Father Thomas Frederick Price and the Nazareth Orphanage

We pass by many historical markers without realizing the piece of history commemorated on it.  We might even read the marker but miss even more information.  Such is the marker in Willmington, North Carolina dedicated to Father Thomas Frederick Price.  It notes his efforts with the Maryknoll Priesthood.  But to me, there's an even greater story behind the story.  I share that in this episode.  It is one that impacted me as a child and continues to be a major part of my life.

I invite you to join me in the story behind the story of a major accomplishment of Father Thomas Frederick Price.

Transcript

Hello Friends,

I’m your host Dave Laton and welcome to Signs of Our Time, Discovering America’s heritage, one sign at a time.

This podcast is designed to provide the story behind the story found on America’s roadside historical signs and markers.  

Standing outside the post office in Wilmington, North Carolina is a rather unassuming historical marker dedicated to Father Thomas Frederick Price.  I wonder how many times each day people pass by and don’t notice the sign or know the story behind the story.

Father Price is honored as one of the founders of the Maryknoll Fathers, a Catholic mission society.  But I know him for another chapter in his life, and one that directly impacted me, even today.

Father Price was also the founder of a Catholic orphanage in Raleigh, NC.  I was one of the children in the orphanage during the late 1950’s until the mid 1960’s.  

When one hears the word orphanage it likely conjures up images associated with poor, destitute, under nourished, and neglected children without living parents or other relatives to care for them.  Although this is sometimes true, in many cases it is not.  Many children in orphanages had parents who for several reasons are unable to adequately care for them.  

Our Lady of Nazareth Catholic Orphanage was one such institution.  It began September 8, 1899 and continued for over years as part of a missionary outreach of its founder, Father Thomas Frederick Price.  The initial staff included his sister, Margaret Price.  She later became Mother Superior of Nazareth and was known as Mother Catherine.  Three other sisters worked with her in the early days.  

It was Father Price’s vision to start a seminary to train young priests for missionary outreach in the North Carolina region.  As he traveled through the region, he saw a desperate need to assist the abject poor families.  He came across many families unable to provide enough shelter, food, clothing, and education for their children.  He was determined to help as he was able by establishing an orphanage and training school for the boys of such families.  

Early in his time in Raleigh he traveled around the area seeking suitable property.  The decision came down to two tracts of land.  One was located east of Raleigh in the Gardner area and the other west of Raleigh overlooking what was at the time North Carolina State College.  The choice was made to purchase the western property and name it Nazareth.  

The orphanage started as a shelter for boys, both Catholic and Protestant.  It was part of Father Price’s vision that by showing compassion to orphans from the community at large there was likely to be a greater acceptance to the Catholic faith.  He maintained his goal of training young men for missionary work and felt that establishing the orphanage could help support that effort.

The original orphanage building was a large and run-down three-story mansion.  Although it was in a major state of disrepair, it was salvageable.  It was repaired and renovated with large rooms to include a library, dining room, workroom, and sleeping areas for the staff and children.

In 1902 Father Price opened a missionary training house at Nazareth as a preparatory seminary.  It was for the education and formation of priests for mission efforts.  From 1902 to 1909, Father Price taught and directed the seminary. 

Father Price departed Nazareth in 1911 to help establish a missionary society.  He later traveled to China where he died of appendicitis in 1919.  In 1955, his remains were moved to the crypt below the Maryknoll Seminary Chapel in Ossining, N.Y.

Although the orphanage was originally for boys, girls were accepted in 1927.  What follows  is an excerpt from the “History of the Sisters of Mercy of Belmont, North Carolina 1869 - 1933.”  

“Plans were now being formulated for the greatly enlarged orphanage as exists at Nazareth today and Bishop Hafey was eager to see this work completed within the year, 1927, as indeed it was.  On December 8, 1927, he had the happiness of consecrating the new buildings. The orphan girls, who since 1894 had been cared for by the Sisters at Belmont, were transferred to their new institution on the Tuesday following its dedication.  

The buildings at Nazareth were erected at a cost of $400,000 and were free from debt upon completion.  This financial feat was accomplished by the good management of Father George Woods who succeeded Father Thomas Frederick Price as superintendent in 1906.”

At its peak enrollment during the Great Depression years, the orphanage housed as many as 250 children.    In addition to their spiritual and academic work, they worked at farming, bookbinding, and publishing.  The property, along with donations from the community provided food and other resources for the orphanage.  The property grew to approximately 600 acres, including fields and a lake.  

The orphanage had several names over the years: New Nazareth, Our Lady of Nazareth Catholic Orphanage, and Nazareth House.  In 1900 the United States Post Office Department established an official post office on the orphanage grounds and named it Nazareth, N.C.  Mother Superior Catherine was appointed as the first postmaster, or I suppose, postmistress would be more accurate.  The post office was discontinued in 1956, but it remained active from 1958 through the mid 70’s as Nazareth (rural) station.  

By the way, one of the memories I have as a little boy was working in the post office helping stuff envelops with a small magazine that was published as a fund raising activity. 

The main building of the orphanage was expanded in 1915 with an addition on the east side between the main building and the chapel.   At some point before 1925, a priest's house was built across from the main building.  

In 1927, the campus was expanded. A west wing was added to the main building in the same gothic castle style.  A small kitchen was attached to the west wing.  The east wing was also added. It consisted of a large, three-story boy’s dormitory and a two-story school building.  The buildings were joined with covered sidewalks known as arcades.  These buildings remained until the site was cleared in the late 1970’s.

The chapel at the orphanage was originally known as “The Holy Name of Jesus”, or “Holy Name Chapel”.  Later it became known as the “Church of the Holy Name of Jesus”.  On December 13, 1938, the church was dedicated and renamed “The Father Price Memorial Chapel.  It remained in use until 1977. 

The size and age of the Nazareth facility made it very difficult and expensive to maintain.  Changes in philosophy concerning children foster and adoptive care also began to move emphasis away from the group home concept.  In the mid 60’s the population of children began to be lowered, and they moved to the new facility across the way from the original facility.  The new facility was designed for smaller numbers of children and featured semi-private rooms instead of the traditional open-bay concept.  Once the move was complete the original buildings remained largely vacant.  Later the boy’s building was used as the Tammy Lynn Center for a brief period in 1972 before being demolished.   A combination of age, disrepair, and vandalism resulted in the decision to demolish the buildings.

No narrative documenting the history of Nazareth would be complete without dedicating a portion to the Sisters of Mercy.  Their tireless and selfless service is memorable.  

The Sisters of Mercy were founded by Catherine McAuley in 1831.  Catherine McAuley was born in Dublin, Ireland, in September 1778.  Over the years she was influenced by the economically poor and opened the first, “House of Mercy” in Lower Baggot Street in Dublin, Ireland, in 1887 as a place to shelter, feed, and provide education for women and girls.

In December 1831, she and two companions took vows of poverty and became the first Sisters of Mercy and dedicated her efforts to service to the poor.  She continued with her efforts until her death in ten years later.  When she died in 1841 there were 150 Sisters of Mercy.

In addition to moving to several other countries, a group of sisters came to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1843.  They branched out from there and by 1854 had established schools and hospitals in several cities in the United States.  

The Sacred Heart Chapel and original convent were built in the early 1900s and remain at the time of this history. They are the cornerstone of the South-Central Community headquarters for the Sisters of Mercy in Belmont, NC.

In 1929, more than 5,000 sisters formed the Sisters of Mercy of the Union, which dissolved in 1991 to form the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas.

Someone once said that we are the product of all the decisions we make in our lives and are greatly influenced by the decisions of others.  As I look back on the history of Nazareth and think about its founder and those that served there, I see this as a reality.  If for no other reason we see two individuals, Thomas Frederick Price and Catherine McAuley, in different time periods and on different continents bringing their faith, passion, and vision to a convergence outside of Raleigh, North Carolina.  Unknown to these individuals, their efforts will impact children for generations to come.  

The following is an excerpt from the book, “Tar Heel Apostle”, written in 1944.

“Only a few boys had been received for the opening, and perhaps it was just as well, since the flooring in many rooms had not yet been laid.  Another oversight, the newcomers discovered, was that their pastor had forgotten a small detail -- food.  There was not a particle of it on the property.  Two parishioners from the Sacred Heart parish, who had accompanied the Sisters to Nazareth, noted the empty pantry, and they drove back through the streets of Raleigh on a begging tour.  Late that evening they returned to Nazareth well ladened with flour, sugar, bacon, cornmeal, and hams.  When they had explained their purpose in the city, several merchants had gladly given food in sufficient quantity to start the little establishment.

The furnishings of the orphanage were extremely simple; packing boxes and cases were used for tables and chairs.  But the youngsters were infinitely better off under the devoted care of the priest and the sisters than they had ever been in their former surroundings.  The food was coarse and plain; the boys were carefree and happy--and not hungry.”

I think that last sentence summarizes my experiences at Nazareth.  Certainly we might have had a better life, or perhaps what some felt was a normal life.  But I can attest that in my case, I was much better cared for and given a chance at life because of Nazareth.

North Carolina State University purchased the property where Nazaeth stood in 1986 and built the Centennial Campus.  

I had a chance to travel to the Raleigh area several years ago and took time to visit Nazareth.  My heart was saddened as I saw that the property was being used by the University and virtually all signs that the orphanage had been there were now gone.  It seems like another life as I think back over my time there.

At that time, only a vacant overgrown and debris strewn area beneath power lines remains where the main and girl’s buildings stood.  The boys’ building is now a driveway and parking lot.  The fields located behind the orphanage were covered with various university buildings.  As I stood there looking around, I could clearly see the buildings in my mind and hear the voices of the children.  I remember riding bicycles, roller skating on the sidewalks, playing hide and seek, climbing trees, and all the other activities of well-established and cared for children.  

Today, the Holy name of Jesus Cathedral stands where the Catholic Center and Cardinal Gibbons High School stood.  This is the next chapter in the storied history of Nazareth begun so many years ago by Father Thomas Price.

As I think back, I am in awe of what it must have taken for the administration and staff to make Nazareth successful.  From the vision and tireless efforts of Father Price and those associated with the efforts in the early days to the constant upkeep from our maintenance men to the shepherding efforts of the priests and sisters, it must have been a herculean effort.  

Across the front of the sanctuary in our chapel was a mural depicting Jesus sitting on the edge of a well and children gathered around him.  Every time I read Matthew 19:14 and other such passages that is the image I have in mind.  “…but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”  Indeed, that passage underscores the mission of the orphanage and the vision of Father Thomas Frederick Price and those who served over the many years.

Well friends, there you have it.  A story behind the story from America’s historical signs and markers.  I hope you enjoyed this episode.  I invite you to subscribe and continue listening as we bring more episodes about the rich heritage of our great nation.

Please share this podcast with others.  If you have interesting stories about historical signs and markers, email me at: americanhistoricalmarkers@gmail.com.  Maybe your story behind the story will be featured.

I’m your host Dave Laton and thank you for listening, and safe travels!