History

History of New York District by Br. Luke Salm (PDF)

Missing Persons

In this concise history, to provide logical and chronological organization as well as brevity, the structure has centered on the successive District administrations presided over by the Brother Visitor. In the process some important personages have been overlooked whose achievements might have been duly noted had the historical narrative been developed along thematic lines that transcend the terms of office of the various Visitors. Such for example would be the Brothers noted for their scholarship, their work on the missions, their contributions to the welfare institutions, to the administration of the schools, or the encouragement of vocations. With or without reference to the Visitors, they are the ones “in the trenches” who made it possible for the District over 150 years to carry out its apostolic mission.

In this final paragraph, and at the risk of leaving out many others who also deserve to be remembered, it is possible to cite some at least of the most notable of these Brothers. Here are a few examples of those whose memory should be preserved on earth while, as we hope, they now enjoy their reward in heaven . We cannot forget the nationally and even internationally known scholars of a century ago: Brothers Azarias Mullaney, Chrysostom Conlan, Potamian O’Reilly and Benignus Gerrity; historians of the District like Brothers John Chrysostom, Albeus Jerome and Angelus Gabriel; Brother Barnabas with a national following in the area of child welfare and his successors in child care, for example, Brothers Arnulf Paul, Charles Austin, Stephen O’Hara and Augustine Loes; recruiters like Brothers Adjutor and Jasper who recruited candidates for the American mission in Ireland or Simon of Jesus, Auxilian Felix and Thomas Jenkins who recruited so successfully in the District; such missionaries as Brothers Bonaventure John and Raymund Barry in the Philippines or Peter Dougherty in East Africa; inspectors of schools like Brothers Calixtus, Andrew Philip, Benedict Ayers and Bernard Peter May; dynamic presidents of Manhattan College like Brothers Thomas McGinty, Philip Nelan and Gregory Nugent; brilliant college professors, many of whom helped the Brothers to obtain master’s degrees such as Brothers Alban Dooley, Andrew, O’Connor, Eugene Law and Gabriel Costello in the arts, or Brothers Alfred Welch, James Walton and Gabriel Kane in math and science; novice Directors like Brothers Austin Joseph, Conall Andrew and the perrenial “Sub,” Brother Conrad Vincent, all kept in line by the ever vigilant Visitor General, Brother Cornelius Luke. The longest list would include the names, some remembered and some forgotten, of all those Brothers, principals and teachers in the schools at every level, who with faith and zeal persevered in their vocation and did in fact procure the glory of God in the lives of the students who benefitted from their teaching and example. As De La Salle would have summed it up, “Lord, the work is yours.”

Luke Salm, FSC
February 2004

NOTE: The sources of this chronicle are drawn from the archives of the New York District, Brother Angelus Gabriel’s “The Brothers of the Christian Schools in the United States 1848-1948" (New York: McMullen, 1948), and the personnel lists and other documents prepared by Brother Eugene O’Gara, who was good enough to review this essay and to make suggestions for its improvement.

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