|
| | HR0126 | | LRB097 10538 GRL 50871 r |
|
|
| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
|
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of |
| 3 | | Representatives are pleased to congratulate the students, |
| 4 | | teachers, and staff of St. Patrick's School on the occasion of |
| 5 | | the school's 155th anniversary; and
|
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The rich history of St. Patrick's School began in |
| 7 | | the late 1850's, when Miss Shepherd conducted parochial school |
| 8 | | services in a house on the 600 block of West Prairie in |
| 9 | | Decatur; after Miss Shepherd left in 1858, various teachers |
| 10 | | took her place in the years leading up to the Civil War, |
| 11 | | teaching children in various houses throughout the city; in |
| 12 | | 1857, Father Thomas Cusack built a modest frame church on the |
| 13 | | 700 block of West Prairie; this building was used as a two-room |
| 14 | | school by Mr. and Mrs. St. Leger; and
|
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Following Mr. and Mrs. St. Leger's departure, |
| 16 | | seven Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary arrived from |
| 17 | | Montreal, Canada and opened the St. Teresa Academy; St. Teresa |
| 18 | | Academy was short-lived, however, and the parochial school came |
| 19 | | back under the guidance of secular teachers; throughout the |
| 20 | | late 1800s, the school was under the tutelage of the Ursuline |
| 21 | | Order, who decided to teach both boys and girls at the academy |
| 22 | | starting in 1882; and
|
|
| | HR0126 | - 2 - | LRB097 10538 GRL 50871 r |
|
|
| 1 | | WHEREAS, In 1912, Father Murphy began to make plans for a |
| 2 | | new school building on Jackson and North Streets, which was |
| 3 | | completed in February of 1913; the following year, the Ursuline |
| 4 | | Order vacated the St. Patrick school grounds and the parochial |
| 5 | | school was renamed St. Patrick School; and
|
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The early 20th century was a period of robust |
| 7 | | growth for St. Patrick School; in 1929, St. Patrick opened a |
| 8 | | high school for boys and girls on the Academy grounds; the |
| 9 | | church's numbers flourished in the subsequent years; and
|
| 10 | | WHEREAS, With the coming of Father Powell in 1945, St. |
| 11 | | Patrick School completely renovated their building and updated |
| 12 | | the school's equipment to become a first-rate school in its own |
| 13 | | right; today, St. Patrick School serves as a leader in quality |
| 14 | | parochial education in the City of Decatur, the State of |
| 15 | | Illinois, and the world at large; therefore, be it
|
| 16 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
| 17 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
| 18 | | we congratulate the students, teachers, and staff of St. |
| 19 | | Patrick's School on the occasion of the school's 155th |
| 20 | | anniversary and wish them continued success and happiness in |
| 21 | | the future; and be it further
|
| 22 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |