The Two Solitudes - Catholic and Protestant

St. Peters' Boys School from the air, 1959. The last Catholic Sisters who taught classes retired in the late 1960s. (Click on photo to enlarge)

I wasn't planning to post any further photos of St. Peters, but Tuesday's article stirred old memories from a Saint Johner living in Louisiana. Jim Welsh, who lived on Main Street beside the old Public Stairs, attended Dufferin School in the 1930s. He informed me that his school shared a playground with the St. Peters boys and though he recalls no particular animosity, he does recall the schoolyard chant: "Mickey, Mickey Ring the Bell. Proddy, Proddy go to Hell ! " His neighbor and best friend was Art Gatien, who was Catholic and attended St. Peters.

The 1974 B&W photos published with the previous Blog article were taken in Fred O'Brien's classroom in the newer St. Peters' annex. That red brick structure was built in the 1950s, probably by the same contractor who built the conjoined Catholic/Protestant St. Pius X and Crescent Valley elementary schools down in the Rifle Range. The school buildings in the photo (above) were knocked down just a few years ago.

The school site now hosts a cluster of condominiums which should keep the ground warm for 35-40 years. In the 19th Century the land was used as the site of St. Peters' Catholic Cemetery. My grandfather attended the boys school in the 1920s and told the story of pulling a human skull from the soil where the Annex was later built. When the cemetery was cleared a century ago, there must have been a few graves which were missed.

Jim Welsh has particularly fond memories of his principal at DUFFERIN SCHOOL. Teaching was one of the few reliable jobs in Saint John during the Depression, and by 1939 Paul H. Prebble was earning the princely sum of $2000 per year while teachers on his staff averaged $1500. "We all loved him for instituting a class "amateur show" the last hour of the last Friday of the month, He played violin for us. 'Don't know how many times I duetted "Red River Valley" on the mouth-organ with Gordon MacAuley!"

Here is a photo of Mr. Prebble taken from a book of essays he edited for the Central United Baptist Church in Saint John. I have no photo of his colleagues, the principals at St. Peters Boys' and St. Peters' Girls.

WILL YOU HELP?

WELFARE RECIPIENTS IN SAINT JOHN 1960s - Asking is probably a waste of effort, but this space doesn't cost me anything, and there might be one person out there who gives a shit... (Past Blog appeals usually fell on deaf ears, with a few notable exceptions.) I've been working on a project which requires specific reference to Welfare payments in Saint John in the 1960s - It would help to acquire samples of the envelopes the cheques were mailed in, any type of return address letterhead paper, Welfare food, clothing or fuel vouchers, etc. This may be "junk drawer" litter to you, but I would put it to good use.