Book: Who Shall Take Care of Our Sick?

Recently, I saw a reference to a 2005 book by Bernadette McCauley, Who Shall Take Care of Our Sick? Roman Catholic Sisters and the Development of Catholic Hospitals in New York City. Amazon lists copies of this book. One does not have to pay a collector's price for this slim, very informative volume.  I have read the book and continue to praise it.  Not exactly a history of the Catholic hospitals in our city, it gives clear and insightful analysis of the reasons for and practice of the hospital apostolate from 1849 until the end of the 20th century.
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Several constants show up in the book.  The religious sisters ran and staffed the hospitals, and physicians chose and performed the treatments. Fund-raising was usually the responsibility of the sisters. The types of patients and ailments changed with the quickly changing world of our city. A particular decade's problems could not be answered with out-dated treatment.
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The following Catholic hospitals served the people of Brooklyn:
St. Peter's, at Henry and Congress Streets, was founded in 1859-1862, through the efforts of the pastor of St. Peter's parish. The Franciscan Sisters of the Poor (established in Germany by Frances Schervier) provided administration and staff.
St. Mary's Hospital, at St. Mark's Avenue and Prospect Place, was founded by Bishop John Loughlin. Sisters of Charity (Mother  Seton's group) administered and staffed this diocesan hospital and its branch, Holy Family Hospital, Dean Street, where Mom was born.
St. Catherine's Hospital, Bushwick, was founded by Dominican Sisters from Regensburg, Germany, the same congregation that had arrived at Most Holy Trinity parish, Williamsburg, in the 1850's. Please see the seven-minute video, History of St. Catherine Hospital and Nursing School 1869-1965.
St. Cecilia's parish established a maternity hospital, which was soon turned over to the administration of nearby St. Catherine's Hospital and renamed St. Catherine's Maternity Hospital.  Please see this informative article from Brownstoner. Several friends of mine were born there.
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In 2016, Brooklyn has no Catholic hospital. The sole Catholic hospital in the five boroughs is Calvary Hospital in The Bronx.

Good Shepherd, Avenue S

Early Christian art portrayed Jesus as the Good Shepherd, in a pose resembling the statue here at the corner of Avenue S and Brown Street between Midwood and Marine Park, Brooklyn.  To enlarge any photo, click on it. 

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The mailing address of Good Shepherd parish is 1950 Batchelder Street, Brooklyn NY 11229, telephone 718-998-2800.  The parish website, linked here, is very informative. 

Dedicated to the Good Shepherd.  Batchelder Street, with rectory, school yard, and convent, is adjacent.

The older altar has a puzzling inscription, "Nos nos oraque Deo."  Please send an explanation to cjmcmann(at)msn.com
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James Sullivan has added a helpful comment.  Many thanks!  What I took as the letter o (after the second s) could well be a t with a curl.  Then it would read, Nos nostraque Deo, We and ours to God, nostra being neuter nominative plural.  I wonder what the lowest seven letters read.  By clicking on the photo, you may enlarge it.  

On May 20, 1939, fire destroyed the original 1927 church.  The new one is remarkable for its Spanish Mission design, its use of ceramic tiles (including the Stations of the Cross) and the nave windows that refer to Biblical shepherds (David, Bethlehem, parables of Jesus).

Good Shepherd Catholic Academy is at 1943 Brown Street, Brooklyn NY 11229, telephone 718-339-2745.  Its website is linked here.  The above photo faces north, towards the church at Avenue S.  

Whimsy enlivens.

Resurrection, Gerritsen Beach

The postal address of Resurrection parish is 2331 Gerritsen Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11229, telephone 718-743-7234.  The photo shows the church facing Gerritsen Avenue, with the intersection of Whitney Avenue at the right.  To the left is the former school and, left of that, the rectory. The parish apparently has no website, but an unofficial Facebook page is linked HERE.

Above is the Mass schedule as of September, 2011.

The rectory is to the left, a school to the right. For decades, Dominican Sisters taught in the school.  The rectory is a former convent built in the late 1950's.

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The parish was founded in 1924.  A photo of the interior of the church appears on Flickr, linked here.  The website Gerritsen Memories offers some history and many photos of the parish and its school. The adjacent parish 0.6 mile north is Good Shepherd, with a parish school.  

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The Wikipedia article on Gerritsen Beach states that the parish school closed in 2005.

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Gerritsen Avenue and the community of Gerritsen Beach extend another mile southeast through the peninsula before reaching the point.  Bus route B31 connects this community with the Brighton Line at Kings Highway Station.

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Mary, Queen of Heaven, Flatlands or Old Mill Basin

The mailing address of the parish of Mary, Queen of Heaven, is 1395 East 56th Street, Brooklyn NY 11234, telephone 718-763-2330. The impressive parish website is linked here. The church is on the south side of Avenue M between East 56th and East 57th Streets.



Mary Queen of Heaven Catholic Academy at 1326 East 57th Street, Brooklyn NY 11234, telephone 718-763-2360. Unfortunately, on February 8, 2019, the diocese announced that this school would close.  Please see the press release HERE.

This view of Mary Queen of Heaven school looks east from East 56th Street. The cornerstone says 1949. The Dominican Sisters' convent is to the left. If I understand correctly, for years the school was staffed by Sparkill Dominicans, and the current principal is an Amityville Dominican. The 8th grade graduation class of 1970 numbered 52 (photo on Facebook). It seems there is one room per grade now.


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Fourteen Holy Martyrs, Closed

The parish of Fourteen Holy Martyrs was established on Central Avenue, Bushwick, in 1887. After its 1976 merger with the parish of St. Martin of Tours, the property was sold to Pilgrim Church, which continues to use the buildings.
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Many thanks to a graduate of the class of 1962 for sending me a correction. He wrote that the building at the left above is a new parish hall, built in the 1960's to replace an older parish hall. He also explained that the church of Fourteen Holy Martyrs was located on the ground floor of the school, pictured below.
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Many thanks also to a former student, who wrote, "I went to that school starting about 1948.  At that time the church was in the same building as the school.  As the parish got larger, they had to use the other building to hold the overflow.  Both buildings were used as a church.  I don't know when they started to use the second building as a church." 
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The parish was named after a popular Bavarian devotion, that of the Vierzehn Nothelfer. For decades, the Dominican Sisters of Amityville staffed the parish school.

Both views look west on Central Avenue towards Covert Street and a public junior high school. For some years, until about 2002, the Pilgrim Christian Academy educated elementary school children in this building, the former church and parish school. Apparently, the academy has made another attempt to open. One address seems to be 628 Central Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11207.

Dominican Sisters of Amityville

The Dominican Sisters of Amityville have staffed many parish schools in Brooklyn for decades, some perhaps more than a century. A friend has given me this list of Amityville Dominican parish schools, which I separate by zip-code in order to keep neighborhoods somewhat together and to facilitate using this information when I walk around more neighborhoods to write this blog. In order of numerical zipcode:
11206 -- Sts. Joseph and Dominic Academy, at Most Holy Trinity parish, Williamsburg. From 1853 until the 21st century, the Dominican Sisters staffed the parish school here.
11209 -- St. Patrick, Fort Hamilton.
11211 -- St. Nicholas, Williamsburg.
11219 -- St. Frances de Chantal, 58th Street.
11221 -- St. Barbara, Bushwick.
11221 -- St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, Suydam St.
11221 -- Fourteen Holy Martyrs, Bushwick.
11223 -- Sts. Simon and Jude, Gravesend.
11224 -- Our Lady of Solace, Coney Island.
11228 -- Our Lady of Guadalupe, 73rd Street, Dyker Heights.
11228 -- St. Frances Cabrini, Bay 11th Street.
11229 -- Good Shepherd, Batchelder St.
11231 -- St. Mary Star of the Sea, Court St., Red Hook.
11236 -- St. Jude, Carnarsie.

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The work of these religious Sisters has been most effective and generous.



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St Michael, Jerome St., East New York

The office for the parish of St. Michael and St. Malachy is at 284 Warwick Street, Brooklyn NY 11207, telephone 718-647-1818. The office is behind St. Michael's church, which is on Jerome St. The parish website is linked here.
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Up the sanctuary steps and through the left door is la capilla used for morning services. On Monday, August 17, 2008, I found 8:15 a.m. benediction (closing adoration?) and 8:30 Mass. In between a litany was offered that called upon Mary with the various patronage titles that honor her in the countries of Latin America. The parish bulletin listed also a morning mass at St. Malachy's rectory.  Capuchin Franciscans (long ago, German in heritage) staffed St. Michael's, and on Warwick Street a large building has the sign "Capuchin Friary." The Capuchin Province of St. Mary has headquarters in White Plains, New York. 

The parishes of Saint Michael and Saint Malachy have been combined. This is a view of St. Michael's church, looking south on Jerome Street towards Liberty Avenue.

Above, the office for the parish of St. Michael and St. Malachy is at 284 Warwick Street, Brooklyn NY 11207, telephone 718-647-1818. This is behind St. Michael's church. 

Above is Salve Regina Catholic Academy, 237 Jerome St., Brooklyn NY 11207, telephone 718-277-6766. It is on the northeast corner of Jerome Street and Liberty Avenue. Click on any photo to enlarge it. Apparently, some school buses serve St. Michael's. On Atlantic Avenue, just north of the church, is bus route Q24, from Jamaica to Bushwick. 

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As for the church of St. Malachy, a final Mass was offered there in there in January, 2009.  From the second link below, it would seem that the church was soon demolished.
Historic photos of both St. Michael's and St. Malachy's are presented on the laudable East New York project, linked here and here.




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Our Lady of Solace, Coney Island

(Please click on the green word "comments" below for some memories.)
In the above photo at sundown, Mermaid Avenue runs from left to right in the foreground. Our Lady of Solace church is on the northwest corner of Mermaid Avenue and West 17th Street.

The mailing address for Our Lady of Solace parish is 2866 West 17th Street, Brooklyn NY 11224, telephone 718-266-1612. This parish, founded in 1900, is the sole Catholic parish on the peninsula called Coney Island. By good fortune, the location has become central to transportation. West 17th Street is a continuation of Cropsey Avenue, with its exits from the Belt Parkway. Two blocks east is the Stillwell Avenue terminal of four subway routes (B. D. F. N) and and a maze of bus routes. One block south of the church is Keyspan Park, a resplendent minor league stadium. A further block south is the boardwalk and beach.
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The parish's excellent, well-developed website is linked here. Note especially the history page.  At present, three Vocationist Fathers, S.D.V., serve the parish.
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The former parish elementary school on West 19th Street is now rented or sold to the Board of Education as a high school for transfer students, Liberation Diploma Plus. For many years before the parish school closed, the Dominican Sisters taught there.
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The numbered streets of Brooklyn do not resemble those of Manhattan, where east and west designate ends of the same street. In Brooklyn, the prefix is important. All the numbered streets prefixed "West" are in Coney Island. "East" numbered streets are in East Flatbush. "Bay" numbered streets are in Bensonhurst and Bath Beach. "Beach" numbered streets are in Rockaway, Queens.

Annunciation, Williamsburg

These photos were taken in October of 2006. Please read below, as the information may have changed.


Many thanks to the author of the parish website (link here) for posting an informative history of this parish and its recent status. The address of Blessed Virgin Mary of the Annunciation parish is 259 North Fifth Street, Brooklyn NY 11211, at Havemeyer Street, just west of the din of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and very close to Metropolitan Avenue. The diocesan website in July, 2009, provides no phone number, so one might search through the above parish link.
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My interest in this parish came when a distant relative said her uncle, son of German immigrants, was baptized here in the 1890's. This parish was originally German. It became Lithuanian in 1914, and it remains a Lithuanian center that also welcomes the congregation of a Mass in Spanish. There is no resident priest. According to the AIA Guide, the present church was built in 1870 by the architect F. J. Berlenbach. The guide gives the shape was "basilica," that is a rectangular hall, Roman court house style, with Lombardian Romanesque designs. In the above photo, one can see a Lithuanian cross.
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The 1889 convent on Havemeyer Street is a condominium. The Dominican Sisters of Amityville (and from Regensburg, Bavaria, in the mid-1800's) apparently staffed the school for decades. The school closed in 1973.




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St. Nicholas, Olive Street, Williamsburg

Effective January 31, 2011, the historic parish of St. Nicholas was merged with two other parishes to form the parish of Divine Mercy. Olive Street, Williamsburg, is about two miles inland from the East River, away from the center of Williamsburg. Here is St. Nicholas parish, founded about 1865 for Germans too distant from Montrose Avenue and Most Holy Trinity parish. 

The Dominican Sisters of Amityville staffed this school for many years.
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Please view the website of Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy at 11 Catherine Street.




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St. Patrick, Bay Ridge

The rectory address is 9511 Fourth Ave., Brooklyn NY 11209, phone 718-238-2600. The parish website is linked here.
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St. Patrick's parish at 95th Street and 4th Avenue in Bay Ridge was probably the eighth Catholic parish founded in what is now the borough of Brooklyn. It may be the first Brooklyn parish named for Patrick, because the 1848 founding of St. Patrick's, Kent Avenue, was apparently under the title of St. Mary, changed later to St. Patrick. 

The cornerstone of the church carries the date 1925, the same year that the BMT subway reached 95th Street and probably led to a large increase in parish population. In the early 1960's, however, Robert Moses and his ramps for the Verrazano Bridge probably destroyed much housing within the parish boundaries, though my recollection is that the people of St. Ephrem parish suffered more.


The address of St. Patrick Catholic Academy at the right is 401 97th Street. The school website is HERE.
In 1945 the school had 1,140 students. In the 2016 Official Catholic Directory, the enrollment is 262. For decades, the Dominican Sisters of Amityville staffed the school.
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The Brooklyn Public Library posted a 1908 photo of the previous church (pre-1925) here.



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St. Joseph Patron of the Universal Church, Bushwick

The mailing address of St. Joseph's parish is 185 Suydam St., Brooklyn NY 11221, telephone 718-386-0175. Its website is linked HERE.
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The parish of St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, is known colloquially as St. Joseph, Suydam Street, to distinguish it from other parishes named after St. Joseph. From its 1919 origins, the parish was principally Italian. Now it is administered by the Scalabrini Fathers, an Italian congregation founded to accompany emigrants to their new lands and help them there. In this instance, it is obvious that they now assist new immigrants from Latin America. Many of the Germans, Irish, and Italians of Bushwick have emigrated again, this time to suburbs.
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The school, named St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Catholic Academy, is at 181 Suydam St., Brooklyn NY 11221, telephone 748-386-9277. Adjacent to the church on Suydam Street, between Central Avenue and Wilson Avenue, this is north of the Central Avenue station of the M train. For decades, the Dominican Sisters staffed the parish school.
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Unfortunately, on February 8, 2019, the diocese announced that this school would be merged into St. Brigid Catholic Academy a mile east at Grove Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. Please see the official announcement HERE. There seem to be structural problems with the school on Suydam Street.
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NBC has a report HERE.

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Many thanks for the following comment received 6.17.2011:

I tried to leave a comment on your home page, but I was unsuccessful.

I've been searching for quite some time for a web site for St. Joe's and was happy to come across one tonight.

I am not sure if there is a historian or if anyone is interested in stories from years ago. If so, here is a brief family history.

My parents, Salvatore and Rose Marie Lardizzone, married in St. Joe's Church in April of 1950. My brother, sister, and I were baptized there. My brother and I received our Communion and Confirmation at St. Joe's. I attended school there from 1957 to Nov. '62, my brother from '59 to Nov. '62. My parents bought a house in L.I. in '62 and we moved from Evergreen Ave., Brooklyn. My sister was 4 at the time.

One of the nuns would put on an annual show for the Bishop when he visited. One year I was a clown in the chorus (4th grade) and the following year I was a ballerina (5th grade). If I remember correctly the nun's name was Sr. Maria Concetta. My brother & I were cadets and participated in the annual marching competition. There is really only one student I remember. Her name is Edith Ciro. I've tried to locate her on Facebook, but to no avail.

I became a special education teacher 11 years ago.

I am sure the school and parish has been through some changes since the 50s. If there is any information you could share about the school or the nuns, I would love to hear it. Some where in my files I still hold dear my St. Joseph Patron School report cards.

Thank you in advance,

Anna M. (Lardizzone) Kearney

mskearneysped(at)juno(dot)com

Most Holy Trinity, Williamsburg

The website of Most Holy Trinity parish is linked HERE.  The parish address is 138 Montrose Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11206, telephone 718-384-0215.
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The AIA Guide suggests that Most Holy Trinity church may have been inspired by the Abbaye aux Hommes in Caen, Normandy. The street view looks east on Montrose Avenue. The second view looks east from Lorimer Street, across the two ballfields of Frances Hamburger Sternberg Park to the church. A link to the Abbaye aux Hommes here.
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The parish website gave a history of the parish school, which closed in 2013.

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Also please see this article on McNamara's Blog.
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And this article from the New York Daily News of 12.7.2011. It includes an excellent interior photo and a capsule history.