175 Mission Moment - Transition into the Twentieth Century

From its foundation in 1879 to 1912 Holy Cross School was under the direction of the Holy Cross priests. The president at the turn of the century was Father Daniel Spillard who served from 1897 until 1912 when he was succeeded by Brother Engelbert Leisse. It is during the last decade of the nineteenth century that the campus on Dauphine Street began to look more like a school. The faculty and administration of the school urged the congregational leadership to build a new building which would be more traditional and efficient for educational purposes. The Provincial Council at Notre Dame approved the new building on April 16, 1895. The Main Building would soon stand as a solid legacy. Only the central section of the building was completed for $15000 and was blessed by the Archbishop of New Orleans, Francis Janssens, on September 8, 1896. It was then that the archbishop suggested that the name be changed from St. Isidore’s to Holy Cross College.

 

The Main Building included tall ceilings, outside gallery doors and transoms into the corridors to take advantage of the breezes coming off the river. The two wings were not added to the building until 1912, though they were part of the 1895 plans. The new building included classrooms, dorms, a chapel and a dining room.

 

 

The city was expanding at this time in the direction of the school and a streetcar line was built along the levee complementing the line that serviced the school. With this new access available to get into the city, a friend of the school built a gazebo to serve as a streetcar shelter at the Dauphine Street gate.

 

 

When Father Spillard ended his long tenure as director in 1912, the brothers assumed total responsibility for the school. Although brothers across America had been primary school teachers for half a century, at the beginning of the twentieth century they found themselves being replaced by sisters. Thus, the brothers educated themselves to teach in high schools. As Holy Cross priests had taken care of the secondary teaching and the brothers taught the lower grades, times were changing, and the brothers gradually assumed teaching positions in upper grades. Brother Engelbert Liesse was the first brother president of Holy Cross. He served in that capacity from 1912 to 1919 and returned for another term in 1927, retiring after one year because of poor health.

 

By the 1890’s and into the twentieth century academic programs, extra-curricular activities, athletics, band and glee club became a significant part of the school program which was typical in all Holy Cross schools as initiated by the founder in the first Holy Cross school established in LeMans.

 

 

The 􀏐irst gym was erected in 1911 at the cost of seven thousand dollars. Besides use for basketball and “indoor baseball,” the gym was used for band and drama club. The proscenium of the stage was 30x15 feet, equipped with four complete sets of scenery, a cyclorama, several drops and all lighting effects needed for a modern production. Tennis courts were added on the side of the gym and a lawn tennis club appears for the first time in the 1911-12 school catalogue.

 

 

Preparing Teachers
To prepare teachers for the many schools the Marianites opened in South Louisiana, the Louisiana State Board of Education in 1916 granted the Sisters the right to open a Normal School, which functioned as Holy Cross Normal. The instruction received at this school assured the young students would be prepared according to the Louisiana State Norms of Education.