Table 9:1, Education Levels: 1920s & 19305:21

19205 19305

30: 19 female 85: 58 female 11 male 27 male

No. of students passed PWC exams:

No. of students graduated from school or university

beyond 10th grade:

50; 25 female 25 male

54: 36 female 18 male

Institutions from which they graduated:

Prince of Wales College

lst. year 10: 8 female 27: 17 female

2 male 10 male

2nd. year 4: 2 female : 9 female 2 male 5 male

Union Commercial College 1 female

St. Dunstan’s University: 15 males male

Dalhousie University: 3 males male

Other universities: 3 males male

10 female

Nursing Schools: 14 female

religious congregations, and five young men became priests, from St. Malachy’s parish in the 19305.22 About half of the young women did not remain in those congregations, however, such a large number of applicants in one decade begs an explanation. The depressed economic times, especially the lack of job opportunities, may have been an influence; however, it is also probable that the emphasis on Catholic education promoted by the Pastor, Father Smith, and the Sisters of St. Martha, was a factor. By the 1930s both Father Smith and the Sisters of St. Martha were in their second decade in Kinkora. Father Smith’s commit- ment to Catholic education has already been identified, in the previous chapter. Within the 19205 and 19305 several Catholic organizations were begun in this parish. In 1927 the Sodality of Mary was formed by The Sisters of St. Martha in the parish for the spiritual training of young Catholic women.23 A comparable organization existed for

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young men, the Catholic Young Men’s League. This latter group disappeared when the Sodality of Mary was open- ed to adolescent boys in the late 19405. For younger children there were two organizations: the Holy Childhood Society and the Canadian Catholic Student Mission Crusade, both of which emphasized the missionary role of being a Catholic. Young boys were trained to be altar boys. In the Kinkora school the Sisters taught a half-hour of catechism before regular classes each day. For the adults in the parish there were the Catholic Women’s League, a national organization with a branch at St. Malachy’s beginning in 1926; the Holy Name Society and the CMBA for Catholic men; the League of the Cross, for the promotion of abstinence; and other purely devotional groups such as the League of the Sacred Heart. Almost all of these organiza- tions began during the 19205 and 19305; only the League of the Cross dates back into the nineteenth century. The strong emphasis on being Catholic is epitomized in an anec- dote told about Father Smith. A member of the parish was desiring to sell his farm, and was seeking a buyer; when it became known to Father Smith that the buyer might be a non—Catholic, he announced to his parishioners that they were to sell property to Catholics only, and if none could be found they were to see him. This strong Catholic pro- gramming in itself could influence young men and women toward religious vocations; but in addition, the religious life was often presented as the superior lifestyle, as Father Smith clearly noted in a sermon at the beginning of a Eucharistic Congress held at St. Malachy’s in 1937. In conclusion, I wish to assure you that the parishioners of Kinkora have, at least from the spiritual standpoint, lived up to the traditions of their Irish forefathers. The immigrants of ’39 and ’41 cherished the faith of St. Patrick, and bequeathed it as a priceless legacy to their children and grandchildren. Some of