The observance of the bicentennial of Catholic schools in New York State commemorates the opening of the first Catholic school: St. Peter's on Barclay Street in lower Manhattan, which opened its doors in September 1800, with only 100 students.
At that time, all of New York State was part of what was known as the Diocese of New York, so all of the Catholic schools in state trace their roots to the opening of St. Peter's.
St. Mary's Church in Albany, the second oldest church in New York State, spawned the first Catholic school in the Albany Diocese. It owed its existence to the suggestion of a devout Protestant woman, Margaret Annesley, who strongly recommended that a Sunday school be formed. At that time, poor children frequently worked, and Sunday school often became their only opportunity for literacy. In 1828, she and several Catholic women conducted catechetical classes in the gallery of the church.
A grammar school was soon started in a house near the church, staffed part-time by lay women, until Mrs. James Meline headed it fulltime. Soon, Rev. Charles Smith, St. Mary's pastor, and the parishioners of the church, petitioned Bishop John Dubois, the third bishop of New York, to seek the services of a religious community of teachers. On Oct. 12, 1828, three Sisters of Charity arrived in Albany after a five-day journey from Emmitsburg, Maryland.
The sisters took in a few orphans at their convent across from the church and began teaching school a few blocks away in a rented old bakehouse. The centerpiece of the makeshift classroom was a rickety oven, which served as a rendezvous for rodents whose escapades caused inevitable disorder during class hours. The sisters could not afford a stove, so the only heat for the classroom came from a wood fire in an open fireplace in the room.
Father Smith moved the school into the basement of the larger, newly completed second church for St. Mary's in 1830. Two years later, a cholera epidemic ravaged Albany and neighboring villages, and orphans were found crying in the streets. The sisters opened an orphan asylum in a building adjoining the church.
That same year, 1832, the sisters started a "select" school in a room of the asylum to provide a quality education for girls whose parents could support it. The fees paid by those families supported the orphans and the sisters. The sisters also continued to teach the girls in one-half of the church basement in the free school, while John Maloney and John Flynn taught the boys in the other half of the basement. Old records indicate there were 25 orphans and 200 day pupils.
The Sisters of Charity left St. Mary's in 1844 in a disagreement over the poor living and working conditions at their combination convent-orphanage-school.
The Albany Diocese's second Catholic school, St. John's, opened in 1838 as part of the third oldest parish in New York State. Devoted lay teachers from Ireland taught there until they were replaced by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who opened a school in 1852.
The building, attached to the church on Rensselaer Street, was built by the men of the parish who generously donated time and services. Catholics and non-Catholics donated material and equipment.
Education in a select school was available to girls whose families could afford to pay tuition, and a free elementary school for boys and girls was operated for those who could not. The schools closed in 1861 because the sisters were called to minister in the Civil War battlefields.
In 1863, the Christian Brothers began teaching boys at St. John's. There were five brothers and 600 students. The sisters returned in 1865 to re-open a school for girls.
In 1846, the Sisters of Charity opened St. Joseph's School, the Diocese's third Catholic school. As in the past, the sisters ran a select school to support for the orphanage and free school. Whenever possible, parents of free school pupils who could afford to do so paid five cents for pens and a fee toward the cost of winter fuel.
Also in 1846, St. Joseph's Industrial School opened for orphans. In addition to the three Rs, young girls were taught practical skills, such as sewing and fancy needlework. Their products were sold to individuals, as well as retailers, to help support the orphanage.