{"id":8933,"date":"2020-10-16T19:37:32","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T23:37:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/?p=8933"},"modified":"2023-03-13T16:45:25","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T20:45:25","slug":"blessed-martin-segregated-catholic-school-wheeling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/blessed-martin-segregated-catholic-school-wheeling","title":{"rendered":"Blessed Martin ~ Patron Saint of Racial Harmony"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A Brief History of Wheeling\u2019s Blessed Martin School<\/h1>\n
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Dedication<\/h3>\n
$\"\"$ <\/a>We are sharing this post again in honor of our beloved Sister Gabriella Wagner<\/a>, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 102.<\/p>\n
She was a lovely, kind soul who treasured her time at Blessed Martin and all of the schools at which she taught. Sister was a dedicated, generous teacher, and I was privileged to have been one of her thousands of students. I am honored to have had the opportunity to interview her for this post just after her 102nd birthday. A clip from that interview appears in the story below.<\/p>\n
Rest easy in the light, Sister Gabriella. You shall be missed, even as your legacy lives on in all of us who benefited from your patient counsel.<\/p>\n
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Many of those with even a passing familiarity with Wheeling\u2019s history will easily identify Lincoln School<\/a> as the segregated public school in town from Reconstruction through \u201cJim Crow\u201d to the landmark 1954 Supreme Court desegregation case, Brown<\/em> vs. Board of Education<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n
But many of those same people have probably never heard of Wheeling\u2019s segregated Catholic school, Blessed Martin<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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Who Was Blessed Martin?<\/h2>\n
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Portrait of St. Martin de Porres, c. 17th century, Monastery of Rosa of Santa Maria in Lima.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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This statue of Blessed Martin was once housed in the school. It\u2019s current whereabouts are unknown. Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Saint Martin de Porres Vel\u00e1zquez<\/a> (1579 \u2013 1639) was born in Peru in 1579 to a Spanish man and a freed Panamanian slave of African or Native American descent. Martin faced relentless prejudice throughout his life, including from the Church he loved, because he was of mixed-race. He graciously and tirelessly persevered, finally becoming a brother of the Dominican order.<\/p>\n
Appropriately for our troubled times, \u201cBlessed Martin\u201d is now the patron saint of public health workers (he was trained in the \u201cmedical arts\u201d), mixed-race people, and all those seeking racial harmony. Himself a trained barber, Saint Martin is also the patron of\u00a0barbers and innkeepers.\u00a0Because he considered all work to be sacred, Martin was also known as the \u201cSaint of the Broom.\u201d As a health care worker, Martin did not discriminate, caring for everyone from nobleman to slave.<\/p>\n
Known as a friend of animals, Martin was said to have exhibited the gifts of aerial flight, bilocation, and miraculous cures. He was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII. His feast day is November 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tThe statue of Blessed Martin, a gift of the Dominican Fathers of NYC once housed at the school, can be seen in the background of this image of the first procession in his honor. Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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\n\t\t\t\tRelic of Blessed Martin found in a book. Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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\n\t\t\t\t3D facial Reconstruction of St. Martin de Porres created in a collaborative effort among the NGO Ebrafol, St. Dominic\u2019s and the universities of St. Martin de Porres and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega in Peru.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n
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A \u201cRugged Beginning\u201d<\/h2>\n
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\u201cClimb through the rocks \u2014 be rugged.\u201d ~ Blessed Martin\u2019s School Motto<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In 1954, the same year as the Brown<\/em> decision, Sister Anne Patricia Whalen, the principal at Blessed Martin School delivered an address to the Wheeling Sierra Club, the text of which, now housed in the Archives of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston<\/a>, provides a general outline of the history of the school from her perspective.<\/p>\n
$\"Blessed$ <\/a>
Blessed Martin School at the NE corner of 13th and Jacob Streets, photo courtesy the Archives of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Sister Anne Patricia Whalen, first and only principal at Blessed Martin School. Archive of the Sisters of St. Joseph.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The first segregated Catholic School for black students in West Virginia was actually St. Peter Claver, a part of the tiny parish of the same name established in Huntington in 1939. St. Peter Claver, a Spaniard and abolitionist Jesuit who ministered to slaves arriving by ship in Cartagena (modern Colombia), is known as the \u201cPatron Saint of Negro Missions.\u201d Students were taught in two small rooms above the church by the Pallottine Missionary Sisters. The school closed in 1964.<\/p>\n
Wheeling\u2019s Blessed Martin school was established in August 1942 during Bishop John J. Swint\u2019s<\/a> tenure and, according to Sister Anne Patricia, against the wishes of many vocal citizens in both the white and black communities.<\/p>\n
Apparently due to this struggle, the school was \u201copened three times and closed twice.\u201d On the first attempt, the enrollment was too low. On the second attempt, it was thought that fear of persecution kept students away. According to the Wheeling News-Register<\/em> in a 1971 article printed before Blessed Martin\u2019s first reunion, parents were displeased that the school was only to be comprised of grades one through six.<\/p>\n
Then a delegation of six older women and one man from the local\u00a0Catholic African American community asked to speak with Bishop Swint, who in turn invited Mother Magdalen, Superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph to join the meeting with these elders.<\/p>\n
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Mother Magdalen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
According to Sister Anne Patricia\u2019s second hand account from Mother Magdalen, \u201cone poor old soul was wearing an apron, which she continually used to wipe away the tears.\u201d Others cried as well. \u201cThey were in total oblivion of everything except their firm belief in their cause.\u201d The Bishop was moved enough by this emotional plea to promise to open the school for grades one through eight if the elders could deliver a few students for each grade the next morning. They did, and Blessed Martin de Porres School opened officially on the third day, with sixteen boys and twenty-three girls (the annual report lists 21 girls, see below), with the first four grades in one tiny room and the upper four in an even smaller room in a house (the \u201cformer Old Lady\u2019s Home,\u201d according to an August 20, 1942 announcement letter signed by Mother Magdalen) located on the northeast corner of 13th and Jacob Streets, where Wheeling Central\u2019s gymnasium sits now. The physical layout featured the \u201cSame setup as Lincoln School \u2014 Sports on one side, history and picture of school in the middle, classrooms, etc. on other side.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI dare to say,\u201d Sister Anne Patricia asserted, \u201cthat few schools can boast of such a rugged beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A First Class Rating<\/h2>\n
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\u201cBlessed Martin, Holy Patron
\nwho upon the throne doth see
\nface to face the God who made us
\nand who died for such as we.
\nBe our guide, our inspiration
\nat his feet present our plea
\nfor the grace to love and serve Him
\never and most faithfully
\nso that we one day may worship
\nChrist our Lord in Heaven with Thee.\u201d ~School Song<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Despite continued resentment (the Sisters resorted to sneaking to school in the alley behind Masonic Temple to avoid angry neighbors) Blessed Martin steadily grew its student body with 43 students enrolling for the second year.<\/p>\n
Blessed Martin\u2019s first First Communion class included Gloria Dennis, Gwendolyn Campbell, and Catherine and Robert Huff, who received the sacrament from Rev. Yahn at St. Joseph\u2019s Cathedral on May 16, 1943.<\/p>\n
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Monsignor Edmund J. Yahn was instrumental to the establishment of Blessed Martin School.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
As the enrollment continued to grow, \u201cthe duties of the school were entrusted to Monsignor Edmund J. Yahn\u2026\u201d the school\u2019s Spiritual Guide, who, in addition to retrieving boys from the police station, also \u201cpleaded cases of justice to help our boys get a fair deal and spent many mornings in the juvenile court to protect the interest of a few of our wayward students.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is a rather jarring passage to read in the context of a very brief 1954 speech outlining the history of a small parochial grade school in 1942. It\u2019s not something you would expect a Catholic nun to say about a white school from that same period. The fact that Sister Patricia felt compelled to include it is telling, and says something about the historic relationship between the African American community and the police in Wheeling.<\/p>\n
Grades 9 through 12 were added in the third year (1944), and Blessed Martin became a high school as the Second World War came to an end. By 1954, the school boasted six graduating high school classes (first in 1948), 125 total students (without soliciting any, as Sister Anne Patricia points out), a \u201cfirst-class rating\u201d from the state board of education, and \u00a0a menu of \u201cAcademic, Commercial, and Home Economic courses.\u201d According to newspaper reports, in 1948, representatives of the state board of education from Charleston gave Blessed Martin a Class A rating.<\/p>\n
Dorthy Daniels Jackson became the first student to graduate from Blessed Martin, having attended all 12 years of her primary and high school education.<\/p>\n
Blessed Martin\u2019s first graduating high school class included seven students: Norman E. Campbell, Theodora May Cooper, William A. Galloway, Albert A. Gentry, Launbural Spriggs, Wanda Elaine Lyle, and Wiley Walker.<\/p>\n
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Blessed Martin\u2019s first graduating high school class, 1948. Archives of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
In May 1948, ten full scholarships to formally all white Catholic universities were awarded nationwide to African American graduates of Catholic high schools. Three of the ten went to Wheeling\u2019s Blessed Martin honor students, including Galloway (Notre Dame); Spriggs (Duquesne); and Campbell (DePaul)\u00a0(\u201cCatholic Scholarships for Negroes, Inc. of Springfield Mass\u201d).<\/p>\n
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Mission<\/h2>\n
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In May 19, 1946, Harry H. Jones<\/a>, one of Wheeling\u2019s only African American attorneys, who ten years previously had delivered a speech about segregation called \u201cWheeling\u2019s Twentieth Man\u201d<\/a> on WWVA Radio, wrote a column titled, \u201cAlong the Color Line \u2013 Progress of Catholic Church Among Negroes in the United States.\u201d In it, he wrote, \u201cIn West Virginia, under the leadership of the Most Reverend John J. Swint, Bishop of the Diocese, the Catholic Church has made considerable progress among Negroes. Many members of the race have joined the church and the program in their behalf has been expanded. This is noticeable here in Wheeling. In September 1942, the Blessed Martin\u2019s School for Negro boys and girls was opened here. The school has ten grades taught by six teachers in a commodious building at 13th and Jacob Streets; 81 pupils are enrolled. The school has extra curricular activities such as athletics, Girl Scouts, and a live Parent-Teacher Association.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones went on to cite a letter from Bishop Swint that listed three black Catholic churches in the state at the time: one each in Bluefield, Huntington, and Bristol.<\/p>\n
The number of African American Catholics in Wheeling in the 1940s and 1950s was quite small. According to the 1952 Catholic Almanac, there were only 70,000 in the entire nation, which works out to one in 37 of the entire Black population being Catholic. The point is that few of the 125 students at Blessed Martin were Catholic, and since the \u201cpropagation of the faith to non-Catholics\u201d was a prominent part of the stated mission of the Church in its work with African Americans (and certainly not unique to that population), the effort was made to \u201cconvert\u201d black children at Blessed Martin.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo pressure is put on any student to become Catholic,\u201d Sister Anne Patricia assured readers, yet \u201cwe have had consistently a few conversions each year.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the 1971 reunion, Sister Anne Patricia recalled Bishop Swint\u2019s two objectives:<\/p>\n
\u201cOne, to promote the religious welfare of black Catholics in Wheeling. And two, to promote the Catholic faith among non-Catholic blacks.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Mother Magdalen\u2019s 1942 announcement letter, \u201cno undue influence will be exerted to make Catholics of them [non-Catholic children] and no child will ever be received into the Catholic Church without the consent of the parents.\u201d Yet, a financial incentive existed as Catholic students attended for free while non-Catholics were charged fifty cents per child, per month.<\/p>\n
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Though students were encouraged to continue to attend whatever church they belonged to, the idea was to plant the seed of Catholic doctrines in the hearts of students, with the belief that such seeds would take root and blossom in time. This, in the end, was the driving force behind Blessed Martin\u2019s existence.<\/p>\n
Understood in that way, Blessed Martin was more or less a mission school.<\/p>\n
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Faculty & Academics<\/h2>\n
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Blessed Martin faculty included Sister Anne Patricia (Principal), Sr. Gabriella Wagner, Sr. Angelina Cavellero, and Sr. Mary Florence. Mrs. Lucy Cooper Busby, who taught Home Economics, was the only African American and the only secular teacher. Sister Mary Thomas served as \u201cInformant.\u201d In 1947, Mrs. Dorothy Cooper was president of the Blessed Martin PTA.<\/p>\n
The curriculum included typing, bookkeeping, arts. Some chemistry classes were taken at Wheeling Central, although in segregated classes.<\/p>\n
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According to Sister Gabriella Wagner, interviewed shortly after her 102nd birthday, when a 9th grade was added to Blessed Martin in 1944, the curriculum included Latin, French, Business, and Home Economics. Folk dancing was taught along with physical education.<\/p>\n
Also according to Sister Gabriella, the first through 6th grade classrooms were on the first floor, and 7th through 12th grades were upstairs. First and second were in one room, 3rd, 4th and 5th in another, and 7th and 8th in another.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first year,\u201d she recalled, \u201cI had Algebra and first and second grade. Imagine that combination. I taught the little ones, and then I went upstairs for Algebra with the freshmen and sophomores.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sister Gabriella remembers the beautiful life sized statue of Blessed Martin that stood in the front hall when you entered the school. Like the rest of us, however, she doesn\u2019t know where the gift from the Dominican Fathers of NYC is now. If you have any clues, dear reader, please advise.<\/p>\n
<\/iframe><\/p>\nThe author interviews Sr. Gabriela Wagner by video, July 27, 2020.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h3>Full list of Blessed Martin faculty, culled from Annual School Reports housed in the diocesan archives with classes taught where available:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<hr>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9218\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9218\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"DWV_BM_faculty_wm\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWV_BM_faculty_wm.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox-9\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-shareaholic-thumbnail wp-image-9218\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWV_BM_faculty_wm.jpg?resize=640%2C367\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"367\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWV_BM_faculty_wm.jpg?resize=640%2C367&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWV_BM_faculty_wm.jpg?resize=300%2C172&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWV_BM_faculty_wm.jpg?resize=1024%2C587&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWV_BM_faculty_wm.jpg?resize=768%2C440&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWV_BM_faculty_wm.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9218\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Blessed Martin teachers at a 1977 reunion include, l-r: Sister Grace Lawley, Msgr. Yahn, Sisters Celeste Anderson, Gabriela Wagner, Mary Jude Jochum, Eulalia Estep, Mary Immaculate Spires, Teresa Fleckstein, Anne Regina O\u2019Leary, and Anne Patricia Whelan (principal), with Bishop Hodges.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Sister Celestine (Theresa) Anderson (English, French, and Latin)<\/li>\n<li>Sister M. Angelina Cavallaro<\/li>\n<li>Sister M. Barbara<\/li>\n<li>Sister Bertha<\/li>\n<li>Miss Barbara Blazek (Shorthand and Typing)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Borgia (English)<\/li>\n<li>Miss Mary Byron (Postulant)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Claudia McMahon<\/li>\n<li>Miss Coles (Algebra I, Algebra II, Social Studies)<\/li>\n<li>Miss Lucy Cooper (Home Ec.)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Damien (Berenice) Burkle<\/li>\n<li>Sister de Lellis (Regina) Manley (Biology)<\/li>\n<li>Miss Louise DeMauri (Shorthand, Algebra I, French)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Demetria (Mary) Roos\u00a0(History)<\/li>\n<li>Sister M. Eleanor (Laura) Grottendeick (Religion and Typing, 1st and 2nd grades from 1944 \u2013 1947)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Marie Michelle Maureen (Feeney)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Irma Arkle\u00a0(Math)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Mary Jude (Patricia) Jochum<\/li>\n<li>Sister Juliana Kellerman (Science)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Mary Grace Madeleine (Rita Marie) Lawley<\/li>\n<li>Sister M. Louise (Nellie) Donahie (Home Ec.)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Marcelline (Margaret) Bell (Latin) (Taught 9th & 10th grade Latin from 1953-54)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Phillip Marie (Irene) Giannotti<\/li>\n<li>Sister Sheila Marie (Julia) Flanagan (Science, Social Studies, French) (Taught third, fourth, and fifth grades from 1948-49)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Rosemary McCahon<\/li>\n<li>Miss Patricia McGonical (Postulant)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Placide (Catherine) Lawless (Special and Part Time Faculty, History, Sociology, French)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Agnes Regina (Verena) Roth (Science, Chemistry, Math)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Sarita (Mary Jane) Ball<\/li>\n<li>Miss Spainhour (Chemistry)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Mary Immaculate Spires (Home Ec., Civics)<\/li>\n<li>Sister M. Teresa Fleckenstein<\/li>\n<li>Sister Francis Xavier (Patricia) Terneus<\/li>\n<li>Sister Gabriella (Angela) Wagner (Math, Science) (Taught grades 1 and 2 Algebra from 1950-52 and Math, Biology, Religion, and English from 1953-55)<\/li>\n<li>Sister Anne Patricia Whalen (School Principal, Spelling, Religion, Commercial,\u00a01942 \u2013 1955)[Edits and updates provided by Jon-Erik Gilot, Archivist of the Diocese, Feb. 10, 2021]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h3>Full list of students by year, culled from Annual School Reports housed in the diocesan archives:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<hr>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9201\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9201\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"DWC_BM_Enrollement-Card_wm\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Enrollement-Card_wm.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox-10\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9201 \" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Enrollement-Card_wm.jpg?resize=650%2C380\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"380\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9201\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sample Annual School Report, this one from 1942.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>1942:<\/strong> 37 elementary students (16 boys and 21 girls)<\/li>\n<li>1943:<\/strong> 47 elementary students (22 boys and 25 girls)<\/li>\n<li>1944:<\/strong> 68 elementary students (38 boys and 30 girls) \n1944:<\/strong> 8 high school (9th grade) students (5 boys and 3 girls)<\/li>\n<li>1945:<\/strong> 64 elementary students (35 boys and 29 girls) \n1945:<\/strong> 21 high school (9th and 10th grade) students (12 boys and 9 girls)<\/li>\n<li>1946:<\/strong> 79 elementary students (35 boys and 34 girls) \n1946:<\/strong> 27 high school students (9th, 19th, and 11th grades) (16 boys and 11 girls)<\/li>\n<li>1947:<\/strong> 67 elementary students (36 boys and 31 girls) \n1947:<\/strong> 33 high school students (17 boys and 16 girls)<\/li>\n<li>1948:<\/strong> 72 elementary students (40 boys and 32 girls) \n1948:<\/strong> 30 high school students (13 boys and 17 girls)<\/li>\n<li>1949:<\/strong> 69 elementary students (34 boys and 35 girls) \n1949:<\/strong> 31 high school students (17 boys and 14 girls)<\/li>\n<li>1950:<\/strong> 73 elementary students (37 boys and 36 girls) \n1950:<\/strong> 28 high school students (12 boys and 16 girls)<\/li>\n<li>1951:<\/strong> 82 elementary students (34 boys and 48 girls) \n1951:<\/strong> 33 high school students (17 boys and 16 girls)<\/li>\n<li>1952:<\/strong> 78 elementary students (30 boys, 48 girls) \n1952:<\/strong> High school record missing.<\/li>\n<li>1953:<\/strong> Elementary school record missing \n1953:<\/strong> 27 high school students (13 boys, 14 girls)<\/li>\n<li>1954:<\/strong> 95 elementary students (42 boys, 53 girls) \n1954:<\/strong> High school record missing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Social & Extracurricular Activities<\/h2>\n<hr>\nSocial activities at Blessed Martin were typically Catholic in nature and included Sodality, various types of charitable outreach, and teen dances.<\/p>\nExtracurricular often involved the same activities typical for Caucasian schools.<\/p>\nDuring the Second World War, for example, Blessed Martin took fourth place in a waste paper drive in February 1944. The 47 students collected 3,330 pounds of waste paper, an average of 70 lbs per student. A quota of 16 1\/2 lbs per students had been set for all participating schools, with a goal of 206, 772 total lbs of waste paper, which had been designated \u201cthe country\u2019s No.1 critical material\u201d for the war effort used in the production of everything from Army ration containers to signal flares and recruiting posters. A trophy from the Ohio Valley Salvage Committee was awarded to the winning school, Ohio County Vocational at 81 lbs per student.<\/p>\nBlessed Martin offered one of the first Girl Scout Troops (Troop 60) for African American girls in Wheeling.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-4' class='gallery galleryid-8933 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-shareaholic-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"DWC_BM_girl_scouts_02_wm\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_girl_scouts_02_wm.jpg?ssl=1\" rel=\"lightbox[gallery-0]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"449\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_girl_scouts_02_wm.jpg?fit=640%2C449&ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-shareaholic-thumbnail size-shareaholic-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_girl_scouts_02_wm.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_girl_scouts_02_wm.jpg?resize=300%2C211&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_girl_scouts_02_wm.jpg?resize=1024%2C719&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_girl_scouts_02_wm.jpg?resize=768%2C539&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_girl_scouts_02_wm.jpg?resize=640%2C449&ssl=1 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"DWC_BM_girl_scouts_wm\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_girl_scouts_wm.jpg?ssl=1\" rel=\"lightbox[gallery-0]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"369\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_girl_scouts_wm.jpg?fit=640%2C369&ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-shareaholic-thumbnail size-shareaholic-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_girl_scouts_wm.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_girl_scouts_wm.jpg?resize=300%2C173&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_girl_scouts_wm.jpg?resize=1024%2C591&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_girl_scouts_wm.jpg?resize=768%2C443&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_girl_scouts_wm.jpg?resize=640%2C369&ssl=1 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nOn June 9, 1949, Camp Maynor, \u201cthe day camp for Negro Girl Scouts opened at Wolfe playground near Lincoln high school\u2026under the direction of Mrs. Martha Spriggs.\u201d The event featured cookouts, games, crafts, singing, story telling, and dramatics. Gwendolyn Campbell was named \u201cCookie Queen\u201d for record sales of cookies. Troop 60 from Blessed Martin School was awarded a plaque for best troop record in cookie sales. Awards were presented for things like \u201cgood grooming.\u201d<\/p>\nBlessed Martin students were frequently called upon to provide the entertainment for interracial school-related activities. At an April 22, 1949 Ohio County teachers Association meeting at Clay School, for example, Lincoln and Blessed Martin students taught by M. E. Fassig, performed a \u201cnumber of dance specialties.\u201d<\/p>\nOn April 29, 1950, freshmen students Robert Boyd and Gloria Dennis were named Blessed Martin\u2019s King and Queen. There was a procession in Central\u2019s gym, a choir of 6th through 8th graders sang, as did the glee club, and third-5th graders danced an Irish reel. The pageant was another fundraising effort for the athletic department. See below.<\/p>\n<a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"DWC_BM_Sewing-Contest_wm\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Sewing-Contest_wm.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox-11\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-9213\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Sewing-Contest_wm.jpg?resize=325%2C344\" alt=\"\" width=\"325\" height=\"344\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Sewing-Contest_wm.jpg?resize=640%2C679&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Sewing-Contest_wm.jpg?resize=283%2C300&ssl=1 283w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Sewing-Contest_wm.jpg?resize=768%2C815&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Sewing-Contest_wm.jpg?w=900&ssl=1 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 325px) 100vw, 325px\" \/><\/a>In December 1950, 15 year-old Blessed Martin sophomore Gloria L. Dennis, a student of Miss Lucy Cooper, tied for first place representing West Virginia in a national design and sewing contest. Seven thousand high schools nationwide were represented in the \u201cYoung Designer\u2019s Contest.\u201d Ms. Dennis\u2019s winning design was a plaid cotton robe.<\/p>\nIn November 1950, when the Hagers, an African American family of eight, lost their home to a fire, students of Lincoln and Blessed Martin, led by the Rendezvous Club of the Negro Recreation center, attended a dance at the center, with can goods as the admission, to collect food for the needy, especially the Hagers.<\/p>\nIn April 1952, Blessed Martin partnered with Saint Joseph\u2019s Academy (Wheeling\u2019s Catholic school for white girls) to presentand sponsor a play called \u201cOur Lady of Fatima\u201d at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohiocountylibrary.org\/history\/african-american-pythian-building\/5588\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fedo Theatre<\/a> (the black theatre located in the black Pythian Building on Chapline Street).<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Sports<\/h2>\n<hr>\nNeedless to say, Blessed Martin was a small school with a microscopic budget. Expensive sports like football were, therefore, not feasible. In fact, we know that athletes like Wheeling Hall of Famer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohiocountylibrary.org\/history\/the-wheeling-memory-project-series-two\/7047\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">William Burrus<\/a> left Blessed Martin for Lincoln School in order to play football and other sports.<\/p>\nBut Blessed Martin did, after a rocky start, eventually excel at basketball. Sister Gabriella remembers student athletes practicing in the yard behind the school. \u201cAnd white people came and played with them after school\u2026It very much integrated them at that time, in the playground\u2026The students didn\u2019t mind if they were white or black, as long as they could play ball.\u201d<\/p>\nIn one of the first reports in the local newspaper about their program, Blessed Martin, led by coach\u00a0William Dennis and dressed in the school colors of green and white while sporting the unexpected moniker, \u201cThe Fighting Irish,\u201d lost to the Bridgeport Colored Recreation Center basketball team, 35-19 on Jan. 30, 1947.<\/p>\nA year later on January 1, 1948, the Intelligencer reported: \u201cBlessed Martin Catholic high, a newcomer to the sports world, broke into print via its first basketball team. Although the team didn\u2019t fare to well as far as the record book goes, it did give a good account of itself \u00a0in the fields of teamwork, sportsmanship, and determination.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9174\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9174\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"travel\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/travel-scaled.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox-12\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9174 size-shareaholic-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/travel.jpg?resize=640%2C485\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"485\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/travel-scaled.jpg?resize=640%2C485&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/travel-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C227&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/travel-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C776&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/travel-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C582&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/travel-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1163&ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/travel-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1551&ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/travel-scaled.jpg?w=2216 2216w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9174\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Finding the money to pay for travel to play the state\u2019s other black schools was a significant obstacle for Blessed Martin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFunding was a big issue and money for equipment and travel was primarily raised through student-led campaigns such as the one reported on\u00a0Sept. 24, 1949, when \u201cStudents of the Blessed Martin school are sorely in need of athletic equipment for the coming year,\u201d so students asked for donations while \u201cstationed at various corners\u201d downtown. In September, 1951, Blessed Martin students held a \u201cTag Day\u201d to raise money for their extensive basketball travel expenses as, \u201cattendance at Blessed Martin\u2019s home games has not been great enough to carry on the general athletic program.\u201d<\/p>\n<a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"Page 10 of Wheeling Intelligencer,published in Wheeling, West Virginia on Saturday, September 24th, 1949\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-10-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-September-24th-1949.jpeg\" rel=\"lightbox-13\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-9242\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-10-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-September-24th-1949.jpeg?resize=300%2C511\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"511\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-10-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-September-24th-1949.jpeg?resize=640%2C1091&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-10-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-September-24th-1949.jpeg?resize=176%2C300&ssl=1 176w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-10-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-September-24th-1949.jpeg?resize=601%2C1024&ssl=1 601w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-10-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-September-24th-1949.jpeg?resize=768%2C1309&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-10-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-September-24th-1949.jpeg?resize=901%2C1536&ssl=1 901w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-10-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-September-24th-1949.jpeg?w=1190&ssl=1 1190w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>In his regular column dated January 31, 1950, Intelligencer<\/em> sports write Tony Maestle lamented Blessed Martin\u2019s ongoing funding issues for road basketball games despite a healthy 6-1 record in their third season. \u201cThe athletic department,\u201d Maestle wrote, \u201cis attempting to gain admittance into the W.Va. Negro scholastic conference; the state Negro tournament and also to open an athletic series with Lincoln School of Wheeling.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cI believe that Lincoln and Blessed Martin athletic teams,\u201d Maestle continued, \u201cno matter what sports they compete in, should receive the backing of sports fans, as they play a major role in the future of the kids forming the teams and the youngsters attending those schools\u2026the kids learn that good comes out of good sportsmanship and team work. Basketball is a recreation for the boys of Lincoln and Blessed Martin highs, and unless they receive the support of the fans there may come a time when the schools will have to drop the sport.\u201d<\/p>\nIndeed, while on the grade school level, integrated play seems to have been the norm for basketball (Blessed Martin regularly played St. Michael\u2019s and other white parochial schools, for example), high school level competition was strictly segregated in the state and required extensive travel for the three northern panhandle schools. Other black schools frequently finding themselves on Blessed Martin\u2019s basketball schedule included: Clarksburg Kelly-Miller, Don Bosco, Elkins Riverside, Fairmont Dunbar, Morgantown Monongalia, Parkersburg Sumner, Piedmont Howard, Weirton Dunbar. The Blessed Martin team also typically played an alumni squad to fill out the schedule.<\/p>\nIn March 4, 1950, Maestle lauded both Blessed Martin and Lincoln as the \u201ctravellingest basketball teams\u201d in the state. Those two and Weirton Dunbar were the only \u201cNegro\u201d teams in the northern panhandle, so the home and home schedule required a lot of travel south, with all three squads traveling more than 1100 combined miles that season. Lincoln would add 320 additional miles to play in the state\u2019s Negro tournament at West Virginia State College at Institute. \u201cThe United States Navy\u2019s standby is \u2018Join the Navy and see the world,\u201d Maestle commented, \u201cbut Lincoln high\u2019s coach J.W. Kinney and Cleve Mason [the new head coach as of 1949] of Blessed Martin say \u2018Play basketball at Lincoln and Blessed Martin and see the State of West Virginia.'\u201d<\/p>\n<a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"Page 9 of Wheeling Intelligencer,published in Wheeling, West Virginia on Saturday, March 7th, 1953\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-9-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-March-7th-1953-1.jpeg\" rel=\"lightbox-14\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-9250\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-9-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-March-7th-1953-1.jpeg?resize=300%2C152\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"152\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-9-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-March-7th-1953-1.jpeg?resize=300%2C152&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-9-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-March-7th-1953-1.jpeg?resize=1024%2C520&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-9-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-March-7th-1953-1.jpeg?resize=768%2C390&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-9-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-March-7th-1953-1.jpeg?resize=1536%2C779&ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-9-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-March-7th-1953-1.jpeg?resize=640%2C325&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-9-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-March-7th-1953-1.jpeg?w=1740&ssl=1 1740w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>On March 6, 1953, Lincoln and Blessed Martin played each other in basketball for the first time in the Section 1 Championship game of the West Virginia State Negro high school tournament. Lincoln prevailed 47-40. Both teams advanced to the regional finals.<\/p>\nOn March 5, 1954, Wheeling had the honor hosting the West Virginia Athletic Union\u2019s Section A basketball tournament at Wheeling Central\u2019s gym, with Blessed Martin serving as the \u201chost\u201d school. The four-team tournament included defending champion Lincoln, Blessed Martin, Parkersburg Sumner, and Weirton Dunbar.<\/p>\n<a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"Page 23 of Wheeling Intelligencer,published in Wheeling, West Virginia on Friday, February 26th, 1954-2\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-23-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Friday-February-26th-1954-2.jpeg\" rel=\"lightbox-15\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-9248\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-23-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Friday-February-26th-1954-2.jpeg?resize=300%2C142\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"142\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-23-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Friday-February-26th-1954-2.jpeg?resize=300%2C142&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-23-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Friday-February-26th-1954-2.jpeg?resize=1024%2C483&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-23-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Friday-February-26th-1954-2.jpeg?resize=768%2C362&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-23-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Friday-February-26th-1954-2.jpeg?resize=640%2C302&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-23-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Friday-February-26th-1954-2.jpeg?w=1246&ssl=1 1246w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nIt\u2019s worth noting that, attached to Principal Anne Patricia Whelan\u2019s 1954 school history is the following uncredited notation: \u201cPrior to integration, Blessed Martin played against Paden City (white) High School. The first black v. white game to be played in the State, BMHS won the state championship. The second black v. white [game] was played at Cameron High School in Cameron WV.\u201d<\/p>\nAccording to Bob Barnett\u2019s book, The Black Athlete in West Virginia<\/em>, the first integrated basketball game in West Virginia was actually Huntington St Joe vs Huntington Douglass, played in 1948.<\/p>\nWhile the game against Paden City could not be verified by research, the Dec. 11, 1954 Intelligencer<\/em>\u00a0did confirm Blessed Martin\u2019s victory over all-white Cameron, 79-59 at Cameron. Ron Strouthers scored 29 points, while Bruce Saunders added 23. The day before, the newspaper had called the matchup the \u201cNorthern Pandhandle\u2019s first inter-racial game\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-5' class='gallery galleryid-8933 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-shareaholic-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"Page 28 of Wheeling Intelligencer Friday, December 10th, 1954\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-28-of-Wheeling-Intelligencer-Friday-December-10th-1954.jpeg?ssl=1\" rel=\"lightbox[gallery-0]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"275\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-28-of-Wheeling-Intelligencer-Friday-December-10th-1954.jpeg?fit=640%2C275&ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-shareaholic-thumbnail size-shareaholic-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-5-9240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-28-of-Wheeling-Intelligencer-Friday-December-10th-1954.jpeg?w=1871&ssl=1 1871w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-28-of-Wheeling-Intelligencer-Friday-December-10th-1954.jpeg?resize=300%2C129&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-28-of-Wheeling-Intelligencer-Friday-December-10th-1954.jpeg?resize=1024%2C440&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-28-of-Wheeling-Intelligencer-Friday-December-10th-1954.jpeg?resize=768%2C330&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-28-of-Wheeling-Intelligencer-Friday-December-10th-1954.jpeg?resize=1536%2C660&ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-28-of-Wheeling-Intelligencer-Friday-December-10th-1954.jpeg?resize=640%2C275&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-28-of-Wheeling-Intelligencer-Friday-December-10th-1954.jpeg?resize=1170%2C500&ssl=1 1170w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-5-9240'>\n\t\t\t\tDec. 10, 1954 Intelligencer\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"Page 8 of Wheeling Intelligencer,published in Wheeling, West Virginia on Saturday, December 11th, 1954\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-8-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-December-11th-1954.jpeg?ssl=1\" rel=\"lightbox[gallery-0]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"638\" height=\"1305\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-8-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-December-11th-1954.jpeg?fit=638%2C1305&ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-shareaholic-thumbnail size-shareaholic-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-5-9245\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-8-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-December-11th-1954.jpeg?w=638&ssl=1 638w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-8-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-December-11th-1954.jpeg?resize=147%2C300&ssl=1 147w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-8-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Saturday-December-11th-1954.jpeg?resize=501%2C1024&ssl=1 501w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-5-9245'>\n\t\t\t\tDec. 11, 1954\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nInterestingly, at the 1977 reunion, Mnsgr. Yahn, who drove the team to the games, had a different recollection. \u201cThe first white school thta gave us a game was Cameron,\u201d he recalled. \u201cWe lost by two points. On the way home we were kidding about why we lost. Tom Walker explained that he played poorly because he was hungry and lighter than usual.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9197\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9197\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"DWC_BM_Basketball_wm\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Basketball_wm.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox-16\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-9197\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Basketball_wm.jpg?resize=750%2C564\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"564\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Basketball_wm.jpg?resize=1024%2C770&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Basketball_wm.jpg?resize=300%2C226&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Basketball_wm.jpg?resize=768%2C577&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Basketball_wm.jpg?resize=640%2C481&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Basketball_wm.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9197\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This team photo from the 1953 Blessed Martin yearbook shows members of the squad that would play the historic, first inter-racial basketball game in the northern panhandle, defeating Cameron.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Desegregation & Closure<\/h2>\n<hr>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9238\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9238\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"Page 21 of Wheeling Intelligencer,published in Wheeling, West Virginia on Friday, July 29th, 1955\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-21-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Friday-July-29th-1955.jpeg\" rel=\"lightbox-17\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9238\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-21-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Friday-July-29th-1955.jpeg?resize=250%2C619\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"619\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-21-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Friday-July-29th-1955.jpeg?resize=413%2C1024&ssl=1 413w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-21-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Friday-July-29th-1955.jpeg?resize=121%2C300&ssl=1 121w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-21-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Friday-July-29th-1955.jpeg?resize=620%2C1536&ssl=1 620w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Page-21-of-Wheeling-Intelligencerpublished-in-Wheeling-West-Virginia-on-Friday-July-29th-1955.jpeg?w=637&ssl=1 637w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9238\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">July 29, 1955 Intelligencer article.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAccording to the September 1, 1954 Intelligencer<\/em>, even after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/1940-1955\/347us483\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brown vs. Board of Education<\/em><\/a> Supreme Court decision, which held that\u00a0\u201cseparate but equal\u201d (ie, segregated) educational facilities for racial minorities were inherently unequal, therefore violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment \u2014 meaning they were unconstitutional and had to be phased out \u2014 and even as enrollment at Lincoln School and Dunbar (the segregated public schools in Ohio County), decreased dramatically, Blessed Martin\u2019s enrollment remained the same in 1954 as it was in 1953\u2013120 students.<\/p>\nIn the wake of Brown<\/em>, the Ohio County School Board had voted to \u201cpostpone integration until next year (1955), and Superintendent J.P. McHenry said, \u2018most Negro families appeared to be adhering to the board\u2019s request\u2026'\u201d But a subsequent article was headlined, \u201c3 Local Schools Enroll 12 Negroes\u2026,\u201d in which McHenry said, \u201cThey showed up and we accepted them\u2026\u201d Six boys and three girls (including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohiocountylibrary.org\/history\/the-wheeling-memory-project-ann-thomas\/5040\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ann Thomas<\/a>) were accepted into Wheeling High School, one girl was accepted at Triadelphia High School, and two boys at McKinley Vocational High school.<\/p>\nIn a brief history entitled,\u00a0\u201cResume of the History of Blessed Martin School, Wheeling, West Virginia, 1942 -1955\u201d from the Archives of the Sisters of St. Joseph, the unidentified author wrote, \u201cIn 1955 it was thought best to follow the injunction of the Supreme Court and permit the 150 students enrolled to be integrated in the public and private schools of the area. Good moral habits had been taught and respect for God and humanity were stressed.\u201d<\/p>\nThe last class at Blessed Martin High School graduated in June 1955. Many, but not all, of the remaining students were enrolled in Cathedral Grade school or Wheeling Central Catholic High School. \u201cIn announcing the closing of the school yesterday, the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Edmund J. Yahn said that as many of the Blessed Martin students as possible will be absorbed into Central and Cathedral grade schools. Monsignor Yahn said that he\u2019d \u201clike to take care of them all\u201d but overcrowded conditions in the two schools make it impossible.<\/p>\nThe last graduation speech was delivered by valedictorian Johnny Galloway.<\/p>\nInterviewed by the Intelligencer<\/em> in 2015, Ralph Edwards. Sr., noted that he \u201cand two of his Blessed Martin classmates \u2013 James Mayfield and John Galloway \u2013 walked through the doors of Wheeling Central Catholic High School as the first black students to attend the school.\u201d No African American girls attended St. Joseph\u2019s Academy (the girls\u2019 Catholic high school associated with Central) that first year after the Brown<\/em> decision.<\/p>\n\u201cThe nuns at Blessed Martin were great. And the Marist Brothers at Central had a profound effect on the rest of my life. Later, when I entered the Army, I wasn\u2019t afraid to take orders. I was used to that with the brothers,\u201d Edwards quipped. A guard in basketball, Edwards remembered playing against the white Catholic schools in grade school, boys who would become teammates at Central. \u201cThere were some schools that wouldn\u2019t play you because of having blacks on the team,\u201d he told the Intelligencer<\/em>. Edwards was inducted into the West Virginia All Black Schools Sports and Academic Hall of Fame in 2014.<\/p>\nOn May 22, 1956, the Ohio County Board of Education voted to close Lincoln School on June 30. At that point, only Hardy, Cabell, Jefferson, Boone, and Berkley counties in West Virginia still hadn\u2019t closed segregated schools in response to Brown.<\/p>\nThat same year, the Intelligencer reported that \u201c277 Negro students are attending one-time segregated schools [43 in high school, and 20 at Wheeling High School].\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9221\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9221\" style=\"width: 649px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"Central_Catholic-Gym\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Central_Catholic-Gym.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox-18\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-9221\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Central_Catholic-Gym.jpg?resize=649%2C487\" alt=\"\" width=\"649\" height=\"487\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Central_Catholic-Gym.jpg?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Central_Catholic-Gym.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Central_Catholic-Gym.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Central_Catholic-Gym.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Central_Catholic-Gym.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 649px) 100vw, 649px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9221\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The former site of Blessed Martin School is now home to Wheeling Central\u2019s gymnasium, northeast corner of 13th and Jacob.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Reunions<\/h2>\n<hr>\n<a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"DWC_BM_Reunion-Ribbon_wm\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Reunion-Ribbon_wm.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox-19\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-9211\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Reunion-Ribbon_wm.jpg?resize=300%2C583\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"583\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Reunion-Ribbon_wm.jpg?resize=527%2C1024&ssl=1 527w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Reunion-Ribbon_wm.jpg?resize=154%2C300&ssl=1 154w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DWC_BM_Reunion-Ribbon_wm.jpg?w=617&ssl=1 617w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Blessed Martin alumni organized the school\u2019s first reunion in 1971, sixteen years after the doors were closed. Some 140 former students and faculty gathered at Wilson Lodge for the event, which featured a speech by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Edmund Yahn (then pastor of Corpus Christi Church), dinner, and a dance. Organizers included, Lawrence Minor, Shirley King, Rosie Walker, Mae Francis Williams, Mrs. Lee Evans, Ralph Edwards, James Rainbow, Tom Walker, Chester Cruthfield, and Enzie Gentry Calloway. Former principal Sister Anne Patricia described the reunion as being characterized by Love and happiness.\u201d<\/p>\nIn August 1977, a second reunion was attended by 120 people, including then Bishop Hodges, Msgr. Yahn, the Sisters, and many former students. The two night event featured a banquet at Glessner Auditorium, followed by a dance at the Civic Center. Sister Anne Patricia was the keynote speaker. The planning committee included Shirley King, Mae Frances Williams, \u00a0Norman Campbell, and Lawrence Minoi. Highlights included the group singing of the school song (see above).<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">We\u2019d like to hear Your Story\u2026<\/h2>\n<hr>\nIf you attended Blessed Martin School and open to \u00a0to sharing your memories, we would love to speak with you.<\/p>\nPlease contact us <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohiocountylibrary.org\/research\/email-archiving-wheeling\/7302\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">HERE<\/a> so that we can make your story a part of our story.<\/p>\n<hr>\nOn January 24, 2023, the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and Wheeling Central Catholic High School held a dedication and blessing of a restored statue of St. Martin de Porres to be located in Central\u2019s gymnasium, the former location of Blessed Martin School. Bishop Brennan blessed the statue and a few former students were in attendance. <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/mUCK6FRHRzI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">One of them sang the fight song (click to watch).<\/a><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10580\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10580\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"078A52E8-D888-4AC7-9CCB-A8E03EE2193A\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/078A52E8-D888-4AC7-9CCB-A8E03EE2193A-scaled.jpeg\" rel=\"lightbox-20\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-shareaholic-thumbnail wp-image-10580\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/078A52E8-D888-4AC7-9CCB-A8E03EE2193A.jpeg?resize=640%2C457\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"457\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/078A52E8-D888-4AC7-9CCB-A8E03EE2193A-scaled.jpeg?resize=640%2C457&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/078A52E8-D888-4AC7-9CCB-A8E03EE2193A-scaled.jpeg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/078A52E8-D888-4AC7-9CCB-A8E03EE2193A-scaled.jpeg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/078A52E8-D888-4AC7-9CCB-A8E03EE2193A-scaled.jpeg?resize=768%2C548&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/078A52E8-D888-4AC7-9CCB-A8E03EE2193A-scaled.jpeg?resize=1536%2C1097&ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/078A52E8-D888-4AC7-9CCB-A8E03EE2193A-scaled.jpeg?resize=2048%2C1463&ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/078A52E8-D888-4AC7-9CCB-A8E03EE2193A-scaled.jpeg?w=2216 2216w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10580\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Attendees of Blessed Martin School pose with Bishop Brennan and the newly dedicated statue of St. Martin de Porres at Wheeling Central\u2019s gymnasium, Jan. 24, 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr>\nOn February 28, 2023, Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library hosted a program called \u201cRemembering Blessed Martin School.<\/p>\nWatch the entire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fy5t-W7Wh0Q&t=47s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">video of the program HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"333235037_525075956439950_2943596679765293352_n\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/333235037_525075956439950_2943596679765293352_n.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox-21\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10665 size-shareaholic-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/333235037_525075956439950_2943596679765293352_n.jpg?resize=640%2C358\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"358\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/333235037_525075956439950_2943596679765293352_n.jpg?resize=640%2C358&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/333235037_525075956439950_2943596679765293352_n.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/333235037_525075956439950_2943596679765293352_n.jpg?resize=1024%2C573&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/333235037_525075956439950_2943596679765293352_n.jpg?resize=768%2C430&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/333235037_525075956439950_2943596679765293352_n.jpg?resize=1536%2C860&ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/333235037_525075956439950_2943596679765293352_n.jpg?w=2048&ssl=1 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote>\u201cThere are two things I think about with regard to Blessed Martin de Porres School. One is (and it\u2019s lamentable), that the Church, giving in to human weakness, cooperated with an invidious and insidious segregation system in our country\u2026That\u2019s the sad part. The Church has to always remember: Christ first. The Gospel first. You try to accommodate the culture. But you have to stand up against the culture when it\u2019s wrong. And there were heroic people who were doing that. But they didn\u2019t have the power to change the system. The good side, is that the Catholic Church in this community found a way to educate African American young people, even in a segregated system. They found a way to give them the blessing of a good education.\u201d \u2013 Remarks by Bishop Brennan at the 02-28-23 program.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10668\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10668\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"branham\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/branham.png\" rel=\"lightbox-22\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10668 size-shareaholic-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/branham.png?resize=640%2C409\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"409\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/branham.png?resize=640%2C409&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/branham.png?resize=300%2C192&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/branham.png?resize=1024%2C654&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/branham.png?resize=768%2C490&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/branham.png?resize=237%2C150&ssl=1 237w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/branham.png?w=1226&ssl=1 1226w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10668\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Douglas L. Branham, who attended the Blessed Martin as a child, speaks at the 02-28-23 program.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10801\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10801\" style=\"width: 581px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a class=\"boxersandswipers\" title=\"Screenshot (466)\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screenshot-466.png\" rel=\"lightbox-23\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10801\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screenshot-466.png?resize=581%2C914\" alt=\"\" width=\"581\" height=\"914\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screenshot-466.png?w=581&ssl=1 581w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screenshot-466.png?resize=191%2C300&ssl=1 191w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 581px) 100vw, 581px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10801\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sr. Anna Marie Cole, probably the last living person to have taught at Blessed Martin, shares memories at the 2023 program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Sources<\/h2>\n<hr>\n<ul>\n<li>Barnett, B.; Brooks, D.; Althouse, R. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Black-Athlete-West-Virginia-Segregation\/dp\/1476678979\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Black Athlete in West Virginia: High School and College Sports from 1900 Through the End of Segregation<\/a>. <\/em>McFarland. 2020.<\/li>\n<li>Jones. H. H. \u201cAlong the Color Line \u2013 Progress of Catholic Church Among Negroes in the United States.\u201d ?<\/strong> May 19, 1946.<\/li>\n<li>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theintelligencer.net\/news\/top-headlines\/2015\/09\/one-of-first-black-wheeling-central-students-reflects-on-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">One of First Black Wheeling Central Students Reflects On History<\/a>.\u201d Wheeling Intelligencer<\/em>. September 27, 2015. Interviewee: Ralph Edwards, Sr. No attribution.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cResume of the History of Blessed Martin School, Wheeling, West Virginia, 1942 -1955.\u201d Paper. Author unknown. Courtesy Archives of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Wheeling, WV.<\/li>\n<li>Toothman, S. \u201cBlessed Martin \u2013 An Era in Education: School\u2019s First Reunion.\u201d Wheeling News-Register<\/em>. August 29, 1971.<\/li>\n<li>Toothman, S. \u201cBlessed Martin Alumni Meet at First Reunion.\u201d Wheeling News-Register<\/em>. August 29, 1971. September 3, 1971. Re-published in The Catholic Spirit<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>The Torch.<\/em> Blessed Martin Yearbook, 1947-1953. Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.<\/li>\n<li>Wagner, G., Sr. \u201cBlack Catholics in West Virginia A minority within a minority.\u201d The Catholic Spirit<\/em>. Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. Dec. 9, 1992.<\/li>\n<li>Wagner, G., Sr. Video interview conducted by Sean Duffy on July 27, 2020. One of the last living teachers at Blessed Martin School, Sister Gabriella was 102 years old at the time.<\/li>\n<li>Whelan, A.P., Sr. \u201cA History of Blessed Martin School.\u201d Talk delivered to the Wheeling Sierra Club in 1954. Courtesy Archives of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.<\/li>\n<li>Wood, P. \u201cAlumni of Blessed Martin Hold Anniversary Reunion.\u201d The Catholic Spirit. September 2, 1977.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Brief History of Wheeling\u2019s Blessed Martin School Dedication We are sharing this post again in honor of our beloved Sister Gabriella Wagner, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 102. 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A Brief History of Wheeling\u2019s Blessed Martin School<\/h1>\n\n

Who Was Blessed Martin?<\/h2>\n\n

A \u201cRugged Beginning\u201d<\/h2>\n\n

A First Class Rating<\/h2>\n\n

Mission<\/h2>\n\n

A Brief History of Wheeling\u2019s Blessed Martin School<\/h1>\n
\n