Established in 1875 during the expansion and development of the West, Fort Yates served as a U.S. military garrison to protect the U. S. Indian Agency and administer Indian affairs in the heart of the Sioux Nation.  The photograph, one of a series taken by F.B. Fiske, documents daily life and the bustling activity of frontier living.  Fort Yates was decommissioned in 1903, but the site today remains the tribal headquarters of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

Long before the personal computer became king, many students learned how to type and create documents using a typewriter.  These young men at La Salle Academy in New York City took a typing class in which they learned touch-typing, or using all their fingers without looking at the keys.  This useful skill proved invaluable for business and communications, especially since computers took over.

Boys and young men studying to become Christian Brothers at the novitiate of St. Joseph’s Normal Institute in Barrytown, New York, take a dip in the new pool.  The juniors and novices at Barrytown pause in their daily reverence to escape the heat of a hot summer day.

A small group of Christian Brothers, from various countries, enjoy a sightseeing outing at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, before an audience with Pope John XXIII.  These Brothers were called to the Generalate in Rome to attend the Second Novitiate, where, for several months, they performed renewal exercises and made a profound study of the life of St. John Baptist de La Salle, his Rules, and his ascetical, pedagogical and administrative methods.

A group of students, Christian Brothers and friends accompany a statue of Saint John Baptist de La Salle on the way to the dedication of the Catholic Church at Kukrahill.  The Christian Brothers from various Districts of the United States first arrived to Bluefields, Nicaragua in 1944 to form the first mission community and to administer and teach in the elementary and primary schools.  The City of Bluefields lies about 135 miles east of Managua, the Capital of Nicaragua.

In the early 1960s, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visited St. Joseph High School in Addis Ababa.  The school was built on land donated by the emperor to the Christian Brothers and was dedicated in 1961.  At the time, the Emperor lived next door to the Christian Brothers in a new palace and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren attended St. Joseph’s.

At the turn of the 20^th century, the U.S.-Mexico border community of Tijuana became a popular tourist attraction for Americans and international travelers alike.  Visitors to the Mexican town could take in a bull fight, snap a photo at the border monument or purchase hand-woven Mexican serapes (vibrantly colored blankets or shawls) at busy souvenir shops.

Within a few days of attacking Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Japanese occupied the Philippines.  After the bombing of Manila, De La Salle College was converted into a military hospital.  Over the next few years the College became home to the Redemptorist Fathers, neighbors, families, and servants along with the Christian Brothers. In early 1945, US forces set about wresting control of the city from the Japanese.  The Japanese moved into the College and made it their defense headquarters.  During the Battle of Manila, the Japanese fought to the death and massacred thousands of civilians.  Of the sixty-eight people living at the College, in February 1945, forty-six were murdered.  Among them were sixteen Christian Brothers.

A group of boys play in the snow against the background of the Old City walls of Jerusalem, which enclose the grounds of the Christian Brothers’ School, Frères College.  A rare, heavy snowfall blanketed the City and animated the young students out in the courtyard.  The school was founded in 1876 and was built on the ruins of an old Crusader fortress, the most prominent landmark on the high point of the Old City’s walls.

On retreat out West, the Christian Brothers enjoy a day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.  They captured various similar scenes of the famous characters meeting and greeting their young fan base.  The theme park was only fifteen years old then and featured the attractions Flight to the Moon, the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.  It was an incredibly popular tourist spot that was not to be missed, even for the Brothers.

A frantic telegram was sent from a teacher at St. Joseph’s School in Addis Ababa to the Christian Brothers Administrators, pleading with them to send more mathematics books.  Apparently, the horse ate the English math notes!  The Christian Brothers first arrived in Ethiopia in 1953 to open schools and to demonstrate the spirit of the brotherhood.  In 1959, St. Joseph School, a K-12 school, in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, opened.  It is located in a large area of downtown Addis, a gift of former Emperor Heile Selassie.

On a walk around his Lower East Side neighborhood, up the block from La Salle Academy, Brother Joe Loewenstein captures a man changing the marquee of the Loew’s Theater along a busy Second Avenue & 6^th Street.  A budding photographer, Brother Joe often recorded the hectic New York City scene in this largely immigrant community.  The movie house, which opened in 1926 as the Commodore Theater, has a noteworthy history.  Not only did it host Yiddish films and vaudeville, it became a significant rock music venue as the Village Theater.  From 1968 to 1971, it became home to the famed Filmore East, which hosted several legendary rock bands including the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and the Allman Brothers among others.  The building still stands and continues to undergo many transformations.

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Newly professed Christian Brothers, also known as Novices, relax after dinner in their spiritual reading park, nestled in the woods at St. Joseph Normal Institute, the Brothers campus in Barrytown, New York.  This upstate estate of about 250 acres located in Dutchess County, served as the Brothers Novitiate as well as their Juniorate from 1930 until 1968.  The beautiful, lush grounds overlooking the Hudson River, served as recreational areas for young Christian Brothers to engage in sports activities, spiritual devotion and contemplative thought.

Curious onlookers and inquisitive neighbors explore the battered shell of the old Christian Brothers College building at Easton Avenue and Kings Highway in the Sherman Park section of St. Louis, Missouri.  In the early morning of Sunday, October 5, 1916, Christian Brothers College was largely destroyed by a terrible fire that took the life of six men; two elderly and infirmed Brothers, their nurse, a night watchman and six firemen.  The Christian Brothers had begun teaching in St. Louis in 1849 and enjoyed rapid success in the work of Christian education.  They purchased a thirty acre tract of land at the site of Easton and Kings Highway in 1877 and completed the buildings that housed classrooms, administrative offices and a dormitory in 1882.  The site was abandoned after the fire and the school was relocated to a new site just west of Forest Park in 1920.

The boys studying at St. Joseph’s Normal Institute (the Christian Brothers Training College) in Pocantico Hills, NY take a break on a hot summer day to cool off on the beach at Coney Island.  The juniors studying to become Christian Brothers attended summer classes up state, but they enjoyed an annual two week “vacation” at Manhattan College where they appreciated the recreational facilities and change of environment.  Considerable time was also spent visiting various museums and places of interest around New York City, including Coney Island.

Actress and singer Ann Blyth and Manhattan College President Brother Gregory Nugent share a moment at the 96^th Annual Alumni Banquet held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.  Ms. Blyth was in attendance with her husband, Dr. James McNulty ’40, who was celebrating his 25^th reunion.  The impressive dinner was enjoyed by over three hundred religious and lay people.  According to the menu, the first course, captured in the photograph, features a “supreme of fresh fruit Lucullus attractively decorate with berries of the season served on ice in silver cups.”

Two dayhops crash on sofas in one of the College buildings during the New York City Transit strike of 1966.  A historic 12-day transit strike, which began on New Year’s Day, shut down the New York City subway and bus systems, affecting millions of commuters including Manhattan’s commuter students.  For those who relied on public transit, rather than risk not making it back to campus, they simply found space on cots, in chairs and on the floors in buildings around campus.  In 1966, the majority of the student population commuted as the College drew primarily on a local and regional clientele. The residential population was only about sixteen percent of the total undergraduate enrollment of 3,500.  Perhaps the saving grace for dayhops was the timing.  The College was in the midst of its winter intersession and not as many students needed to be on campus at the time.

The Model T dominates the parking lot of the newly built Christian Brothers High School in St. Joseph, Missouri on the occasion of its dedication.  The Christian Brothers began teaching in St. Joseph in 1867 in a building that had been heavily used to quarter both Union and Confederate troops during the Civil War.  By the 1920s, they built a new school building in the residential section of the city.

Books and serials pile up in the cluttered library at St. Joseph’s Normal Institute (Christian Brothers Training College in Pocantico Hills, NY.  In 1904, the Brothers of the Christian Schools purchased the property from John D. Rockefeller in Westchester County and established their Novitiate upon Buttermilk Hill, the highest point in the county.   The Novitiate became home to boys and young men who were studying and preparing themselves to become Christian Brothers.

The young, smartly dressed boys of St. Joseph's Cathedral parish school pose outside their academy building at 50 Lowell Street, in Manchester, New Hampshire.  The Christian Brothers first came to Manchester in January 1886 to begin teaching students from Cathedral and other parishes in the city.  They served in Manchester until 1978.  The building is still standing today but it no longer houses a school.

Manhattan College students, fans and alumni returned to campus in October 1972 to celebrate the annual Homecoming tradition.  The packed crowd braved the cool autumn air to watch the Jasper football team play on their home gridiron in Gaelic Park.

Students at St. Cecilia’s School in Greenpoint, Brooklyn hold a scrap drive to collect vital materials for the war effort during World War II.  With the help of Brother Principal, the young boys accumulated metal to be recycled and used in ammunition, bombs, tanks, guns and battleships as well as tin and rubber to be used for gas masks and life rafts.

New York District Christian Brothers A. Denis, Aubert, Bernardine and Benilde Patrick enjoy the spring sun on a Sunday afternoon after mass at their retreat house in Crystal Lake, New York.  

The Christian Brothers offer a real-life natural history class to their young students at La Salle School in Panama.  The Brothers have been running schools in Panama for over a hundred and fifteen years.  In 1904, just a year after the young Republic gained its independence, its government invited our Brothers, who had recently been expelled from France, to run schools there.  We have been working with Lasallian youth there ever since.    

High-tech communication in 1970 at St. Mary’s College in Winona, Minnesota consisted of payphones in the common area of the dorms.   Although now an artefact of the past, pay phones were necessary fixtures on college campuses, particularly when looking for a job or a date on Saturday night or if parents needed to get in touch.

In the early 1960s, the Christian Brothers of the St. Louis District established a retreat center, popularly called Dunrovin, at Marine-on-St. Croix, Minnesota to serve the students of the Twin City area high schools staffed by the Brothers.  In the 1930s, the fifty-acre estate, located about forty minutes outside of St. Paul, was owned by Arthur and Clara Packer, who operated the "Morning Glory Trout and Game Preserve." At that time it was known as a place where businessmen could get away, fish in the trout pond, board their dogs, and enjoy the outdoors.  The Brothers eventually took over Dunrovin and held their first retreat on Ash Wednesday, 1964.  It still operates as a Christian Brothers retreat facility today. 

Pick-up ice hockey seems to be the best alternative to being stuck inside during the blustery cold winter days in Pocantico Hills, New York.  Some junior novices studying at St. Joseph’s Normal Institute enjoy time outdoors playing ice hockey on the pond in front of the Retreat house on the vast upstate campus.  St. Joseph’s Normal Institute, where young boys and men studied to become Christian Brothers, served as the Novitiate from 1906 until 1930 and the Scholasticate from 1913 to 1930.

On May 25, 1961, a Pan-Am jet touched down in Miami direct from Havana, Cuba carrying a whole Province of Christian Brothers.  All of the Brothers’ schools in Cuba had been confiscated by the Castro government and the Brothers had risked their lives clashing with civil authorities.  In the months leading up to their departure, Brothers had been arrested and imprisoned and left with the choice of giving up their vocations or expulsion from Cuba or death before a firing squad.  The Brothers came to Cuba in 1905 and began their apostolate.  They had established De La Salle College, Vedado in Havana, Lasallian Commercial Academy and Lasallian College at Santiago.

A new video game room was established outside of Plato’s Cave, on the first floor of Thomas Hall.  When students returned from winter break in January 1981, popular arcade games like Space Invaders and Missile Command awaited them.  Throughout the year tournaments were held and pizza prizes awarded.  The impromptu arcade proved very popular, especially among the male students.

A familiar sight in the background landscape of Manhattan College is the IRT, NYC’s #1 subway line elevated above Broadway.  Throughout most of the 20^th century, the majority of students commuted to class, day-hopping from the surrounding tri-state area, with a large portion arriving via subway.  Another familiar sight is the one-story building Paulian Laboratories on Broadway and 242^nd Street, which was acquired in 1957 and provided laboratories, classrooms, and faculty offices for Engineering as well as much-needed parking space.  Today this building, parking lot and view no longer exist.  Manhattan College Parking garage has taken its place.

Sundays in the spring of the 1960s and early 1970s became reserved for television’s “College Bowl”, also known as the General Electric (G.E.) College Bowl.  First filmed at the CBS studios and later at NBC, Manhattan College’s four-men teams went head-to-head against fellow collegians answering challenging questions rooted in the liberal arts. 

Manhattan College students and coeds took advantage of sunny and seasonably warm days by flocking to New York City beaches.  Steamy summer months were often enjoyed at popular spots like Coney Island, the Rockaways and Riis Park.

In 1863, the New York Catholic Protectory opened its doors to the “destitute Roman Catholic children of New York City.”  Thousands of boys between 7 and 14 years of age who may have been idle, truant, vicious or homeless, were remanded to the care of the Christian Brothers.  Various industrial trades were taught to the boys including printing.  The sophistication of their illustrations and the capacity to handle large orders in little time won the printing department high praise.  In 1904, it was awarded a gold medal at the World’s Fair held in St. Louis.

Parents and their children protest the Christian Brothers withdrawal from St. Mary’s School in Yonkers, New York.  The Brothers opened St. Mary’s School in 1861 to educate 300 students.  It was the first Catholic parochial school between New York City and Poughkeepsie and the oldest in the city of Yonkers.  After more than one hundred years, due to a lack of personnel within the Institute, the Brothers withdrew.  Parents, students and the Yonkers community deeply regretted the Brothers’ exit. 

With the increased number of automobiles on the highways in the 1950s, a great percentage of America’s youths were becoming drivers.  This led to a steady rise in accidents and the consequent proliferation of driver’s ed. courses.  At the Christian Brother’s Scholasticate, De La Salle College in Washington, D.C., such a course was in operation.  It proved unique because the Brothers were the only religious order in the country to have a full-time driver-training program in a superior house of studies.

During a private ceremony at the offices of The Catholic Worker, Manhattan College President Brother Gregory Nugent presented the 1974 Saint La Salle Medal to Dorothy Day.  Dorothy Day was a journalist and social activist who founded the Catholic Worker Movement to promote the examination of conscience.  Day protested the exploitation of the worker, pled the plight of the poor, spoke in defense of the prisoner and utterly rejected violence as a solution to man’s conflicts.  Dorothy Day truly exemplified the mission and spirit of Saint John Baptist de La Salle. 

The College wanted to bestow on her an honorary degree in 1973, but she declined, responding, “To be absolutely sincere, I should add that the tie-up of so many universities with the government in research to benefit the “industrial-military complex” is of course also a reason for my decision.”  She continued, “I do love the Christian Brothers…”

Not until the early 1970s did Manhattan College go co-ed. Before then, Manhattan only educated men. In fact, Manhattan was known as “The Maker of Men.” At the same time, the College was also primarily a commuter school. Out of an undergraduate enrollment of around 3,600 in 1969, only about 940 of those students were residents. 

Eighty years ago Manhattan College students took their first steps through the Cardinal Hayes Library portals. The new facility quickly emerged as a vital center of academic and social life. The library remained the intellectual center of the campus. By the early 2000s, Hayes Library was extensively renovated and expanded and in 2002 re-dedicated as the O’Malley Library. The traditional stack-filled, quiet self-study spaces that were evaluated based on the number of volumes on its shelves, became integrated, mixed-use learning spaces that incorporated sophisticated technologies.

Manhattan College administrators and faculty along with a handful of students pose for a photograph in the “Old” Manhattan College Administration building at 131^st Street and Broadway.  Featured from the left to right are the eponymous Brother Jasper, Prefect, Athletic Director, and for whom our athletics teams are named, Brother Baldwin, professor of various classes, Brother John Chrysostom, first native American Brother,  and Brother Anthony, President of the College. 

Manhattan College students and faculty joined in the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, a peaceful nationwide protest against the US involvement in Vietnam.  Although classes were not suspended, attendance was down about eighty percent as the Manhattan College community participated in organized discussions, marches, workshops, film screenings and vigils.  The day began fittingly with a Mass for Peace.

While it may seem difficult now to fathom a Jasper football squad, in the 1930s, Manhattan was a powerhouse on the gridiron.  With schedules and attendance soaring, Manhattan ranked among the important football-playing colleges of the East and gained a measure of national prominence.  Here, a muddied Jasper squad squares off against an undiscernible foe on Ebbets Field, the legendary baseball stadium of the Brooklyn Dodgers, which was also home base for Manhattan College's football team. 

Boys at Lincoln Hall, a school for troubled boys in Lincolndale, NY, enjoy the company of man’s best friend.  The school, run by the Christian Brothers until 1981, was home to many young men who were remanded to custody by family courts for a whole range of juvenile offenses and problems.  Often from difficult family backgrounds or the streets of a city, the youths benefitted from their relationships with the dogs.  Friendship, loyalty, obedience and love offered by their pets provided some close and comforting contact. 

Students at La Salle Institute in Glencoe, Missouri patiently wait their turn for a dip in the swimming pond. The Christian Brothers first came to Glencoe, Missouri in the 1870s and soon after established La Salle Institute, the novitiate of the St. Louis District.  Young men aspiring to become Christian Brothers prepared, studied, and, of course, participated in recreational activities there for over 90 years.  Today La Salle serves as a retreat center. 

Students of Manhattan College Preparatory School, “the Prep,” take their dates to a local roller skating rink. Manhattan Prep was the high school attached to the main College. Students of the Prep shared facilities with the College men and shared entertainment like roller skating. Roller skating was an enormously popular recreation in the forties. Despite the rigorous dress codes, rinks were fashionable hangouts for youth at the time. By the 1980s roller skating fell out of fashion and in 1971 Manhattan Prep was closed.

His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Spellman, Brother Bonaventure Thomas, President of Manhattan College and Brother Alexius Victor, Visitor of the New York District of the Christian Brothers, share a good laugh over an impromptu interruption during the Manhattan College Commencement ceremony.

The awards were given out on the very congested Quadrangle. The graduation class of about 441, made up mostly of returning ex-servicemen and WWII veterans and the largest in College history then, together with an additional 53 sisters of ten Catholic orders who had completed studies in the College’s extension program, and five thousand guests rounded out the crowd. The Chapel steps were used as the dais and a tent was pitched to protect the dignitaries. The students and guests sat on the partially tree-shaded Quadrangle on a sunny mid- June day.

The highlight event of Manhattan’s centennial anniversary was held on April 25, 1953. Cardinal Spellman official blessed and dedicated the new Hayden Science Hall and the board of trustees made a special presentation to Mr. J. Willard Hayden. The College had received a half million dollar gift from the Charles Hayden Foundation to finance the new science building.

The whirlwind day, which began with a Pontifical Mass in De La Salle Chapel that paid an eloquent tribute to the prelates, pastors, Christian Brothers and laymen who during one hundred years had built up Manhattan College, continued with an Academic Convocation. Six honorary degrees were conferred on prominent men in religion, business, engineering, medicine and education. The St. La Salle, Manhattan College and Brothers’ Boy medals were also awarded.

In the 1957-58 post-season, Manhattan College stunned crowds by defeating
West Virginia, a team designated as number one in the country, in the first round
of the NCAA Tournament, 89-84. The Mountaineers’ were led by future NBA Hall
of Famer Jerry West, who the Jaspers held to only 10 points. The two hour
penalty-packed game included 61 personal fouls and concluded with four players
from each team benched.

During the post-game celebration, the team hoisted Coach Ken Norton on their
shoulders and paraded him around Madison Square Garden. In the opinion of the
audience and sports writers, the game would never be forgotten for its thrills,
suspense, emotionalism and outstanding performances.

Students cram into the one room, 35’ x 35’ original library located in Manhattan Hall (now Miguel Hall). Approximately fifteen students wrangled for every one available seat to study and work on assignments. Squeezed into that space was about 50,000 volumes and a library staff of eight. The following year Cardinal Hayes Library would open to much fanfare and relief!

Eighty years ago Manhattan College students took their first steps through the Cardinal Hayes Library portals. The new facility quickly emerged as a vital center of academic and social life. The library remained the intellectual center of the campus. By the early 2000s, Hayes Library was extensively renovated and expanded and in 2002 re-dedicated as the O’Malley Library. The traditional stack-filled, quiet self-study spaces that were evaluated based on the number of volumes on its shelves, became integrated, mixed-use learning spaces that incorporated sophisticated technologies.

In the early 1980s, the magnitude and importance of computers began to influence the Manhattan College curriculum. The proliferation of personal computers helped introduce computing as an instructional tool in the science and engineering curricula. In 1982, a computer science major was established in the mathematics department.

One year earlier, the College purchased the Sloan Building at 5845 Broadway (3840 Corlear Avenue), a former furniture showroom and warehouse that was eventually developed into the Research and Learning Center (RLC), an academic computer center.

The Benilde Catechist Society sponsored an annual field day for young students in
Van Cortandt Park. Local school children arrived on buses or the College station
wagon for the big outing. Softball games, foot races, magic displays and a swim in
the College pool were some of the activities offered to the young charges.

The Benilde Catechist Society was founded in 1938 by a group of Manhattan
College students interested in teaching catechism to underprivileged school
children in the local community. The Catechist Society not only sent members to
parishes to teach the faith, they also organized fun events and visits to the College
campus for the youngsters.

Each year in October, members of the Manhattan College community were
welcomed back to campus to celebrate Homecoming. Alumni, friends and family
returned to cheer the Jasper teams to victory, to mingle with classmates over
cocktails and to enjoy dinner and dancing. A full weekend of activities ranging
from masses, tours, exhibitions and athletic games to fashion shows, parties and
dinners added to the program of fun. Homecoming was one of the most popular
Jasper traditions throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s but its prominence
waned by the late 1980s.

In the fall semester of 1965, Jasper pride was on full display. Football returned to
Manhattan after a twenty-three- year absence, thanks to the motivated spirit of
the student body. A small group of physical education majors pushed the
administration to establish a club football team. While the administration
approved the measure, it would offer not financial support. Within weeks,
students raised the necessary funds to furnish and administer a club team. The
Jasper football club played its first game on Saturday, October 16, 1965,
homecoming day in Gaelic park to an enthusiastic audience of about six hundred
alumni and students. The Jasper football club made its debut with a 20-14 win
over the New York University football club.

Civil engineering students head out on a surveying mission while attending Manhattan Camp on Crystal Lake in upstate New York during the summer of 1937.  Summer surveying camp offered a more intensive experience and extensive application of the principles studied in civil engineering.     

Manhattan Camp was organized by the engineering faculty around the turn of the twentieth century and for decades provided an opportunity for students to expand their engineering training.  Camp life was primarily topical surveying but it also presented ideal conditions for swimming and outdoor recreation during the summer vacation.  It was held in upstate New York at various locations over the years including Schroon Lake, St. Joseph’s, Crystal Lake and Raquette Lake.  Because of changes in the engineering curriculum and the College culture, by the late 1960s, the camp was phased out.

In the post-World War II era, Manhattan College hosted international students though training and education programs. Young men from Hungary, Japan and Germany helped enrich and enlarge the horizons of the College community. The programs created a range of opportunities for prospective leaders. It encouraged young foreign men to come to the United States as students and guests, where they might work to attain professional competence in an atmosphere which displayed our system of democracy “at work”.

The programs also created ties of permanent mutual value between the U.S. and foreign institutions. After completing their training and education, many students joined the general workforce and settled into American society, though some returned to their home countries.