[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 48 (Thursday, April 28, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 28, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
      ST. PETER'S, MOTHER CHURCH OF HUDSON VALLEY, MARKS 150 YEARS

                                 ______


                        HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 28, 1994

  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, June 18, 1994, St. Peter's 
School in Poughkeepsie, NY, will celebrate its 150th anniversary.
  St. Peter's School is the oldest known continuously operating 
Catholic schools in upstate New York.
  Mr. Speaker, even non-Catholics acknowledge and applaud the 
outstanding job parochial schools have done in educating millions of 
Americans. The work of dedicated teachers, religious and lay, the 
superior discipline, and the character and spiritual formation provided 
in these schools has produced a large and continuous supply of 
outstanding citizens, high achievers in every sphere of activity, and 
heroes in every American war. The academic excellence alone of these 
schools has provided a standard against which the public school systems 
can measure themselves.
  As is the case with so many of our churches, the history of St. 
Peter's is intimately woven into the history of the region. As one of 
the oldest churches in North America, St. Peter's was a jumping-off 
spot for countless missionaries to Canada and to the then-untamed 
American West.
  The Catholic Association was formed in 1832. St. Peter's Parish was 
formed in 1837, and the school in 1844. St. Peter's is the ``Mother 
Church'' of numerous other churches. Every Catholic church in Dutchess 
and Ulster Counties, and most of them in Putnam and Orange Counties, 
stem from St. Peter's, the result of the waves of European immigration 
in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
  St. Peter's Cemetery is the site of the largest freestanding Celtic 
cross in America, dedicated as a World War I monument in 1917 by former 
Congressman Ham Fish, Sr.
  Priests from St. Peter's were instrumental in getting a bridge built 
across the Hudson River so that Catholics from Ulster County could 
cross the river for Mass instead of relying on rowboats. Legend has it 
that St. Peter's priests gave Lafayette the Sacrament of Penance toward 
the end of his life.
  Mr. Speaker, I would ask you and the entire House to join me in 
tribute to Sr. Cecilia Dolores, principal, and to everyone associated 
with St. Peter's School in Poughkeepsie as this historic and 
outstanding institution celebrates 150 years of educating area 
Catholics.

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