“From the Archives” Saint Mary School and World War II

The 1941-42 school year started out as normal for Saint Mary School, then located at the corner of South Royal and Wolfe Streets, now a parking lot. The shadow of war must have been in people’s minds, especially in Alexandria, so close to the Pentagon and the Nation’s Capital. But the first entry for the school year in the archives of the Holy Cross Sisters, who taught at the school back then, simply noted the enrollment numbers, an opening Mass, the names of new teachers, plus the showing of a movie and cartoons to the whole school—with sound for the first time!

Then on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed and our nation was at war. The school and its students felt the impact almost immediately as it affected the tone of much of what they did. On December 15, the school celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. Father Thomas A. Rankin, Saint Mary’s pastor, spoke to the students and the seventh grade presented a patriotic program.  The Children’s Crusade of Prayer was organized and the children gathered every day to say the rosary, followed by a hymn. In February a Philco radio was donated to the school so they could keep up with the war news.  In March, the school began a drive for national defense through the sale of Defense Stamps every Wednesday. Children in the Junior Red Cross made flannel bandages and washcloths for wounded troops in military hospitals. They filled Christmas stockings for children overseas and collected pencils for soldiers.

Enrollment at Saint Mary School grew during the war years with the arrival of many military and civilian defense workers and their families to the area. In June 1941, the school had 281 pupils; by June 1944, the number had jumped to 468. Saint Mary’s new pastor, Monsignor Edward L. Stephens (Father Rankin died shortly before Christmas in 1943) had to write to the Holy Cross Sisters to request an additional teacher. He also had to configure additional classroom space in the Lyceum at 313 Duke Street.  In March 1944, all classrooms in the school building and Lyceum were very crowded, and Royal Street was roped off in front of the church to provide space for the children to play at recess.

May 9, 1945, was VE Day, Victory in the European Theatre of War. In honor of this great day, Monsignor Stephens gave the school children a holiday. By the time school reopened in September 1945, the war had ended. Since VJ Day was in August during summer break, students did not get a holiday to celebrate the end of the war. But they did celebrate the return of fathers, brothers, and other relatives and friends from battlefields around the world.

— Kitty Guy, Parish Historian

Throughout 2020, the Basilica of Saint Mary will present “From the Archives.” It is a weekly feature online and in our bulletin spotlighting the history of the parish. All of our “From the Archives” features are located here.