2011 Senior History Day
"...you can know where you came from."
Senior History Day is becoming a tradition at St. Paul High School and with the museum. About seven years ago the St. Paul Alumni Association started scheduling the event for the graduating class, during their final days of school. While welcoming the class, Felix Diskin told them: "You are graduating from high school and some of you might not know where you are going from here, but at least you can know where you came from." The rest of the day was relaxed, adult-to-adult and informative:
- A historical overview of the original Osage Mission and the location of mission buildings near the school and church.
- A historical and architectural tour of St. Francis de Hieronymo Catholic Church. This included a rare tour of the 130 foot church steeple.
- A brief description of the Osage Mission display emphasizing our educational heritage and the work of the missionaries.
- A walk to, and around, historic St. Francis Cemetery.
- An opportunity to walk through the museum and discuss the displays.
- The class and escorts were treated to a good lunch at The Lodge.
- Following lunch, students took a bus tour of St. Paul pointing out old homes and former business district.
- The day concluded with a bus tour of the Big Island, Hope Cemetery and description of depression era settlements and businesses.
Tour of St. Francis de Hieronymo Catholic Church
Seniors gather on the steps to learn about the history of the church. The original log church was situated just west of the existing building. The existing building was constructed from native sandstone between 1872 and 1884.
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The interior tour of the church started in the vestibule. Felix discussed the three large bells seen during the steeple tour and the bell ropes that passed through the ceiling above before they were controlled by timers. Some altar servers used to let the weight of the bells pull them toward the ceiling when they rang them before Mass.
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Students and escorts reach the top of the church steeple.
Tour of the Steeple
On June 30, 2005, a severe thunderstorm removed the upper steeple from St. Francis Church. After months of planning and reconstruction the steeple was completed and put back into service during the summer of 2008. Externally, the new steeple looks very much like the original structure. However, the climb to the top of the steeple takes you through two eras of church history. From the choir loft entrance to roof level the steeple is much like it has been for most of the church's 126 years - old sandstone, plaster and heavy timber rafters and braces. The round and diamond shaped stained glass windows on the front of the steeple are suddenly huge, the detail of the glass leading and supports are very apparent. At the roof level a large opening in a stone wall provides a glimpse of the massive beams that were hoisted in place with tackle and mules during the 1800's. Above roof level the structure is entirely new, constructed with red-iron, new vents and windows and modern materials. The upper dome and arches are fabricated from composite materials. New steel stairways now extend from the choir loft to the top of the dome.
Normally, this upper steeple is off limits. An exception was made for our graduating Seniors. All class members, and a handful of brave escorts, made the climb to just below the 130 foot dome. At the top the group spent 15 to 20 minutes looking, finding landmarks and homes, and taking lots of pictures from the large dormer windows that look so small from below.
During the climb the group ducked beneath beams and paused as Dan Vitt turned on a light that illuminates the cavernous dark space between the church's ceiling vaults and the roof. The Seniors got a rare opportunity to look at the massive wooden roof rafters above, and the old and intricate plaster lathe that shapes the beautiful ceilings below.
While in the bell area, the group took a moment to inspect the three massive cast bells that have rung The Angelus, kept time and tolled for funerals for more than 100 years. We were also treated to a couple of ear-splitting gongs while in the structure. Before going back down to the church level, Seniors and escorts took a moment to be photographed among the bells and the arched steeple vents (Click picture at right).
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Museum Tour and Lunch at The Lodge
After the church tour, the group crossed the street for some quick refreshments, open museum browsing and a walking tour to the St. Francis Cemetery (below).
During the museum visit our staff provided a quick overview of the Jesuit missionary work of the latter half of the 19th century and ran a repeating video of St. Paul businesses during the early 1900's. Students also had a chance to preview the afternoon bus tour by inspecting a large map of the Big Island. Museum exhibit rooms were open for casual browsing.
At 11:30 the "mobile" portion of the tour got underway. Seniors and escorts were taken to the Lodge Steak House for burgers and trimmings compliments of the Alumni Association. Then the group boarded the bus for a guided tour of older St. Paul homes, Main Street as it used to be, and some of the older businesses. The bus also took them to Hope Cemetery (below), before doing a final loop of the Big Island area with discussion of the Giefer stock bridge, and the businesses and settlements of the Island.
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Cemetery and Island Tour
Cemeteries provide a direct link to history. The day's activities included tours of two local historic cemeteries - St. Francis and Hope.
The St. Francis tour focused on the Osage Indian graves and the Jesuit and Loretto missionary sections of the cemetery. Seniors were given a quick account of movement of the Osage and early settler graves from the original old Mission cemetery to the present cemetery. They were also reminded that if it had not been for thepersistence of the Osages in acquiring Jesuit schools, St. Paul would not exist today.
Tours of the Jesuit and Loretto graves were done with the intention of putting personalities with some of the tombstones. Many of the tombstones were singled out as Mr. Diskin provided personal profiles, accomplishments, and in some cases humorous accounts of that priest or sister's life. The group also learned that the old "tool shed" in the center of the cemetery was actually a holding vault used to hold bodies until the funerals were arranged or the ground thawed.
The Hope Cemetery tour covered its history and the large number of military graves found there. Two graves were selected for background and historical interest:
- The grave of Dr. G.W. McMillin is located about 100 feet northwest of the central loop and flag pole. Doctor McMillan was a Union officer and surgeon who was stationed at Camp Stoneman D.C. (Washington D.C.) at the time of President Lincoln's assassination. He is believed to be among the first military physicians at Lincoln's side after the president was shot.
- The grave of Frank Scott, about 200 feet south of McMillin, reminds us that disputes occasionally ended violently during the frontier period. Mr. Scott was shot down near the intersection of Main and County Streets on September 20, 1883. Will Mouser was arrested, charged and later cleared during a district court trial. It was later reported that Mouser was called before the city council and asked to leave town - now!
Leaving Hope Cemetery, the group headed south of St. Paul to the Big Island. Enroute, the Seniors learned where much of the stone for St. Francis Church was quarried, found out where the Giefer stock bridge (a Kansas historic bridge) is located, and learned about the depression-era settlements and businesses on the Big Island. The group returned to the museum at about 2:45 - in time for the afternoon high school baseball game.
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