+ All Categories
Home > Documents > Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... ·...

Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... ·...

Date post: 10-May-2020
Category:
Upload: others
View: 6 times
Download: 0 times
Share this document with a friend
29
1 Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish Sacramento: the Diocese Sacramento: City and County Anti-Catholicism in Sacramento: The Ku Klux Klan, Tom Connelly and “The Catholic Herald,” Prohibition October 24, 1929 & the coming of the Great Depression St. Francis of Assisi Parish – 1930 St. Francis of Assisi Parish During the 1920s St. Francis of Assisi Parish enjoyed the services of five pastors; Fr. Humilis Wiese, Fr. Felix Raab, Fr. Ildephonse Moser, Fr. Solanus Crowley, and Fr. Clement Berberich. Born in 1881, Fr. Humilis Weiss served as pastor of St. Francis for five years, from 1917-1922. Fr. Humillis took his Franciscan vows in 1902 and was ordained in 1907. He died in 1960 and is buried in the mausoleum at Mission Santa Barbara. 1 Fr. Felix Raab served two terms as pastor of St. Francis, the first from 1912 to 1914, the second from 1922 to 1923. Fr. Felix was born in Germany in 1871 and immigrated to the United States at the age of fourteen. He professed his Franciscan vows in 1891 at Teutopolis, Illinois as a member of the Sacred Heart Province and was ordained in 1897. He died in residence at St. Elizabeth’s, in Oakland, California on Holy Thursday 1963. He is buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Oakland.
Transcript
Page 1: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

1

Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish Sacramento: the Diocese Sacramento: City and County Anti-Catholicism in Sacramento: The Ku Klux Klan, Tom Connelly and “The Catholic Herald,” Prohibition October 24, 1929 & the coming of the Great Depression St. Francis of Assisi Parish – 1930

St. Francis of Assisi Parish

During the 1920s St. Francis of Assisi Parish enjoyed the

services of five pastors; Fr. Humilis Wiese, Fr. Felix Raab, Fr.

Ildephonse Moser, Fr. Solanus Crowley, and Fr. Clement

Berberich. Born in 1881, Fr. Humilis Weiss served as pastor of St.

Francis for five years, from 1917-1922. Fr. Humillis took his Franciscan vows in

1902 and was ordained in 1907. He died in 1960 and is buried in the mausoleum

at Mission Santa Barbara.1

Fr. Felix Raab served two terms as pastor of St. Francis, the

first from 1912 to 1914, the second from 1922 to 1923. Fr. Felix was

born in Germany in 1871 and immigrated to the United States at the

age of fourteen. He professed his Franciscan vows in 1891 at

Teutopolis, Illinois as a member of the Sacred Heart Province and

was ordained in 1897. He died in residence at St. Elizabeth’s, in Oakland,

California on Holy Thursday 1963. He is buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Oakland.

Page 2: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

2

On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners

awoke to a light snow storm. As they approached the church for Sunday Mass

they walked through the still falling snow to see the church dusted in a mantle of

white.

Fr. Ildephonse Moser served as pastor of St. Francis

from 1923–1924, where, among other duties, he supervised the

construction of the school. The new St. Francis School at 25th

and K Streets was dedicated in 1924. Of thoroughly modern

design the building cost $121,000.

Fr. Ildephonse was born in 1876. He professed

his Franciscan vows in 1896 and was ordained in

1902. He died at St. Joseph’s Hospital, San Francisco

in 1951 and is buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery,

Oakland.

Fr. Solanus Crowley served as pastor of St. Francis

parish from 1924 to 1928. Under his supervision the new friary

(1925), school gymnasium and auditorium were completed

(1926). Born in 1887, Fr. Solanus professed his Franciscan vows

in 1909 and was ordained in 1918. Fr. Solanus died unexpectedly

on November 28, 1944 at the St. Francis friary he had helped build. He was fifty-

seven years old and the previous evening he had been a principal speaker at the

banquet celebrating the parish’s Golden Jubilee.2

Page 3: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

3

On Thursday Christmas Eve 1925 St. Francis of Assisi parish celebrated

a Midnight Solemn High Mass with the choir signing “Holy Night,” “Kyrie Eleison,”

“Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” “Agnus Dei,” and “Adeste Fideles,” among other pieces.

The music for the Christmas Day 8:30 AM Low Mass was provided by the

Children’s Choir who sang Christmas hymns.3

In January 1927 St. Francis of Assisi

Parish recorded a census of 3,003

individuals and 1,114 families, which

included 1,433 males and 1,570 females.

The school enrolled four hundred and fifty-

two students – two hundred and thirty-four

boys, and two hundred and eighteen girls.

By all measures it was a thriving parish.4

Fr. Clement Berberich served as St. Francis of Assisi pastor

from 1928 to 1931. Fr. Clement was born in San Francisco in

1881; he professed his Franciscan vows at Santa Barbara in

1904, and was ordained in 1909. He died at St. Joseph Hospital

in San Francisco in 1953 at the age of seventy-one. He is buried

in Holy Cross Cemetery, San Francisco.

During Fr. Clement’s pastorate Anton Dorndorf was hired

in 1929 as musical director of both St. Francis of Assisi Parish

church and school. Mr. Dorndorf also served as director of the

Turner Harmonie for over forty years ending only with his death in

1970.5

Anton Dorndorf became Sacramento’s Music Meister. At St. Francis he

taught humanities and music classes in the school, conducted music for regular

weekly masses and the annual Christmas and Palm Sunday masses featuring

full orchestra and choruses. In addition, he served as choral instructor at St.

Joseph’s Academy and Christian Brothers High School, music director at Bishop

Armstrong and Loretto High Schools, and founder and director of the Elks Lodge

Page 4: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

4

mixed choir. During the 1950s and 1960s he conducted large mixed choirs at

Christ the King and Mary’s Hour Rallies.

The new Turn Verein hall at 3349 J Street was dedicated in 1926. Thus,

when Anton Dorndorf was hired in 1929, he traveled less than eight blocks from

St. Francis of Assisi church to his work with the Turner Harmonie.

Sacramento: The Diocese

In December 1920, Patrick J. Keane was appointed co-

adujutor to Bishop Thomas Grace. Following Bishop Grace’s

death on December 27, 1921, Patrick J. Keane was appointed

Sacramento’s third bishop in March 1922.

Under Bishop Keane Immaculate Conception parish in

Oak Park, established in 1909, expanded its facilities, and two new parishes

were established: St. Joseph’s in 1924 in North Sacramento and Sacred Heart

(St. Stephens) in 1926 in East Sacramento.

Grace Day Home, which had been dedicated by Bishop Grace in

December 1920, became the first licensed day-care center in California in 1922.

In 1923 when St. Stephens at 3rd and O Streets closed the students and teachers

were transferred to Grace Day Home.

Holy Guardian Angels school opened in

1923 at 730 S Street – in 1930 it enrolled three

hundred and forty students. In 1924 the new

Christian Brothers high school opened at 21st and

Y Streets. In 1926 St. Joseph’s Academy

dedicated their new elementary school.

12) Mercy Hospital – Diocese of Sacramento Archives

Mater Misericordiae Hospital opened at 40th and

J Streets in 1925. It had a capacity for one hundred and

fifty-five beds and thirty-five bassinets. It also housed the

nursing school. In 1934 the name was formally changed

to Mercy Hospital.6

Page 5: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

5

In 1926 a gym was added to Christian Brothers High School at 21st and Y

Streets. Also in 1926, an elementary school was dedicated at St. Joseph’s

Academy. In 1930 St. Joseph’s Academy enrolled five hundred and twelve girls.

By 1926 Sacramento had seven parishes – The Cathedral, St. Francis of

Assisi, St. Mary’s, Immaculate Conception, St. Elizabeth’s, St. Joseph’s and

Sacred Heart. Sacred Heart was established in 1926 as St. Stephens, but

renamed “Sacred Heart of Jesus” in 1929.

In 1929 the diocese opened St. Mary’s Cemetery at 65th Street and 21st

Avenue to augment the old St. Joseph Cemetery on 21st Street, just south of

Broadway. The St. Mary’s mausoleum opened in 1934.

Sacramento’s third bishop, the Rev. Patrick Keane died

on September 1, 1928. On March 4, 1929 Robert Armstrong

was appointed Sacramento’s fourth bishop. He would serve

almost twenty-eight years until his death in January 1957.

In 1930 the Diocese of Sacramento comprised the same

area it had in 1920: 53,400 square miles in California, and 38,162 square miles in

Nevada, for a total of 91,562 square miles.

In 1930 the diocese had ninety-two priests - an increase of twenty-two

since 1920. In 1930 the diocese had one hundred and thirty-three churches - an

increase of twenty-six since 1920. There were 2,737 Catholic students in the

diocese, and the total number of youth under Catholic care stood at 3,044 - an

increase of four hundred and thirty-eight since 1920, comprising a seventeen per

cent increase. The total Catholic population of the diocese stood at 60,315, an

increase of nine and a half per cent since 1920.7

Growth in the Diocese of Sacramento, in the number of churches, priests,

schools, parishioners and students, reflected the general growth and prosperity

of Sacramento City and County in the 1920s.

Sacramento: City and County

Standing on the front steps of the church in 1930 the St. Francis of Assisi

parishioner would see significant cultural and architectural additions to the

Page 6: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

6

neighborhood. The Eastern Star Temple at 2719 K Streets was dedicated in

1928.

Behind Sutter’s Fort rose the six-story Sutter Hospital facing L Street on the

corner of 28th Street, which opened in 1923.

The hospital was organized by a consortium of Sacramento physicians,

whose experience in the 1918–1919 influenza epidemic convinced them that the

city needed more hospital beds. About 4,500 cases of flu were reported; four

hundred and seventy-nine Sacramentans lost their lives. At the height of the

epidemic the City Library served as a hospital, and prostitutes “were gratefully

accepted to do volunteer nursing.”8

The Masonic Auditorium stood at the southwest corner of 28th and L

Streets and next to it the Tuesday Club at 2722 L Street. The Pioneer

Congregational Church at 2700 L Street was dedicated in 1926.

In 1930 the city’s population stood at 93,750 - an addition of 27,842 over

1920 and a forty-two percent increase. City residents comprised sixty-six per

cent of the county’s population.

In 1930 the county’s population stood at 48,249 - an addition of 23,128

over 1920 and a ninety-two percent increase. County resident’s comprised thirty-

four percent of the county population, but they were growing at a far faster rate

than city residents. The total Sacramento city/county population in 1930 was

141,999 - an addition of 50,790 over 1920 and a thirty-six per cent increase.

Page 7: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

7

These numbers reflect an early move to the suburbs and

outlying areas such as Carmichael, Citrus Heights,

Orangevale, Fair Oaks, and North Sacramento which was

incorporated in 1924.

In the prosperous decade of the 1920s downtown

Sacramento developed a skyline, and a number of historic landmarks were

erected. Among them:

– the 14 story California Western States Life Building at 926

J Street, the city’s first “true” skyscraper,

– the 14 story Elks Building at 11th and J, the city’s second

skyscraper,9

– the Weinstock-Lubin department store at 12th and K,

– the Senator Hotel at 12th and L,

– the Southern Pacific Depot at 5th and I, and

– the Memorial Auditorium at 16th and J Streets.

In addition, both State Buildings #1 (the Unruh Building) and #2 (the

Courts/Library Building) of The Capitol Extension

were completed.

The 1920s also saw the addition of new food

processing facilities. The California Packing Company

plant at 17th and C (known as Calpak #11), and a

California Canning Company facility at Front & Q Streets, (known as Calpak

#12), was acquired by Calpak, upgraded and enlarged The American Can

Company broke ground for its new plant at 32nd and C Streets in 1926. By the

end of the decade, the Philips Milling Co. at Front and P Streets was one of four

rice mills in the Sacramento area.

By 1930 canning and preserving were Sacramento’s leading industries,

followed by railroad manufacturing and maintenance, slaughtering, flour and rice

mills, bakeries, and auto repair.10

To provide more power, PG&E built a 3,000,000 cubic ft. gas storage tank

at Front and T Streets. Additionally, in 1923, Sacramento voters answering a

Page 8: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

8

need for greater control over their electrical power costs approved organization of

the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Beleaguered by law suits brought by

PG&E and Great Western Power, SMUD would not begin full operation until

1946.

During the 1920s Sacramentans also initiated a number of public and

private improvements. The 10,000 seat Moreing Field, a new home for the

Sacramento Solons of the Pacific Coast League opened at Riverside and Y

Streets in 1922. A $100,000 reinforced concrete structure, it replaced the old

wooden Buffalo Park grandstand. The Solons games were as much a civic event

as they were a sporting event; on opening day Sacramento children were

released from school to attend the game.

In 1923 the city used $250,000 bequeathed by

former mayor William Land to buy two hundred and thirty-six

acres of marshland north of Sutterville Road.11 The Land Park Zoo opened in 1927 with animals transferred from

McKinley, Southside and McClatchy Parks. The nine-hole

Land Park Golf Course opened in 1929.12

On December 31, 1923 President Calvin

Coolidge pressed a button in Washington, D. C.

“that illuminated the City Plaza and caused water

to flow from its fountain, heralding the completion

of the city’s new filtration plant.” On the front of

the pumping station are inscribed the words, “And

everything shall live withersoever the river cometh,

Ezekiel 47:9”13 For the first time since 1849

Sacramentans enjoyed clear, clean, healthy

drinking water.

In 1924 Sacramento High School opened at 34th and Y Streets in Oak

Park. McGeorge School of Law officially opened in 1924; it

began as a night school in downtown Sacramento in 1921.

Page 9: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

9

In 1924 Weinstock, Lubin and Company opened its new store at 12th and

K Streets on the former site of Christian Brothers School. Simon J. Lubin, son of

the store’s co-founder David Lubin, worked diligently to insure that the

department store, the Senator Theater at 912 K Street and the Senator Hotel at

12th and L Streets all opened within a few months of each other.14

With a ballroom, bowling alley and

billiards parlor on the second floor that

extended from K to L Streets, The Senator Theater was an entertainment destination. The

Senator Hotel, located across L Street from the

State Capitol, became an important center for

city leaders, state politicians and industry

representatives. Modeled after the Farnese

Palace in Rome, It was heralded as the “finest

hotel on the entire Pacific Coast.”15

The new Southern Pacific Depot opened at 5th and I Streets was

dedicated on February 27, 1926. The depot was Italianate in design and featured

a large mural of the 1869 Golden Spike ceremony. It was billed as “one of the

most modern stations on the Pacific Coast and one of the finest structures in

Sacramento.” As a harbinger of changing transportation trends, 1926 was also

the peak year for passenger train traffic at the depot with thirty-two trains in

operation daily.16

In line with these changing transportation patterns, the first

transcontinental highway, U. S. 40, opened in 1926. Running

some 3300 miles from San Francisco to Atlantic City, New

Jersey, it entered Sacramento from the west on the old M Street

Bridge, ran to 10th Street in front of the Capitol, jogged over to

16th Street running past the Governors Mansion, and thence

across the American River to Del Paso Blvd, connecting to

Auburn Blvd and on east to the Atlantic coast.17

Page 10: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

10

In 1926 PG&E’s streetcar lines ended at 46th and J Streets, and in 1929

the company purchased their last electric trolleys. By the end of the decade one

in three Sacramentans owned a car. Throughout much of the twentieth century,

the city had one of the highest per capita automobile ownership rates in the

United States.

In 1926 Sacramento Junior College opened on its new Freeport Blvd. campus.

The college was organized in 1916 by Sacramento High School math and

science teacher, Belle Cooledge, when the high school was located at 19th and K

Streets. Both Sacramento Junior College and the McGeorge School of Law

earned national recognition for educational excellence.

Costing $850,000, Sacramento Memorial Auditorium opened on

February 22, 1927. With a seating capacity of 5,000, it was known to some as

“the Barn.” Lloyd Bruno recalled performances there by Vladimir Horowitz, Sergei

Rachmaninov, Jascha Heifetz, Paul Robeson singing “Othello,” “A Midsummer

Night’s Dream, and Puccini’s “The Girl of the Golden West,” wherein the lead

tenor sang the line “I’m Dick Johnson of Sacramento.”18

Page 11: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

11

Over the main entrance inside the foyer are inscribed the names of three

Sacramento men who gave their lives in the “Spanish American War 1898,” and

one hundred and forty-eight Sacramentans who give their lives in the “World War

1917-1918,” among them at least three women.19

Over the center entrance to the auditorium itself are inscribed the words,

“Dedicated to those who made the supreme sacrifice in service of the United

States.”

Following the formal opening, the San Carlos Opera Association offered

“Aida,” as the auditorium’s inaugural performance on Monday, February 27th to a

packed house. On March 15th Will Rogers entertained Sacramentans with his

one-man performance, and for almost sixty years thereafter Memorial Auditorium

played host to Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, the annual

Shrine/Polack Bros. Circus (for which schools were closed a half day so that

children could see the circus), the Harlem Globe Trotters, boxing matches, ballet,

symphony and opera performances, conventions, auto dealer shows and many

other events.20

High School graduation ceremonies which included Catholic as well as

public schools were held at the Memorial Auditorium each May and June. Thus,

St. Francis of Assisi parishioners, in company with growing numbers of fellow

Sacramentans came to treasure the Memorial Auditorium as a repository of

individual and community memories.

On September 17, 1927,

Charles Lindbergh’s visit to Sacramento

was one of the highlights of the decade.

Following his solo transatlantic flight in

May 1927, Lindbergh barnstormed the

country. Landing at Mather Field he was

greeted by a crowd estimated to be more

than 10,000. Along the thirty mile

motorcade to Moreing Field and in the

Page 12: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

12

packed stands, another 25,000 Sacramentans paid homage to “Lucky Lindy.” That

evening he was the city’s guest of honor at a banquet at the Senator Hotel. Resting

on Sunday, he flew on to Reno on Monday, resuming his national barnstorming

tour.

The Alhambra Theater at

31st and K Streets opened on

September 24, 1927. With 1,850

seats the theater billed itself as “A

Palatial Million Dollar Temple

Dedicated to Moving Pictures and

Art.” The event was attended by

local dignitaries, Hollywood stars and

droves of Sacramentans.

Alhambra management was especially proud of their Vitaphone, an early

motion picture sound system, which they referred to as “the climax of picturedom.”

The first talkie feature-length film, “The Jazz Singer,” played at the theater soon

after it opened.21

With its Concert Grand Organ, and lavish exterior and interior the

Alhambra became known as “The Showplace of Sacramento;” and 31st Street was

renamed Alhambra Blvd.

In addition to new movie theatres the 1920s were “Sacramento’s golden

decade of movie-making.” Forty-five feature-length films were shot in and around

Sacramento between 1914 and 1935; thirty-four of these in the 1920s. The large

majority of the films featured the Sacramento River and Delta.22 As a result, film

budgets added significantly to Sacramento’s prosperity in the 1920s.

Anti-Catholicism in Sacramento:

Two other trends of the 1920s were less promising – the rebirth of the Ku

Klux Klan and Prohibition. Each was anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant, thus having

the power to make St. Francis of Assisi parishioners feel uneasy if not threatened.

Page 13: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

13

The Ku Klux Klan

The rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan in1915 and its growth

in the 1920s can be attributed a number of factors.23 Among

them, the 1915 release of D. W. Griffith’s movie, “The Birth

of A Nation,” romanticized the original Klan, and featured

extensive quotes from Woodrow Wilson’s History of the American People.

The organizational stimulus for the new Klan

came from Colonel William Joseph Simmons of

Atlanta, Georgia, when on Thanksgiving night 1915

he led his followers to the top of Stone Mountain

where they burned a giant cross that could be seen

throughout Atlanta. There Simmons proclaimed

himself the Imperial Wizard of the Invisible Empire

of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and the second Ku Klux Klan was founded. He

announced that “any pure, patriotic, native-born white Protestant American [male]

citizen over the age of eighteen was eligible to join the noble and mystic order.” 24

The Ku Klux Klan became a national force during the 1920s. “By 1925,

perhaps 5,000,000 men (almost every sixth adult male) were members, including

a large minority of mid-western and western legislators.”25 These included the

governors of Texas, Indiana, and Oregon and the mayors of Atlanta,

Indianapolis, and Denver.26 The Ku Klux Klan was foremost of all anti-Catholic,

anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic, and racist, and was strongly committed to enforcing

Prohibition.

The Klan came to the Sacramento area in early May 1921 when as many

as four thousand attended a rally on Lower Stockton Road about ten miles south

of the city. Drawing men largely from San Francisco, Oakland and Alameda this

meeting was reported to be the largest Klan rally ever held in Northern

California.27

Page 14: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

14

In September 1921, City Manager, Clyde L. Seavey, voiced his adamant opposition to the Klan:

“The Ku Klux Klan will never be permitted to gain a

foothold in Sacramento as long as I am able to

suppress it.” 28

Klan members later stated that the Sacramento Klan had been organized

in the spring of 1922, and that its first initiation had taken place at the Odd

Fellows Temple at 9th and K Streets.29

The Sacramento Bee vigorously investigated Klan activity. On

Monday, April 10, 1922 the Bee reported that “the Ku Klux Klan raised its

hooded head last night for the first time in Sacramento.” On Palm

Sunday, April 9th, six Klansmen in full regalia marched into an evening

service at Westminster Presbyterian church and presented the Rev.

William E. Harrison with a gift of $50. The Rev. Harrison was quoted in

the Bee as saying that the gift was “inspired by the Almighty.”30

In another article in the April 10th edition the Bee reported that Klan

organizer, Edgar I. Fuller, was sworn in as a Deputy Sheriff on March

29, and gave his residence as the Traveler’s Hotel.31

The Bee reported on April 26th that on the previous night two hundred and

fifty to three hundred Sacramento men took an oath of allegiance to the Invisible

Empire before a “fiery cross” in a meeting at Muddox Hall at 5th Avenue and 35th

Street in Oak Park.32

On April 27, the City Council approved by a seven to one vote a measure

proposed by City Manager Clyde Seavey that the council had the power and

would discharge any city employee who belonged to or sympathized with the Ku

Klux Klan.

On May 5th 1922, the Bee published a list of one hundred and forty-four

Sacramento men whose names appeared on membership lists seized in a raid

on Klan headquarters in Los Angeles.33

Page 15: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

15

On May 16th a huge initiation ceremony was held on Natomas Lands near

Folsom. On May 18th the Bee reported the names of those whose automobiles

had been parked near the Natomas Klan rally.

On May 29 Superior Court Judges C. O. Busick and Peter J. Shields

issued restraining orders barring the Sacramento City Council from trying alleged

Klan members. On June 1, the Bee reported that the Ku Klux Klan case before

the City Council against ten city employees would be delayed due to the Superior

Court order.

On June 10th another huge initiation ceremony was held on the John Elliott

Ranch near Franklin. This event, cosponsored by the Stockton and Sacramento

Klans, drew a crowd of 8,000 to 10,000, with an estimated 500 to 1,000

initiates.34

Reverend William E. Harrison of Westminster Presbyterian

Church and the Reverend W. A. Redburn of Wesley Methodist Church,

were especially vitriolic in their attacks on Catholics and Catholicism.

Redburn charged that “nearly all the bawdy houses, bootleg joints, and

other dives are owned or controlled by Romanists.” He also suggested

that “convents were places where beautiful women were kept behind

bars for questionable purposes.”35

The Sacramento Klan took an active role in the 1922 primary and

general elections. Advancing a “Good Government Ticket” the Klan

endorsed a number of candidates for Sacramento County office. The

Sacramento Klan also began circulating petitions demanding that the City

Council remove City Manager Clyde Seavey for failure to enforce prohibition and

other ordinances.36

A few days before the primary election on Tuesday, August 29, the

Sacramento Klan began circulating what the Bee later called a “dodger” or false

pamphlet allegedly sponsored by the Catholic Welfare League, referring to a

Bishop Gilmour who urged all Catholics to vote as a bloc. In their “rebuttal” the

Klan urged all Protestants to get out and vote their interests; for Klan backed

Good Government Ticket candidates.37

Page 16: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

16

The Sacramento Klan continued its activities into the fall of 1922,

attempting to influence the November 7th elections. But the Sacramento Klan

quickly imploded when the Bee reported on October 31, that Kleagle Fuller had

dissolved the local Klan, and brought charges against H. Hugh Sydenham for

burglary. Sydenham in turn brought charges against Fuller for embezzlement. In

his capacity as Deputy Sheriff, Fuller initially issued warrants for the arrest of five

Sacramento Klansmen, stating that he intended to issue warrants for one

hundred and seventy-four more Klansmen.38

During the first days of November 1922 the Bee covered in detail the

Klan’s continuing disintegration. On November 1, the front-page Bee article was

headlined “Veil of Secrecy Torn, Klan Plots Exposed.” On November 2, the front-

page Bee article was headlined, “Complete Expose of Local Klan’s Workings

Given by Ex-Member,” while below the fold on page one appeared the head-line:

“Divorce Action Was Sought By Fuller’s Wife,” datelined Oakland, California.

Fuller had earlier claimed that his wife and four-year old daughter had been

kidnapped by Sacramento Klansmen, but the Oakland police declared that Mrs.

Fuller was safe in Oakland.39

The November 1 and November 2 front-page Bee stories contained

extensive quotes from Klansmen Myrle Moran and P. J. Monihan regarding the

inner workings of the Sacramento Klan. Klansman County Assessor Erwin was

quoted as stating at an August 19th meeting that he had raised the assessment

on St. Joseph’s cemetery from $1,000 to more than $2,000 an acre bringing the

tax bill to $10,000 – and he “was going to force the

Catholics to pay taxes on it.” 40

In a November 3rd, Bee article, Klan members

where quoted as stating that Fuller spent a lot of time

“hitting at the Pope of Rome and the Catholic Church

in general.” A November 4th Bee article stated that the

official Klan newspaper, “The Crusader,” carried

“vituperative abuse for all Catholics.”

Page 17: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

17

The final Bee article on Fuller and the Sacramento Klan appeared on

November 10, with news that E. I. Fuller had been cleared of all charges in the

August primary election fraud case, wherein the Sacramento Klan had circulated

the “dodger” Catholic Welfare League flyer. Klansman P. J. Monihan testified for

the prosecution, but the charges were dismissed due to lack of evidence.

Thus the Sacramento Klan dissolved, Kleagle Fuller disappeared from the

city, and a short, but ominous chapter of Sacramento history came to a close. 41

Tom Connelly and “The Catholic Herald”

Between April 1922 and the end of February 1923 Tom Connelly

published approximately fifty articles on the KKK in The Catholic Herald. Of these

articles at least seven referred to specific KKK activities in Sacramento City and

County.42

Thomas Augustus Connelly was the editor and

publisher of The Catholic Herald, Sacramento’s first Catholic

newspaper, from its founding in 1908 until his death in

1929.43 Although the weekly The Catholic Herald was not

the official newspaper of the Diocese, Tom Connelly

enjoyed the strong endorsement of Sacramento’s bishops

before and after the 1922-23 period here surveyed. 44

The question may arise, “Why then did Connelly not

devote more coverage to the KKK in Sacramento?” And the answer that comes

first to mind is that he ran a small shop – he simply did not have the resources to

assign his own reporters, as he did not have any.

Page 18: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

18

He did, however, have his own talents and

skills which he devoted energetically to exposing

the dangers of the KKK to Sacramento Catholics

– often he did so with witty, satirical, whimsical or

biting headlines and text. For example: “Hoods

and Nightgowns Bob Up in Local Church,” – April

15, 1922; “Knights of the Tar Pot and Horsewhip,” – April 15, 1922; “Heroes of

Lash and Tar Bucket,” -- May 6, 1922; and “Criminal Possibilities of Coo Coo

Mask,” -- October 7, 1922.

Another line of thought that comes to mind is that Catholics were a

minority in the United States in the 1920s; an often embattled minority which

Catholic scholars now recognize as a “ghetto mentality.” In 1920 the U. S.

Catholic population stood at 23 million out of 106 million people – about twenty-

two percent -- a distinct minority.

From Connelly’s reporting it appears that Catholic Bishops and clergy

across the U. S. remained largely silent on the KKK, judiciously preferring to

have Freemasons, Protestant clergy, VFW leaders, city councils, state

legislatures and others carry the fight to the KKK.45

To the question, “Was the KKK a threat to the Sacramento diocese and to

its parishioners?” the answer would seem to be yes. When eight to ten thousand

fellow Sacramentans attend a KKK initiation ceremony, a Sacramento

parishioner would have cause for concern. Historian Steven M. Avella has noted

that “the size of these rallies must have distressed Catholics.”46

When city policemen and county sheriff’s were members of the KKK, there

would be greater cause for concern. Especially as Sheriff Ellis Jones had ‘hired’

Kleagle Fuller, making him a gun carrying officer of the law.47

Moreover when City Manager Clyde Seavey requested the City Council

fire six policemen, three fire captains and the city harbor master, who were dues

paying KKK members the Council refused. Seavey was attacked as a “Red” and

lacking the support of the council, he resigned. Because Seavey was strongly

Page 19: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

19

supported by the Bee, it seems that this KKK victory would be unsettling if not

threatening to Sacramento’s Catholic parishioners.48

One might also point out that the KKK was only active in Sacramento from

April to October 1922, and the local chapter collapsed from infighting. It is

probable that Kleagle Fuller was inept if not grandiose, but this only makes the

record of the KKK’s successes in Sacramento the more remarkable and

disconcerting.

If a man as inept as Kleagle Fuller could recruit hundreds of

Sacramentans – including policemen, firemen, physicians, attorneys, a number

of city and county elected officials, and numerous Protestant clergy, as well as

organize events attended by thousands, then membership and interest in the

KKK must have had a strong attraction in its own right.

Thus nation-wide Klan membership peaked in the mid-1920s at between

four and five million members. As the prosperity of the 1920s gave way to the

adversities of the Great Depression, membership in the Klan fell sharply. 49

It seems that Tom Connelly specifically understood both the threat of the

KKK to Sacramento and its larger threat to the nation. He therefore devoted his

energy to exposing the KKK in Sacramento, and bringing its national threat to the

attention of Sacramento parishioners.

Prohibition in Sacramento

Page 20: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

20

Prohibition is one of the central themes of the 1920s. In 1919 the Volstead

Act and the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment made the prohibition of

beverages containing more than 0.5 per cent alcohol illegal in the United States.

Prohibition went into effect at midnight on January 16, 1920.

Yet, Prohibition was not universally welcomed. In 1920 the federal

prohibition director called Sacramento “one of the wettest places in California.”

On January 20, 1925 federal agents in Sacramento emptied more than 10,000

bottles of liquor; the next day they poured out another 1,000 cases. In addition

they seized about $10,000 worth of copper piping. A California prohibition agent

testified that “Sacramento was the most flagrant [violator] and San Francisco was

very bad.”50

Sacramento historian James Henley has said “There was a full-blown

saloon that never stopped operating during Prohibition – in the Capitol.”51

Additionally, when they began operation in 1927 the “Delta King” and the “Delta

Queen” became popular as floating saloons and gambling houses.

As the Great Depression deepened, Prohibition became increasingly

unpopular. In both the 1928 and 1932 presidential elections Democrats favored

repeal.

Page 21: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

21

In 1928, Alfred Smith was the first Catholic to run for president. He served

four terms as governor of New York State, before losing by a landslide to Herbert

Hoover in the 1928 presidential election. Historians have noted that Smith was

defeated by “the three P’s – Prejudice, Prohibition and Prosperity.”52 Nonetheless

Smith carried Sacramento County by 50.8 per cent to 48.2 percent, winning

1,078 more votes than Hoover. No doubt many diocesan parishioners voted for

their fellow-Catholic.

October 24, 1929 and the coming of the Great Depression

In October 1929 the New York stock market collapsed wiping out $30

billion in assets in one week. By the end of 1930 U. S. unemployment stood at

8.9 percent with 4.5 million people unemployed.

In 1930 Sacramento’s Community Chest found itself $32,000 short of its

goal. The county registrar of charities, Mary Judge, was overwhelmed by

unemployed seeking benefits and the police were called to her office to restore

order. By 1932 there would be 27,000 unemployed in Sacramento – these

numbers would grow in the months and years ahead.

In response to the Great Depression Bishop Armstrong hired Mary Ellen

Grogan a social worker from Los Angeles to coordinate child care and other

social programs. He also opened the Catholic Welfare Bureau.53

St. Francis of Assisi Parish – 1930

In 1930 Fr. Clement Berberich was serving as pastor of St. Francis of

Assisi Parish; assisting him were Frs. George Wehmeyer, Anselm Boehmer, and

Athanasius Morath. St. Francis elementary school enrolled four hundred and

twenty-five students taught by eleven Franciscan sisters.

In addition the Franciscan sisters also staffed Grace Day Home where

seven sisters taught one hundred and twenty students. In 1929 in cooperation

with the diocese they opened the Japanese Catholic Mission adjacent to Grace

Day Home where they provided education to children and social services to

adults.54 At Holy Angel’s School eight Franciscan sisters taught three hundred

and forty students.

Page 22: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

22

Thus in the fall of 1930 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners could be

thankful for the contributions of their parish – centering on the church at the

corner of 26th and K Streets, but also including a new elementary school, a new

friary, gymnasium and auditorium. And not least of all the Franciscan Sisters

Convent on the northwest corner of 26th and K Streets from which the sisters

served so many – Catholic and others – in Sacramento.

Page 23: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

23

Notes

1 Necrology, Volumes 1 and 2, Franciscan Province of Santa Barbara 2 Necrology, and “Franciscans lose noted Padre,” The Tidings, December 8, 1944. Former St. Francis of Assisi pastor Fr. Gregory Wooler presided at Fr. Solanus’ Funeral attended by priests and students of the Mission Santa Barbara Seminary. He is buried in the mausoleum at Mission Santa Barbara. Fr. Gregory served as pastor from 1937 to 1943. 3 “St. Francis Parish Bulletin, Christmas Program, 1925” 4 “Status, St. Francis Parish, January 1, 1927” 5 “Sacramento’s Catholic Schools’ ‘Man of Music” is Dead,” Catholic Herald, February 12, 1970; “Requiem Mass Today for Choral Director,” Sacramento Union, February 12, 1970. 6 “Who We Are: A history rich in caring,” www.mercygeneral.org/Who_We_Are/history 7 Directory, Diocese of Sacramento, 1930 8 Rodgerson, Adobe, Brick and Steel, pp. 52-53. 9 While historic records list that both of these buildings at 14 stories, the commercial website, Emporis, lists each at 15 stories. In early 2009, the refurbished California Western States Life Building reopened as the upscale Citizens Hotel. 10 Reid, “People had money to spend . . . “ Sacramento Bee, “Our Century: 1920-1929.” 11 The site was drained, 4000 trees were planted and the resulting park was named for William Land. 12 Mahan, “William Land,” 1997, p. 17 13 Wolman, “Sanitary Engineering,” p. 450; Boghosian, “Architecture,” p. 290; McGowan, “Water,” 1978. Located just south of the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers, at the time it was the largest filtration plant on the Pacific Coast. 14 Mrs. Simon J. Lubin, “Reminiscences,” Bancroft Library, 1954 15 www.senatorofficebuilding.com The Palazzo Farnese in Rome, currently the French Embassy, has been judged “the most imposing Italian palace of the sixteenth century” [High Renaissance]. 16 California Historical Landmark #594. The depot is also on the National Register of Historic Places. See www.californiastaterailoadmusuem.org 17 The Federal Highway Act of 1924 created the funding for U S 40. In 1919, when this route was called “The Lincoln Highway,” Lt. Col. Dwight David Eisenhower was assigned to the first transcontinental Army convoy. Made up of eighty-one vehicles the convoy left Washington, DC on July 7, arriving in San Francisco on September 6. It traveled an average of fifty-six miles per day, at about six miles per hour. Sacramento Bee, July 7, 2009, p.B2. Eisenhower recalled this as one of the worst experiences of his life, as the “Lincoln Highway” was merely a series or roads ranging from poured concrete, to tracks

Page 24: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

24

across quicksand and alkali mud. This trip is one of the reasons he was such a strong advocate of the 1956 National Highway and Defense Act, creating the Interstate system. Via current Interstate-80, the trip would cover 2,935 miles 18 Bruno, Old River Town, pp. 99 -101. 19 Note that in 1927 World War I was referred to as “World War;” World War II still being twelve years in the future. 20 “A Theatre Reborn,” Sacramento Bee, November 10, 1996. 21 “The Premier, September 24, 1927 – Alhambra Theatre,” and Reid, “Alhambra was the crown jewel …” Sacramento Bee, 1920-1929. 22 Frombose, Paul, “Golden Decade,” Golden Notes, Summer 1992. Films that used the river as a setting included such titles as “Huckleberry Finn,” “Tom Sawyer,” “Show Boat,” “Steamboat Bill, Jr.,” and many others.” 23 The first Ku Klux Klan was formed in 1865 in Tennessee and suppressed with the 1871 Federal Anti-Klan Act. 24 Talaga, The Ku Klux Klan¸ p. 19. 25 Dictionary of American History, 2000, p. 218 26 Jackson, The Ku Klux Klan, pp. vii – viii. 27 Von Brauchitsch, Dennis, “The Ku Klux Klan in California: 1921-1924,” 1967, p. 126. San Francisco Examiner, May 6, 1921, p. 14 28 Von Brauchitsch, p. 127. San Francisco Examiner, September 19, 1921, p. 2. 29 Von Brauchitsch, p. 161. 30 Von Brauchitsch, p. 127 ff., Examiner, April 10, 1922, p. 13; Bee, April 10, 1922, “Six Ku Klux Klan Visit Local Church and Present Pastor With $50.” p. 1; see also, “The Ku Klux Klan in Sacramento, 1922,” Golden Notes, Vol. 27, #2, Spring 1981, Sacramento County Historical Society. 31 Bee, April 10, 1922, “Police Question Organizer of Klan Found Here,” p. 4. The Bee followed this up with a page one story on April 12: “Sheriff Gave Organizer of Klan, Stranger to Him, Right to Be Armed.” 32 “Klan Is Watched While Initiating Sacramento Men,” Bee, April 26, 1922, p. 7. Among the men named were H. Hugh Sydenham, former chief of police, M. Mervin, a city policeman, H. M. Mitchell, former city prosecutor, and Albert Greilitch, city harbormaster. 33 Bee, May 2, 1922, p. 1; Bee¸ May 4, 1922, p. 1 34 Von Brautchitsch, p. 142; Bee, June 12, 1922, p. 1. 35 Jackson, The Ku Klux Klan, pp. 188-189.

Page 25: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

25

36 Bee, June 19, 1922, p. 1. Among those endorsed were Ellis Jones for Sheriff, Byron C. Erwin for Assessor, H. Hugh Sydenham for County Justice of the Peace and George E. Andrews for Public Administrator (An usher at Westminster Presbyterian Church). 37 Von Brautchitsch, p. 148. Sacramento Bee, August 26, 1922, p. 1. Verification of the false nature of this pamphlet came to light in a Bee article on November 10, 1922 headlined: “Fuller Freed in Election Conspiracy Case.” 38 Von Brautchitsch, p. 156; Bee, October 31, 1922, p. 1. 39 The Edwin I. Fuller family arrived in California from Virginia in March 1922, whereupon Edwin Fuller ensconced his wife and daughter in a house in Oakland, before proceeding on to Sacramento. When questioned by the Oakland police, Mrs. Fuller said she had lived in California for eight months, and that she was kept a virtual prisoner in the Oakland house. Bee, November 2, 1922, p. 1. 40 Bee, November 2, 1922, p. 11, “Erwin Denies He Was At Meeting Admits Assessment.” 41 In a footnote to Edgar I. Fuller’s subsequent career, on March 20, 1923 he announced in Omaha, Nebraska that he was forming the “Fascisti of America” – an organization to replace the Klan. “The symbol of the Fascisti was a black shirt with an outstretched golden eagle over the heart.” Von Brautchitsch, p. 164. In 1925, Edgar I. Fuller published The Visible of the Invisible Empire: The Maelstrom; in 1967 Edgar I. Fuller published “Nigger in the woodpile.” It appears that the 1925 book was self-published. Fuller might have been in his early seventies in 1967, thus he could also have published the second title as well. 42 The Catholic Herald¸ 1922-1923, Volume 15 43 Avella, Diocese of Sacramento¸ pp. 47-48. 44 Every edition of The Catholic Herald here surveyed to August 5, 1922 contained Bishop Grace’s endorsement. Bishop Thomas Grace died on December 27, 1921 and Bishop Keane was installed as Sacramento’s third bishop on Wednesday, May 17, 1922. The August 12, 1922 edition of The Catholic Herald contained Bishop P. J. Keane’s even more ardent and positive endorsement dated August 5, 1922. See Avella, Catholic Church, pp. 144-147. 45 Von Brauchitsch for example names only one Catholic clergyman in his “List of San Francisco Bay Area officials who denounced the Klan” – Rev. W. J. Cartwright, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, San Francisco. P. 259. He includes no list of Sacramento area officials who denounced the Klan 46 Avella, Catholic Church, p. 111. 47 The Catholic Herald¸ April 15, 1922. p. 1. 48 Avella, Indomitable City, p. 87. 49 On August 8, 1925, 40,000 Klan members marched in Washington, D. C.; See also “KKK: Inside American Terror,” National Geographic TV, http://channel.nationalgeographic.com Photo: 1928, Klan March, W, DC. 50 Walker, One Eye Closed, p. 67

Page 26: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

26

51 Reid, “City residents found a way to drink,” Sacramento Bee, Our Century, 1920-1929. 52 “Alfred E. Smith, Jr.”, Wikipedia 53 Avella, Diocese of Sacramento, p. 69. 54 “Franciscan Sisters . . . ,” Catholic Herald, 2001. References and Resources “Alhambra Theatre: The Premier, September 24, 1927,” Pamphlet File, Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library Avella, Steven M., Diocese of Sacramento: A Journey of Faith, 2006 Avella, Steven M., Sacramento: Indomitable City, 2003. Avella, Steven M., Sacramento and the Catholic Church: Shaping a Capital City, 2008. Bruno, Lloyd, Old River Town¸ 1996. Boghosian, Paula, “The Architecture of Water in Sacramento,” Sacramento History Journal, Special Edition “Water: Our History & Our Future,” 2006 Breault, Fr. William, S.J., Archivist, Diocese of Sacramento. California State Historical Landmarks, http://ceres.ca.gov/geo California Historical Landmark #594. Southern Pacific Depot, also on the National Register of Historic Places. See www.californiastaterailoadmusuem.org Celebrating 90 Years: Sacramento City College, 1916-2006, 2006 Dictionary of American History, 2000. Diocese of Sacramento, Archives: St. Francis Parish Box – “St. Francis Parish Bulletin, Christmas Program, 1925,” and “Status, St. Francis Parish, January 1, 1927.” “Direct the Mild Fund Benefit Show,” Sacramento Bee, April 22, 1936, p. 5 – reference to Anton H. Dorndorf Directory, Diocese of Sacramento, 1920 & 1930

Page 27: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

27

Emporis commercial real estate website: www.emporis.com “Franciscans Lose Noted Padre In Death of Fr. Solanus, O.F. M.,” The Tidings, Los Angeles, December 8, 1944 Frombose, Paul, “Golden Decade,” Golden Notes, Summer 1992. Jackson, Kenneth T., The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930, 1992. Joyce, Cathy, Catholic Herald, Diocese of Sacramento “KKK: Inside American Terror,” National Geographic TV, 2009 http://channel.nationalgeographic.com Lubin, Mrs. Simon J., “Reminiscences,” Bancroft Library, 1954 McGowan, Joseph, “Clear Clean Water,” Golden Notes, Winter, 1978, Sacramento County Historical Society Mahan, William E., “William Land: A history of the man and the park,” Golden Notes, No. 43, Volumes 1 & 2, Spring and Summer 1997. Necrology, Volumes 1 and 2, Franciscan Province of Santa Barbara Reid, Dixie, “Alhambra was the crown jewel ….,” Sacramento Bee, “Our Century – 1920 -1929, December 31, 1999. Reid, Dixie, “City residents found a way to drink during Prohibition,” Sacramento Bee, “Our Century – 1920-1929,” December 31, 1999. Reid, Dixie, “People had money to spend . . . ,” Sacramento Bee, “Our Century – 1920-1929, December 31, 1999. “Requiem Mass Today for Choral Director,” Sacramento Union, February 12, 1970. Anton Dorndorf death notice Rodgerson, Eleanor, MD, Adobe, Brick Steel: A history of hospitals and shelters for the sick in Sacramento and El Dorado Counties, 1993 Rogers, Richard C., “One-Hundred Years of the Sacramento City Schools, 1854- 1954,” 1981? Sacramento Bee, “Our Century, “ www.sacbeecom/static/archive/news/projects/people_of_century Sacramento City Directory, 1920 and 1930

Page 28: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

28

“Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, February 22, 1927.” Pamphlet File, Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento Room Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento Room; Claire Ellis, James Scott, Tom Tolley Sacramento Railroad Depot, California Historic Landmark #594, www.californiastaterailroadmuseum.org Santa Barbara Mission Archives, Fr. Timothy, archivist “Sacramento’s Catholic Schools’ ‘Man of Music” is Dead,” Catholic Herald, February 12, 1970 – Anton Dorndorf death notice Senator Hotel, www.senatorofficebuilding.com Snyder, B. W., & Boghosian, P. J., Sacramento’s Memorial Auditorium: Seven Decades of Memories – 1927-1997, 1997 Talaga, Deborah Ann, Historical-Analysis of the Ku Klux Klan, 1865-1982, 1982 CSUS, Masters Thesis The Catholic Herald¸ 1922-1923, Volume 15 Von Brauchitsch, Dennis M., “The Ku Klux Klan in California 1921 – 1924,” MA Thesis, Sacramento State College, 1967, esp. Chapter III “The Klan in the Lower Sacramento Valley,” pp. 126 – 164. Walker, Clifford James, One Eye Closed, the Other Red: The California Bootlegging Years, 1999. “Who We Are: A history rich in caring,” www.mercyhospital.org/Who_We_Are/history Wolman, Abel, “Sanitary Engineering,” Sacramento’s [1923] Filtration Plant,

p. 450. www.ajph.org/cg/ Graphic Credits and Releases

1. SFAP vestibule window – SFAP 2. Fr. Humilis Weiss – Santa Barbara Mission Archives 3. Fr. Felix Raab – SBMA 4. SFAP Church, 1.29.22 – Center for Sacramento History 5. Fr. Ildephonse Moser – SBMA 6. Fr. Solanus Crowley – SBMA

Page 29: Chapter 6: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the 1920s. St. Francis of Assisi Parish ... · 2017-02-13 · 2 On Sunday morning, January 29, 1922 St. Francis of Assisi parishioners awoke

29

7. SF Elementary School, 1927 graduation – SFAP Archives 8. Fr. Clement Berberich – SBMA 9. Anton H. Dorndorf – Sacramento Turn Verein Archives 10. Saint Francis Elementary School – SFAPA 11. Bishop Keane – Diocese of Sacramento Archives – funeral card 12. Holy Guardian Angels School - photo by author 13. Mercy Hospital – DSA 14. Bishop Armstrong – DSA 15. Sutter Hospital c. 1920s – CSH 16. Cal Western States Life Building – SPL/SR 17. Elks Building – SPL/SR 18. Capitol Extension – CSH 19. William Land Park Entrance Monument – photo by author 20. Filtration Plant Brochure, 1923 – CSH 21. Sacramento High School, 1924 – CSH 22. Fox Senator Theatre, c 1939 – CSH 23. Historic Route 40 Marker, 16th Street (Governor’s Mansion) – photo by

author 24. Sacramento Jr. College – SPL/SR 25. Memorial Auditorium San Carlos Opera performance, 2.27.27 - CSH 26. Lindberg (sic) Dinner Invitation (Hotel Senator) SPL/SR 27. Alhambra Theater – SPL/SR 28. Birth of a Nation poster – Wikimedia 29. Woodrow Wilson quote – Wikimedia 30. Clyde L. Seavey photo – CSH 31. “The KKK in Sacramento, 1922” – Sacramento County Historical Society

“I have only heard back from 3 board members who all agreed that the Golden Notes Cover image could be used for your one time purpose...I am copying them all in on this message so if you do not hear back negatively from any of them within the next 48 hours I would say go ahead...you have unanimous approval of those who responded.” 9/14/09

Bob LaPerriere (916) 481-4525 POB 255345, Sacramento CA 95865-5345

www.drbobsac.com [email protected] 32. Westminster Presbyterian Church, 13th and N – CSH 33. Bee Cartoon, 11.3.22, Sacramento Bee 34. Thomas Augustus Connelly – CSH, family photo cropped by author 35. “Hoods and Nightgowns Bob Up In Local Church,” Catholic Herald,

4.15.22 photo by author

36. KKK March, W, DC, photo – Wikimedia 37. Delta King – SPL/SR 38. St. Francis Elementary School, graduation 1930, SFAPA


Recommended