Latest news with #St.Mary'sAcademy
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
From the Statesman archives: The Lungs were among the earliest Chinese families in Austin
Scanning the American-Statesman archives for evidence of the earliest Chinese American families in Austin — inspired by May being Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month — I came across some fleeting references to Chinese news and culture during this newspaper's first years. One 1876 article that included a reference to young Chinese performers reminded me of a family — the Lungs — who would have been among the earliest to settle here. This newspaper's stories during the 1870s included: "The Manners of Chinese Boys" — A romanticized report from missionaries about superior male etiquette and deportment in China. (Dec. 14, 1871) New census tables that counted 63,196 Chinese among 38,549,987 total Americans. (Aug. 8, 1871) Reports about a growing anti-Chinese movement that was well underway by 1876: "Inform Chinese that they must not come; there will be danger to life and property if they come." (March 31, 1876) All this antagonism climaxed in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which prohibited Chinese immigration and denied the right for Chinese immigrants to become citizens, among other restrictions. Other articles in this paper included racist jokes; wire stories about violence among Chinese workers on the West Coast; along with opinion pieces submitted by white supremacists that compared the status of African Americans in the South to Chinese immigrants in California and Native Americans in general. More from the archives: From the Statesman archives: Who named Onion Creek south of Austin and why? One Statesman article from July 2, 1876, however, made a positive report of a dance by young Chinese performers during closing exercises at St. Mary's Academy. In 1874, the Holy Cross Sisters had taken over the parish school at St. Mary's Catholic Church from the Sisters of Divine Providence. At the time, the nuns operated the school in a two-room cabin on land where St. Mary's Cathedral now stands. The date intrigued me because 1876 was the year that the Lung brothers came to America to work on the railroads. One of the brothers did this backbreaking labor at age 12. By the 1880s — maybe sooner — they had moved into Austin after laying tracks northeast of the city. "The family opened a grocery store on Congress Avenue; in 1897, they launched a cafe at the corner of East Sixth and San Jacinto streets. In 1918, the American-style cafe moved to 507 San Jacinto St. It didn't close until 1948," I reported in a 2015 profile of the late Joe Lung, whom I befriended while he worked at the Capitol Extension Gift Shop. "The family, which included Joe's father, Sam Lung, also operated Lung's Chinese Kitchen at Red River and 12th streets. For decades, it was pretty much all that Austinites knew about locally served Asian food. It closed in 1974, a victim of urban renewal. The spot currently serves as a surface parking lot." More from the archives: From the archives: Recalling Austin folk singer Carolyn Hester and her ties to Bob Dylan In the 1960s, Joe Lung took over the family business and added a string of casual sandwich shops called Joe's. By 1990, he had sold them off. In 1997, he, like his father before him, suffered a heart attack. He wisely slowed down and lived until 2018, when he died after a series of strokes. Joe's stories about Old Austin charmed me to the core. 'We lived at 1605 Canterbury St. in a two-story house with wonderful trees and soil,' Lung recalled. 'When I was a kid back in the '40s, we had chickens in the backyard. Heck, everyone had chickens. Our family had a little farm, too, on East Riverside Drive, where all those apartments are now. My sister and I would go out there with my aunt, ride over the Congress Avenue Bridge, turn left on Riverside, past the old Tower bowling alley. When you got past where Interstate 35 is now, it was all country.' More from the archives: From the Statesman archives: Walsh family keeps popping up in compelling Austin history Joe Lung's grandfather was also named Joe. That, of course, was not his name back in Hoi Ping, China (modern-day Kaiping). The family name was Zhou (or Chou), which, in Chinese culture, comes first, as in the name of the late Premier Zhou Enlai. When Zhou Lung arrived in California, 'Zhou' became 'Joe.' When Joe's grandfather died, in 1926, Sam Lung, who had attended Swante Palm School on East Avenue, dropped out of the University of Texas to take over the family business. 'His customers were country people who came into town to sell their wares at the old City Market at Seventh Street and East Avenue,' his son said. 'It wasn't a Chinese restaurant — a plain old American cafe with fried fish, chicken fried steak, steak dinner.' Lung's sometimes eye-opening stories about growing up in Austin remain with me. 'I had my own car,' he said. 'We'd meet Saturday nights at the Holiday House on Barton Springs Road. Then, from there to Platt Lane out east. It was a straight road, which we marked off in quarters for drag racing.' Send your questions or tips to mbarnes@ This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Statesman references to the Chinese scattered during 1870s in Austin
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Nuns hope to use solar power to spread God's light
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — It's a modern idea, coming from an order of nuns that was founded in 1842. Henriette Delille, a free woman of color in pre-Civil War New Orleans, started the Sisters of the Holy Family to serve and educate the poor. It is the second oldest order of black nuns in America. Today, from their convent in New Orleans East, the nuns still oversee a small daycare, a nursing home, and St. Mary's Academy for girls. But as their number has dwindled, the sisters are looking for a new way to serve. WGNO's Honoring Black History Special: Honoring African American Women Congregational Leader, Sister Alecia Costa, says she woke up to a news report one morning in 2024, about a group of non-profits and churches- of very faith – who were starting the Community Lighthouse program. The program turns places where the community can gather, into places of refuge during times of need. For example, if a neighborhood loses electricity in a summer storm, the nearest 'lighthouse' has an alternative power source that can provide air conditioning and internet access until power is restored. The convent became one of the lighthouses, but the nuns wanted to continue their mission of helping those in need, year-round. They were approached by the non-profit group, Together New Orleans, to consider putting solar panels on 22 acres of unused land the Sisters own behind the convent. Despite initial regulatory roadblocks, the goal is to provide affordable power to 300 homes. 'A Freedom Fighter': The life and legacy of Oretha Castle Haley The idea was on track to get started within the year but Costa says that with the Trump administration's cut in funding for alternative energy programs, the nuns can no longer afford to buy the solar panels. She says donations are greatly needed to bring the project to life. You can learn more about the project, in our story above.'Throw me something NEW mistah!' Child becomes first measles death reported in Texas outbreak What does it take to be middle class in 2025? New study explains USAID employees given 15 minutes to clear out offices Nuns hope to use solar power to spread God's light Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
