brations in 1929. It was indeed a gala affair with hundreds in atten—
dance for events including pontifical High Mass celebrated out-
doors to accommodate the crowds, great speeches, a grand picnic,
an alumni banquet, class reunions, sing songs and nostalgia. One
of the keynote speakers was Bishop Francis Clement Kelley of Oklahoma who was both an Island native and alumnus of St.
Dunstan’s. In his speech Kelley challenged the alumni to work
harder for the expansion of the college and suggested a target can—
vass of $100,000, the first $1000 of which he pledged himself.
Later that day the alumni subscribed $30,000 and saw no difficulty
in raising Kelley's numbers. But alas, that very year saw the crash
of the stock market and the beginning of the Great Depression. St. I Dunstan's would have to be patient a while longer. 47
On the arrival here of Bishop Louis, the Sisters of St. Martha were nineteen in number and already deeply involved in the life of the diocese. One of the bishop's first tasks was the drawing up of new constitutions for this Island religious community. This hap— pened in 1921, everything in accord with the 1918 code of Canon Law. Up to this time the sisters operated under the rules and con— stitutions of the Antigonish sisters. In 1923 by a formal decree the Sisters of St. Martha of P.E.I. became a congregation in the Diocese of Charlottetown. 48
One of Bishop O'Leary's most critical moments came in 1925 when the Grey Nuns of Quebec were recalled to that province, leaving a great void at the Charlottetown Hospital which these good French—speaking sisters had operated since its beginning in 1879. In responding to the crisis the bishop turned to the Sisters of St. Martha where as usual he found a co-operative spirit and soon five sisters were dispatched to various places for training as nurses, hospital administration, lab and X-ray technicians. The same day on which the Grey Nuns left their hospital work they also withdrew from the running of St. Vincent's Orphanage which they had under their care since its founding in 1910. Again the bishop turned to the Sisters of St. Martha who immediately took over the management of this vital institution which had an occupancy of
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