THE DETROIT CATHOLIC SCHOOL HERITAGE PROJECT

HISTORIC CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK COVERS 3-DETROIT ROSARY HIGH SCHOOL

Rosary High School, sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, opened in Detroit in 1956. The school was closed in 1974, and the building, located at Joy Road and Greenfield in Detroit, was sold to WayneCounty Community College.  Frankly, I was quite surprised to learn that the school was only open for a short 18 years.

 My sister in law graduated from Rosary in 1964, and my wife attended her freshman and sophomore years, before the family moved from the Warrendale area of Detroit (across from Herman Gardens) to what was then the green swamps of Novi.

The school yearbook was called the Canticle, and the 1960 edition, depicted above, can be purchased at Classmates.com.

 

 

HISTORIC DETROIT CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK COVERS 2- THE ST. MARY'S OF REDFORD GILMARIAN-1929 AND THE RUSTIC 1962

 St. Mary of Redford parish was established in 1843.  The current church and parish plant are located on Grand River and Mansfield (just east of Greenfield).  The school, however, was not established until 1919, while Fr. John Gilmary Cook was pastor.  The 1929 yearbook (above), was called the Gilmarian, I presume, as a tribute to Fr. Cook.  Later the name of the yearbook was changed to the Rustic, the name of St. Mary's sports teams.  As my mother's family lived in St. Mary's (my mother, Ruth Coffey Butler, and her two older siblings, Jim Coffey and Betty Coffey graduated from the high school), I know something about the Rustic name.  Grand River and Greenfield was considered far out west back in the early days of St. Mary's and a Rustic is defined as a "simple, rural person".  The parish bulletin is named "The Tractor".

My parents were married at St. Mary's in 1947, and though the parish schools are now closed (the high school in 1985), the parish complex remains a truly beautiful set of buildings, and a gem on Detroit's northwest side.

The 1929 Gilmarian can be found on Classmates.com, here, and a reprint of the 1962 Rustic, on Amazon, here.

 

NEW CATEGORY-HISTORIC DETROIT CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK COVERS

Starting today, each Sunday and Thursday, the Bishop Gallagher Society website will feature an historic yearbook cover from one of Detroit's many Catholic High Schools.  In addition, there will be links where the yearbook might be purchased, and the school and/or alumni website.  If the school is closed, the dates of its existence will be included.

Our first entry comes from Hamtramck, Michigan's St.Florian High School, the year 1954.  The yearbook is called "Florham"-the meaning of that name is unknown to me.The book can be viewed, in its entirety, at Classmates.com.  However, pages can't be downloaded or magnified, and the print is hard to read and the pictures very small on the site.   A reprint can be purchased for about $100, hardcover, $80, softcover.  This appears to be the standard price points.

The high school opened in 1940 in the same building as the elementary school.  Due to declining enrollment, in 2002, the high school merged with Harper Woods Bishop Gallagher High School to become Trinity High School, which held classes in the Harper Woods building.  Trinity closed in 2005.

There is a Facebook group for alumni, here.  Most other alumni links are from the professional alumni companies, like www.Classmates.com.  The parish remains open and has a website, here.