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Holy Family Parish-1927. Chinese
Culture and Language School. St. Mary's Elementary
School and Chinese Social Center-1921. St. Mary's
Chinese Mission founded in 1903. |
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Director/Pastor: |
Father
Daniel
E.
McCotter,
C.S.P. |
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Evangelization
ministry: |
Father
James W.
Donovan,
C.S.P. |
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RICH
HISTORY
AND
TRADITION:
St.
Mary's
Chinese
Mission
Recently
the
Bishops
of the
United
States
published
a
pastoral
letter
titled,
“Asian
and
Pacific
Presence
–
Harmony
in
Faith.”
In the
chapter
on
“Sharing
Gifts
and
Promoting
Harmony”
the
Bishops
state:
“Harmony
is
central
to the
lives
and
cultures
of Asian
and
Pacific
communities.
According
to the
bishops
of Asia,
‘harmony
embodies
the
realities
of
order,
well-being,
justice
and love
as seen
in human
interaction.
…
Harmony
is not
simply
the
absence
of
strife.
…The
test of
true
harmony
lies in
acceptance
of
diversity
and
richness'”
(p. 13).
It is in
the
spirit
of
harmony,
the
acceptance
of
diversity
and
richness
of
culture,
that the
Paulist
Fathers
minister
to the
Chinese
people
in San
Francisco
today.
We
celebrate
our rich
history
and
tradition
by
reflecting
on more
than 100
years of
diversity
and
richness
of
Chinese
culture
as we
celebrate
our
past,
present,
and
future.
Opportunities
for a
new life
drew
tens of
thousands
of
Chinese
immigrants
to San
Francisco
in the
latter
half of
the
1880's.
Many of
these
immigrants
work on
the
building
of the
transcontinental
railroad
and many
settled
in San
Francisco's
historic
Chinatown.
As other
hardworking
immigrants
from
Europe,
the
Chinese
came to
find
work and
sustenance
they
could
send
back to
relatives
left
behind
China.
By the
way the
Chinese
immigrants
lived
set them
apart
from the
European
immigrants
into
their
own
“Chinatown.”
Invisible
walls,
propped
up by
prejudice
and
clannish
preferences,
created
virtual
isolation
for the
Chinese
immigrants.
The
Paulist
Fathers,
a
relatively
young
missionary
society
to North
America
founded
by five
converts
to
Catholicism,
were
asked to
assume
the
pastoral
ministry
of Old
St.
Mary's
Cathedral
at the
corner
of Grant
and
California
in 1894.
This new
American
community
of men
was
founded
to
“preach
the
gospel
to those
who have
not yet
heard
it.”
From the
very
beginning
of their
foundation,
the
Paulists
have
been
known as
“evangelizers”–
missionaries
to North
America.
As the
new
century
dawned,
the
Paulists
encountered
many
challenges
ministering
to
people
on the
edge of
the
infamous
Barbary
Coast.
They
recognized
the need
for
social
support
and
formal
education
to help
the
Chinese
immigrants
find
better
employment,
integrate
into
society,
and
protect
their
future.
The
Paulist
Fathers
at Old
St.
Mary's,
at the
behest
of
Father
Henry
Stark,
CSP, the
Pastor,
initiated
a
ministry
to the
Chinese
in the
heart of
Chinatown.
Father
Stark,
in
addition
to his
duties
as the
Pastor
of Old
St.
Mary's,
became
the
first
director.
He
solicited
the help
of the
Sisters
of the
Holy
Souls to
provide
religious
instruction,
English
classes,
sewing
classes
for the
young
women
and
other
social
services.
In 1921
a more
permanent
home for
the St.
Mary's
Chinese
Mission
was made
possible
by a
gift of
$100,000
from a
parishioner
of Old
St.
Mary's,
Bertha
Welch.
By this
time
there
was a
need for
an
alternative
school
for
Chinese
children
so the
Paulist
Fathers
invited
the
Sisters
of St.
Joseph
of
Orange
to open
an
elementary
school.
This
same
year,
Dr. Chu
Chew
Shong, a
renowned
and
well-respected
herbalist
in
Chinatown,
established
a
Chinese
language
school.
He was
determined
to use
language
as the
key to
helping
youngsters
preserve
their
culture,
traditions
and
history.
St.
Mary's
Chinese
Mission
quickly
became
the
premier
educational
institution
in the
Chinese
community
with the
birth of
St.
Mary's
Chinese
Day
School
and St.
Mary's
Chinese
Language
School.
The only
major
resource
for
Chinese
children
in 1921
was the
public
Oriental
school,
which
did not
offer
the rich
diversity
of St.
Mary's.
For the
next 75
years,
the
mission
-
a.k.a.,
St.
Mary's
Social
Center -
at the
corner
of Clay
and
Stockton
Streets,
was home
to
thousands
of
youngsters
who were
either
formally
enrolled
in the
two
schools
or who
just
came to
enjoy
the many
other
social
and
athletic
activities.
Adults
came for
social
and
spiritual
guidance
and to
volunteer
their
skills.
The
schools
grew in
enrollment,
experience,
and
excellence.
Others
tried to
imitate
but
could
never
attain
the
recognition
and
prestige
St.
Mary's
came to
enjoy.
Teaching
responsibilities
were
skillfully
carried
out with
loving
devotion
by the
Sisters
of St.
Joseph
of
Orange,
who
continue
to grace
the
school
with
their
presence.
Major
contributions
have
been by
the
Sisters
of the
Immaculate
Conception,
the
Precious
Blood
Sisters
from
Hong
Kong,
the
Sisters
of the
Holy
Names of
Jesus
and
Mary,
and,
more
recently,
by the
Maryknoll
sisters.
Their
ministry
has been
re-enforced
by
generations
of
dedicated
and
extraordinarily
competent
lay
teachers
in both
the
elementary
and the
Chinese
language
schools.
Dr.
Chew,
the
first
principal
of St.
Mary's
Chinese
Language
School,
became
widely
recognized
as a
pioneer
educator.
His
successor,
the
beloved
late
John
Yehall
Chin,
himself
a
graduate
of St.
Mary's,
won
city-side
election
to the
San
Francisco
Community
College
Board
and
papal
knighthood
for his
distinguished
services
to St.
Mary's
and the
Chinese
community
for over
sixty-years.
Both he
and his
close
colleague,
Ms.
Helen
Jow,
also a
graduate
of St.
Mary's,
were
award
one of
the
highest
honors
of the
Catholic
Church:
Pro
Ecclesia
et
Pontifice
Medal
for
their
dedication
and
commitment
to St.
Mary's.
As time
passed,
other
graduates,
solidly
schooled
in
academics,
citizenship,
and
Christian
values,
began to
dot the
Bay Area
landscape.
Gordon
J. Lau,
Esq.
became
the
first
Chinese
American
to be
elected
to the
San
Francisco's
Board of
Supervisors.
He was
named by
Mayor
Diane
Feinstein
chairman
of the
precedent-setting
San
Francisco-Shanghai
Sister
City
Committee.
Heather
Fong
rose to
the rank
chief of
police
for the
City of
San
Francisco,
the
highest-ranking
Asian
woman in
American
law
enforcement.
Edward
A. Chow,
M.D.,
past
president
of the
San
Francisco
Medical
Society,
became
the
longest
tenured
member
of the
San
Francisco
Health
Commission.
Dr. Chow
is
nationally
known
for his
founding
the
Chinese
Community
Health
Care
Association
for
low-income
people.
Richard
Yuen is
assistant
dean for
Asian
student
activities
at
Stanford
University.
Dr.
Lorraine
Chew is
a
professor
of
Chinese
Studies
at San
Francisco
State
University.
St.
Mary's
counts
among
her
distinguished
alumni
many
doctors,
lawyers
and
other
professionals.
Each one
a
productive
citizen
and each
one a
credit
to what
St.
Mary's
has
accomplished
these
many
decades.
In 1940
John
Yehall
Chin
organized
the
infamous
St.
Mary's
Chinese
Girls'
Drum and
Bell
Corps.
In their
traditional,
colorful
and
classical
Chinese
costumes,
they
have
become a
symbol
of the
Chinese
community
at Bay
Area
parades
and
celebrations.
They
rhythm
of their
drums
and
glockenspiels
have won
them
countless
trophies
and
recognition,
including
a trip
to
Washington,
D.C. to
represent
the City
of San
Francisco
at John
F.
Kennedy's
presidential
inauguration
parade.
St.
Mary's
athletic
programs
started
with a
bang
when the
boys'
basketball
team,
the
aptly
named
“Saints,”
fought
their
way to
national
championship
in the
1940's.
Willy
“Woo-Woo”
Wong
went on
to play
for the
University
of San
Francisco's
championship
team in
the
National
Invitational
Tournament.
Helen
Wong Lum
because
a
top-ranking
amateur
women's
tennis
star and
was
named to
the Prep
Hall of
Fame.
Percy
Chu took
over as
the
director
of the
city's
Chinese
Recreation
Center
and
continued
his
skillful
coaching
of St.
Mary's
basketball
players.
More
recent
boys'
and
girl's
teams
from the
fifth
through
eighth
grades
have
taken
one
championship
after
another
in the
citywide
C.Y.O.
competition
in
volleyball,
basketball
and
baseball.
Many of
St.
Mary's
graduates
have
gone to
varsity-level
competition
in San
Francisco's
high
schools.
However,
scholastic
achievements
by
students
most
objectively
measure
the
strength
of St.
Mary's
academic
programs.
We are
proud to
say that
graduates
from St.
Mary's
Day
School
are
eagerly
sought
by high
schools
through
out the
city for
their
enthusiasm,
intelligence
and
deportment.
In
recent
years,
students
have
taken
first
place
honors
with
perfect
scores
in the
difficult
entrance
examination
at the
prestigious
Lowell
High
School.
Last
year
over
half of
the
graduating
classes
was
accepted
into
Lowell.
Despite
the fact
that
most of
St.
Mary's
elementary
students
are
first or
second
generation
Chinese
Americans,
head-to-head
competition
on the
Scholastic
Aptitude
Test
find our
classes
consistently
placing
in the
top
percentile
nationally.
In
city-side
challenge
examinations
for
language
skills
taught
in our
Chinese
language
school,
our
students
again
consistently
pass
with
high-flying
colors.
On
October
17, 1989
San
Francisco
was
rocked
by the
Great
Loma
Prieta
Earthquake,
measuring
7.1 on
the
Richter
Scale.
Even
though
St.
Mary's
sustained
some
minor
damage
that was
easily
repaired,
new
seismic
safety
laws
were
passed
which
placed
our
75-year-old
home
into a
category
known as
an
“un-reinforced
masonry
building.”
Retrofitting
the
building
or
closing
down our
schools
was
mandated.
Because
of the
number
of
children
involved,
we fell
into an
even
tougher
category
of
retrofitting
which
would
cost
between
$4-$5
million.
In
addition
other
new
building
codes
and the
Americans
with
Disabilities
Act
would
have to
be
enforced.
Compliance
with
these
new
codes
would
reduce
our
space by
at least
twenty-five
percent.
It
hardly
seemed
prudent
to
invest
close to
$5
million
to
rehabilitate
a
seventy-five
year old
building.
Yet we
could
not
abandon
our
beloved
St.
Mary's.
Thus the
St.
Mary's
of today
is
looking
excitedly
forward
to
completing
a
massive,
successful
fund
drive
and
constructing
a more
expansive
shining
new
complex.
Our
capital
campaign
as of
December,
2006 has
raised
over $10
million
for the
new
school
and
center.
In
addition
we
received
$2.3
million
from the
sale of
our
property
at 902
Stockton
Street.
We know
that the
$12.3
will not
be
enough
to
complete
the new
school.
A second
phase of
the
capital
campaign
is
planned
for
2007.
For
further
information
about
the
capital
campaign,
please
click on
our
website
at
www.stmaryschinese.org.
But
despite
the
challenge
St.
Mary's
has
taken on
these
past
eight
years,
all of
our
programs
for our
students,
the
immigrant
senior
community,
and
parishioners
have not
stopped.
We are
housed
in
temporary
quarters
at Our
Lady of
Guadalupe
Church
and Old
St.
Mary's
Cathedral.
We are a
time-honored
tradition
in the
heart of
Chinatown.
We are
here to
“preach
the
gospel
to those
who have
not yet
heard
it”
through
our
various,
educational,
social
and
religious
ministries.
All are
welcome
to come
see our
temporary
location
at 910
Broadway
at Mason
Street
or watch
the
construction
of the
new St.
Mary's
Chinese
Schools
and
Center
on
Kearny
and
Jackson
Streets.
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