Our Catleolic Heritage in T ezas
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cipal of the school. The Catholics of El .Paso welcomed them with an enthusiastic reception in their honor. They opened Catholic High School on September 8, with forty-five boys enrolled. The number of students increased steadily and the expansion of the high school program kept pace. The school soon received full accreditation from the State Depart- ment of Education. Under Brother Benedict, who succeeded Brother Ernest in 1933 and served diligently until 1942, much progress was made in improving and enlarging the physical plant and enriching the curriculum. Valuable financial aid was obtained through the efforts of E. C. Heid, president of the Board of Trustees. Numerous vocations to the Priesthood and the Brotherhood attest to the contagious inspiration of the Christian Brothers' teaching. Kwwin High Sclwol, Ga/,vest01z., z93z. More than fifty years before, a small band of Christian Brothers had come to Galveston in 1860 at the invitation of Bishop Odin to open a school for boys. The good Bishop had set his heart on this since he first stepped on Texas soil. One of his last acts before going to New Orleans as successor to Archbishop Blanc was the blessing of the new school opened by the Brothers upon their arrival. Given the reputation of the Brothers as educators, the day and boarding school proved an immediate success, but the outbreak of war and the subsequent bombardment of Galveston blasted the buildings and the hopes of the zealous teachers. The Brothers bravely struggled on until 1867, when a severe epidemic of yellow fever decimated their ranks and they were forced to discontinue the school and leave Texas to return no more to Galveston until 1931. In the meantime the Ursulines and the Dominican Sisters had estab- lished excellent schools for girls but no adequate and corresponding pro- vision had been made for boys. In 1925 the three principal parishes in Galveston decided to establish a central Catholic high school for boys. With the warm approval of Bishop Byrne, it was opened that year and named after Bishop Odin, the first of Texas. Two years later, the old Moody home was bought and the school was moved to its more spacious quarters and renamed Kirwin High School in memory of Monsignor James Kirwin. Until 1931 a combined teaching staff of Ursuline and Dominican Sisters imparted the instruction to the boys. The long-urged request of Monsignor John S. Murphy that the Christian Brothers be asked to take over the school was finally fulfilled in 1931. The Brothers had been previously approached and they had been willing enough to oblige, but they lacked the personnel. The Sisters had patiently carried
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