| 1881 |
St. Elizabeth Church was organized to serve Irish
Catholics who settled in the area. On November 19th -
the feast day of St. Elizabeth of Hungary - a frame structure
which had served for many years as St. Anne Church
was rolled from 55th and Wentworth to a new site on
Dearborn near Root St and 41st by Rev. Daniel J.
Riordan who paid $550 for moving service, but the
church was donated. |
| 1882 |
The framed church was enlarged. |
| 1883 |
Property at the northeast corner of 41st and
State was purchased for a brick combination building, the
cornerstone of which was laid in June of 1884 for a church and
school. The new church was dedicated on November 2,
1884. |
| 1885 |
The Sisters of Mercy opened the parish school
with an enrollment of 250 students. |
| 1886 |
The old frame church was moved next to the
combination building and fitted for the older boys in the
parish. |
| 1889 |
A larger rectory was built at 4039 S. Wabash and
the St. Elizabeth neighborhood was incorporated into the city
of Chicago. |
| 1890 |
The Sisters of Mercy opened a high school
and 469 girls were enrolled. |
| 1891 |
The cornerstone of a new church was laid, and the
magnificent structure was dedicated on June 19,
1892 |
| 1896 |
A new brick rectory was completed at 4049 S.
Wabash. St. Elizabeth buildings consisted of the school,
rectory, and church. |
| 1903 |
St. Elizabeth Church became the second Catholic
church in Chicago to be consecrated, a ceremony performed only
after the entire debt on a Catholic Church is
liquidated. |
| 1906 |
The silver jubilee of the founding of the parish
was celebrated on November 25th. At that time 726
children were enrolled in the grade school.
|
| 1913 |
St. Elizabeth Hall, at a cost of $48,000, was
opened on June 5th. The three story high school at 4052
S. Wabash was nearing completion. This structure was
built at a cost of $115,000. Before the end of 1913 both
the present school and Drexel center had been
built. |
| 1920 |
The neighborhood in which St. Elizabeth was
located had undergone considerable racial change. Blacks
lived in 13 of the city's 35 wards. The highest
concentration of Blacks was in the 2nd and 3rd wards.
Between 1910 and 1920, the Black population of Chicago
increased from 44,103 to 109.458. By 1930 it increased
to 233,903. |
| 1922-1925 |
A dual system of education existed at St.
Elizabeth. The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament conducted
classes for the Black children in the main school at 4052 S.
Wabash. The Sisters of Mercy operated an academy for
white girls in the Sheridan club at 4100 S.
Michigan. |
| 1924 |
St.
Monica was consolidated with St. Elizabeth on December 6th and
soon became the center of Chicago's Black Catholic
community.
St.
Monica's church was too small for its congregation and
giant St. Elizabeth's had lost most of its white
parishioners. Cardinal Mundelein turned St. Elizabeth's
Parish over to the Society of the Divine Word and ordered St.
Monica's Church to be abandoned.
Both the Society of the Divine
Word and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament who
were the backbone of St. Monica began servicing St.
Elizabeth. Father Joseph Eckert, SVD left his stamp on
evangelization of African-Americans by pioneering large
instruction classes. St. Elizabeth School became the
first Black Catholic High School in Chicago.
St. Elizabeth now becomes the "Mother" Black
Catholic Church. |
| 1926 |
Over 1100 students were registered in the
schools. The high school had been transferred to the
Shield House, then known as the "Catholic Club." Five
students graduated from the first Black Catholic High School
in Chicago in June. |
| 1930 |
On January 3, the beautiful St. Elizabeth Church
was destroyed by a fire. Worship for the next 58 years
continued in the parish hall which was converted to serve as a
temporary church. |
| 1936 |
Regina House was established in the former John
G. Shedd mansion at 3812 S. Michigan. This residence for
women was sponsored by the Triple Sodality of St. Elizabeth,
Corpus Christi, and St. Anselm parishes. |
| 1937 |
A Catholic center for Black families was opened
at 2643 W. Fulton. This center was under the direction
of the priest and nuns of St. Elizabeth Church.
|
| 1938 |
Friendship House, a national movement of lay men
and women, was established at 4233 S. Indiana. This
group worked on breaking down racial barriers. |
| 1944 |
St. Elizabeth high school was relocated to the
former LaSalle University building as 4062 S.
Michigan. |
| 1950 |
In the early 50's St. Elizabeth basketball
team dominated high school basketball in Chicago. |
| 1963 |
With the opening of Hales Franciscan H. S. and
after the last coed class graduating, St. Elizabeth became an
all girls school. |
| 1967 |
St. Elizabeth high school, the first Black
Catholic high school in Chicago, was closed. |
| 1969 |
Rev. Dominic Carmon, SVD was named pastor of
St. Elizabeth. He was the first Black Divine Word priest
to head a Chicago parish. |
| 1977 |
Operation SWAT (Spreading the Word around Robert Taylor) was inaugurated. |
| 1979 |
The new rectory and adjoining hall were
built. |
| 1984 |
Bishop Carmen was appointed to pastor Our Lady of
the Garden Church and Father Donald Ehr, SVD was appointed
pastor. Sister Maureen T. Carroll, SBS joined St. Elizabeth as the new
principal. One of their goals was to increase enrollment
in the school. |
| 1988 |
On Ascension Thursday ground was broken for a new
church on the site of the old high school. |
| 1989 |
On November
19th, the new church was dedicated by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin. The old
church was remodeled for use once again as a center for parish
school and outreach activities. With the Debra Jones
ministry the former church serviced the community with job
training, placement programs, an after-school program for
children ages 6-12, an open gym for the public including the
nearby Robert Taylor Homes and other various afternoon and
evening programs. The gym is used by St. Elizabeth
school children for physical education and basketball
practice.
In this and in so
many other ways St. Elizabeth Parish fulfills its
self-described mission to be a "full-service" Church to its
members and to its community. |
| 1990-1991 |
U.S. Vice
President Dan Quayle visits St.
Elizabeth School during the school year to discuss
vouchers. |
| 1992 |
Ms. Jeanette Terry, the second black
lay woman to become the principal of St.
Elizabeth School. |
| 1993 |
Brother Gary Burr, SVD is assigned to
St. Elizabeth and dedicates himself to the Mother Katherine
Drexel Center and the people of the State Street
Corridor. |
| 1995 |
Sister Doris Osondu, DDL was the first Daughters of Divine Love sister
brought to St. Elizabeth by Father Donald Ehr,
SVD. |
| 1995 |
November 19, 1995 St.
Elizabeth Church blessed its historic pictorial ceramic mural that
tells the story of St. Elizabeth as “mother” church for
Chicago Black Catholics. |
| 1996 |
The first floor of the convent was remodeled to
become a preschool under the direction of Sister
Beulah Martin, SBS. |
| 1998 |
Enrollment at St. Elizabeth
Elementary School was 436 children. |
| 2000 |
Father Richard R. Andrus, SVD, (Father Rick)
a former St. Elizabeth assistant pastor, returns
to become pastor of St. Elizabeth in July as Father
Ehr, SVD is needed to pastor St. Anselm. |
| 2002 |
Former teacher Mrs. Adrien Chatman was named
principal of St. Elizabeth School. |
| 2005 |
United
States Senator Barack Obama
visited and spoke to the community and children of St.
Elizabeth at the school and the church hall during the
spring. In October, Father Rick, SVD with school
principal and associate of the Sisters
of the Blessed Sacrament, Mrs. Adrien Chatman, commission
Stan Tarr to create these two websites for St. Elizabeth
Church and School at our newly registered
domains, www.StElizabethChicago.com and www.StElizabethElemChgo.com, providing this new world wide presence on the
internet for our St. Elizabeth community. |
| 2006 |
In July, Mrs. Danielle Harris was named principal
of St. Elizabeth School. In August, St. Elizabeth
School begins first year without a Sister from the SBS
since the merger with St.
Monica. |
