St. Monica was built in 1924 at the corner of South Galvez and First Streets in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was built and opened with hopes of erecting a school for four hundred poor Colored Catholic children who had no opportunity of a Catholic education. The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (SBS) taught Sunday School to about one hundred fifty children in the church but they were on their own for the rest of the week.
In less than 6 months, St. Monica Catholic church had a school. The school was dedicated on October 1924 and was run by two SBS sisters who commuted from Xavier University. All of the Hicks siblings and their children attended St. Monica Catholic School. Nace Hicks, Sr., my grandfather, was a founding member of St. Monica and he built built an altar to the Blessed Mother with a place to kneel in the corner of each room,
My mother, Augusta, was in the first graduatiing class. At that time, St. Monica Church and School was grey. In Mom's day, it was a four-room school that housed eight grades. When I attended, St. Monica had at least eight rooms, a room for each grade level.
I can remember my days at St. Monica. We wore uniforms, blue skirts and white blouses. Mom made our uniforms. The blouses were starched heavily, so much so, the collar would scratch our necks when we turned our heads. We lived in Dixie Court at the time and right around the corner from cousins, Brenda and Linda. Each morning we would get dressed, pick up our cousins and continue walking to school with our lunch and book bags.
On October 3, 1987, First Annual Alumni Gathering was held and the Hicks family presented a card catalog and a dictonary stand in honor and memory of Nace Hicks.
The above photograph was taken in 2003 or 2004 before Katrina struck the city. The Hicks/Estes family had a reunion in 2004 and we attended mass in the church on Sunday. After Katrina, St. Monica was shuttered and never reopened. It was merged with two other church parishes and is now a part of Blessed Trinity Catholic Church on Broad Street.
Although, some of has moved out of Louisiana and some have moved to other church parishes, we still consider St. Monica as our home.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for erecting this site, as I am was an attendee of Saint Monica from 1949 to 1954. My dating may not be accurate for I do not remember if I started school at age five or six. My birthdate was July, 9, 1943. My concern with your website is to hopefully locate a few classmates of whom I remember, and whose names may be misspelled, I remember: Kasandra Epps, Helena Touro, Warren Marchand, Lois and Lawrence Chambers, Carol Tony, ? (Girl) Alexis, and Harold Ferdinand. I, too, recall the name Hicks, but do not remember if the Hicks was a girl or boy. More than likely, the name applied to a girl. Oh! My name, was Lois Del Reed while attending Saint Monica.
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ReplyDeleteHi I attended st. Monica 1982. Sister Catherine was the Principle and Sister GIlda was my teacher. I remember Nina my classmate we were always mad at each other and then friends the next day.😊😂crazy childhood stuff. I really enjoyed this school🐦🐦🐦. Wonder how some of my teachers ate doing I now some have passed on🐦🐦
ReplyDeleteI attended St. Monica in 91 thru 93. I a credit Sisters Amy and Ann on the enciteful lady I've become.
ReplyDeleteThe property where St. Monica was located was sold to
ReplyDeleteUrban Impact Ministries after Katrina. The merger with St. Mathias was an odd one, since St. Monica was the more
viable church. Toledano and Washington Ave. were the dividing streets. They merged at Broad into Washington Ave. As whites left the area,the membership of St. Mathias declined. The local Catholic Church hierarchy often failed to recognize the significance of the black (mission)
churches to their communities. They somehow believed that the blacks were on standby waiting for an invitation to
join the white churches.
I attended St. Monica from 1st grade to 6th grade. We lived on First Street two blocks away from St. Monica. I would walk to school during the week and go to mass every Sunday. I remember my catechism classes, my first communion and my confirmation. I remember the bazaars we had in the school yard. I remember the principal who was Mother John Vienney (sp?) I had a good, solid education at St. Monica. I was heartbroken when they skipped me from fifth to sixth grade because I was doing so well in fifth grade. I never got over that, but I did well in sixth grade to despite the traumatic change. LOL All in all, I had a great time and a well-rounded education thanks to the nuns.
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