem the students complete in a 200-problem booklet; David is also the 7th grade winner in a PTO-sponsored essay contest What Respect for Life Means to Me. Other winners are: Jenny Finger, 8th grade; Michael Rothan, 6th grade, and John Becker, 5th grade. (The essays are in the archives.) St. Anthony of Padua Parish is awarded the Monsignor Joseph Schmidt Award for Catholic Communications by the Harrisburg Diocesan Communications Commission. Bishop William Keeler presents the award to the heads of the publicity and media departments of the parish: Claire Van Cleve, Linda Greineder, and Ellen Mowery

Essay contest winners of St. Anthony School are presented with autographed photos of 1984 president Ronald Reagan by US Representative Robert Walker (R, Lancaster County). Left to right are: Jenny Finger, David Schreck, Michael Rothan (today's Fr. Michael Rothan), and John Becker.


Parish heads of publicity and media committees (left to right: Claire Van Cleve, Linda Greineder, and Ellen Mowery) receive the Msgr. Joseph Schmidt Award for Catholic Communications. Presenting are (far left) Bishop William Keeler and Msgr. Joseph Schmidt.

1993 in History

George H. W. Bush is President until January 20 when William H. Clinton is sworn in. President Bush and Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin sign SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) II; Janet Reno is the first woman Attorney General; the Holocaust Museum is dedicated in Washington, D.C.; by Executive Order the United States Air Force permits women to fly planes; NASA launches the spaceship Endeavor to repair the Hubble Space Telescope; a 51-day standoff with Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas results in numerous casualties; the great blizzard of 1993 strikes the eastern U.S.; Microsoft releases Windows 3.11.

1993 at St. Anthony's

Rev. Francis Collins, CSsR is pastor until July 11 when Rev. Charles McDonald, CSsR takes over. His assistants are Rev. Alfonse Olive and Rev. James Small; parishioners are enjoying artist Othmar Carli’s interior renovations to the church completed during the pastorship of Rev. Patrick Lynch, CSsR 1984–1990. Resurrection Catholic School is in its second year following the 1991 merger of St. Anthony’s, St. Joseph’s, and St. Mary’s schools; Fr. McDonald is formally installed as pastor on September 19. His message to the parish is this: “Holiness does not mean walking around with pious faces, eyes toward heaven. God made you a human being, not a holy card.” Members of the parish staff are asked to assist the pastor in contributing information to the church bulletin: music minister Sr. Jane Frances, CSC, CCD director Jean Brigham, and Deacon Bill Jordan; as dictated by the Diocese of Harrisburg the first Town Hall meeting is held in the school gym on November 21.

Rev. Patrick Lynch, CSsR with 1980's church renovations art director and artist Othmar Carli of York, PA. and his staff. Mr. Carli's daughter stands on the far right


The church interior of present day showing the 1980's period renovations. Photo credit: Donald-Duck, http://www.trivago.co.uk

2003 in History

George W. Bush is President; on January 16, the space shuttle Columbia explodes after being launched killing all seven astronauts aboard; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is instituted; the disarmament crisis causes problems with Iraq and a plan to invade the Persian Gulf ensues—war begins on March 20; on May 9 and 10, 393 tornadoes hit nineteen states; Dewey, the first cloned deer, is born at Texas A&M; Martha Stewart is indicted on federal securities fraud and obstruction of justice charges; on August 14 a power outage hits the Northeast USA and central Canada; Hurricane Isabel slams North Carolina on September 8; California governor Gray Davis is recalled from office and Arnold Schwarzenegger takes over as governor; the Staten Island Ferry crashes into a pier killing eleven people; Saddam Hussein is captured in Tikrit in Operation Red Dawn

2003 at St. Anthony's

Rev. Patrick McGarrity, CSsR is the pastor, succeeding Fr. McDonald in 1999. His assistants are Rev. Thomas Loftus, CSsR and Rev. James Cascione, CSsR. A Parish Mission is held from March 23 to 27 conducted by Fr. Paul Bryan, CSsR, and Sr. Mary Sninsky, OSF; the Café d’Antonio Sweetheart Dance is held on March 15; the parish hosts musicians and singers from First United Methodist Church, Lancaster on March 18 introducing the Taize prayer service to the parish; the Finance Committee reports that the stewardship campaign resulted in achieving $1,640 over its goal of $100,000; a St. Anthony Family Newsletter insert is included monthly with the church bulletin, reporting births, deaths, baptisms, and weddings of parishioners; the “Living Stations of the Cross” is provided by the Catholic Youth Ministry on April 18. After 130 years of service, the Sisters of the Holy Cross are to move out of Lancaster on June 30. Following a Mass of tribute by Fr. McGarrity, a celebration to honor them is held in the school cafeteria on June 8. The ceremony in the cafeteria includes a slide show of the history of the Sisters, provided by this author/historian.

Rev. Charles McDonald, CSsR (left) turns over the St. Anthony of Padua pastorate to Rev. Patrick McGarrity (right) in 1999


The Sisters of the Holy Cross last to serve in our parish (left to right): Sr. M. John Anthony, Sr. M. Pius, Sr. M. Miriam (Mary Eckenrode, deceased 2012), and Sr. M. Ada.

2013 in History

Barack Obama takes office as President for his second term; Hillary Clinton resigns as Secretary of State and is replaced by Senator John Kerry; Pope Benedict XVI resigns becoming the first pope to do so since 1415; Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is elected the 266th pope, taking the name of Francis. He becomes the first Jesuit pope and the first pope from the southern hemisphere. The Baltimore Ravens are victorious over the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl; US Airways and American Airlines merge to form the world’s largest air carrier; two explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon leave three people dead and 260 injured; Defense Distributed produces the first gun using a 3D printer; a gunman kills twelve and injures eight at Washington DC’s Naval Yard; the new $100 bill is released into circulation; US and Russia reach a deal with Syria on chemical weapons; American Edward Snowden discloses operations engaged by a US government mass surveillance program to news publication and flees the country to be granted temporary asylum in Russia; in Egypt, President Mohamed Morsi is deposed in a military coup; Prince George of Cambridge is born to Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and William, Duke of Cambridge and becomes third in line for the throne of England.

2013 at St. Anthony's

Rev. Daniel C. Mitzel has filled the office of Pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Church since July 1, 2005 when the Redemptorist priests ended their 38-year mission in the parish (see 1973 at St. Anthony’s). Fr. Mitzel assumed the pastoral office following Fr. Patrick McGarrity, CSsR (see 2003 at St. Anthony’s). A dedicated group of parish volunteers dubbed the “Monday Night Workers” begin renovations and upgrades to the parish convent’s interior; the Resurrection Catholic School’s girls’ varsity basketball team won the Diocesan CYO championship.

The parish and diocese are stunned by the unexpected death of Bishop Joseph P. McFadden (tenth bishop of the diocese of Harrisburg, 2010–2013) while attending a conference in Philadelphia, PA. The diocesan College of Consultors elected to entrust the care of the diocese to Very Reverend Robert M. Gillelan, Jr. during the period of sede vacante.

Presenting her second concert in as many years to benefit the church’s organ maintenance fund, acclaimed international concert and recording organist Gail Archer performs at St. Anthony’s (see 1943 at St. Anthony’s). The Traditional Latin Mass group celebrates the fifth year of celebrating the Mass in Latin in the parish; transitional deacon Rev. Mr. Matthew R. Larlick joins the pastoral staff; the parish is host to the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima drawing many of the faithful to attend devotional services and visitations. Word of the death of Sr. Rose Alma, CSC (see 1973 at St. Anthony’s) is received; the preservation of the historic parish rectory is maintained with the replacement of the original 1896 tin roof.

Rev. Daniel C. Mitzel



Bishop Joseph P. McFadden

The champion RCS Girls’ Varsity Basketball Team (reflect to 1923 at St. Anthony’s)
pictured left to right: Coach Ramos, A. Cannon, R. Talbert, M. Laporte,
S. Cosme, J. Talbert, A. Keck, H. Ramos, E. Albright,
L. Fritz, L. Mills, C. Rivera, Coach Rife, F. Molina.

About the Author

Dianne Danz was born in Lancaster, PA, the daughter of St. Anthony of Padua parishioners Mae (Bradshaw) and Vincent Danz. Could William and Catherine Bradshaw, upon moving from Philadelphia to their home on East Chestnut Street, Lancaster (St. Anthony parish) in 1926, have expected that a granddaughter would today serve as parishioner, lector at Mass, parish historian/archivist, and navigator of this history?

A graduate of St. Anthony School and Lancaster Catholic High School, Dianne is a graduate of Millersville University having earned a degree in Education with a major in Library Science. With certification to teach grades K through 12 in the public schools of five US states, Dianne’s appetite for variety was satisfied by working in each of those levels of education as a librarian—a career of 41 years. In addition to working in different areas throughout the US, Dianne did a stint with the DOD Schools at Misawa Air Base in Japan. Dianne accepted a position in Oxford, PA in 1983 and returned to Lancaster to live. She spent the last 22 years of her career as an elementary librarian in Oxford.   

Upon her return to Lancaster, Dianne participated in parish ministries as lector, CCD teacher, and was a member of the Parish Pastoral Council for eleven years. Her training as a librarian qualified Dianne as the person to fill the vacancy of historian following the death of Edgar Musser (a remarkable parish historian) in 1988. A pressing need existed to organize historical material discovered following Musser’s death. As our present parish historian/archivist, Dianne has painstakingly sorted, read, and bound our precious historical documents, photos, relics, and treasures into organized volumes of history. Through “St. Anthony’s History by Decades” Dianne immerses our treasured past into the true baptism by fire—the Internet, where all the world can share our history.

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