Bibliography

Note to Ms. Hunt- I tried to underline the MLA parts that were supposed to be underlined, but for some odd reason, the website I'm using doesn't let you underline things. Also, the URL listings kept on messing up the website so the had to be removed. I'm really sorry!

"Loretto Academy History Tied To Story Of Sister". El Paso Times 7 September 1976,

"The New Loretto (Sisters') College, Now Being Erected." El Paso Herald Post 12 May 1923

"Move To Relieve Unemployment In City." El Paso Herald Post 8 November 1930: 5+

Hamilton, Nancy. "First Loretto Teachers Recall Early Years." El Paso Herald Post 22 March 1974

Metz, Leon C. El Paso Chronicles. El Paso: Mangan Books, 1993

Hirsch, Dena "Loretto Academy Campus History." February 1985

Valdez, Victoria, and Bernadette Saenz. "Sisters of Loretto Have Long Tradition in Southwest." Borderlands. 22 January 2009.

"History of Loretto Academy." Loretto Academy

Bunsow, Emma. "What is Loretto to you?" Personal interview. 15 April. 2009

"Loretto Academy School of Excellence." Loretto Academy. El Paso. Loretto, 2004

Case, Melissa A., Yvonne Garcia, Yazmine Contreras, Alej

andra Garcia, and Cristal N. Spralding. "Ku Klux Klan Had Short Life IN El Paso." Borderlands. 23 January 2009 EPCC.

Maru Barrio. "What is Loretto to you?" Personal interview. 17 April. 2009

Where to stay

You can't just come to El Paso without finding a hotel to stay at. Here are a few of the hotels that you might want to consider.
The Plaza Hotel
106 Mills Ave.

The Gardner Hotel
311 E. Franklin Ave.

Hotel Paisano
207 N. Highland St.

El Capitan Hotel
(no longer in existence)

The Sheldon Hotel
(no longer in existence)

Map two of Juarez

Map of Juarez

Map of El Paso

Around the Country

Even though you know what's going on in El Paso, you might want to know what the rest of the United States is crazy about. Here is a list of some things.

Movies:
Gold Rush
The Kid
The Circus
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The Jazz Singer

Famous artists:
Alfred Stieglitz
Thomas Benton
Charles Sheeler

Music (Jazz)
Bessie Smith
George Gershwin
Duke Ellington

Entertainment:
Radio
Al Jolson (magician)
Charlie Chaplin (comic actor)

Out of Town Influences:
Mahjongg
Freudianism

Authors:
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Booth Tarkington
Ernest Hemingway
Sinclair Lewis
Carl Sandburg
Robert Frost
Langston Hughes

Famous/Infamous Characters:
Herbert Hoover
Al Capone
Henry Ford

Events:
Stock market crash
Scopes Monkey Trial
Sacco and Vanzetti Case

Technology of the 1920's

As you might have guessed, a major craze in the 1920's was of course the automobile. It was a new way to move about the world. Many people were amazed by how differently the car worked! By 1896, the Ford Motor Company had begun to make cars. Ford became so popular that some people say that it was the Microsoft of the 1900's. By 1900, there was at least one car per family, making the car important to most American families. This made life much easier. People no longer needed to live near their work-place. They were free to live much farther away.

Even though the car helped make many lives much more convenient, the car also helped the United States. Having such a need for cars gave the economy a great boost which is really important! The United States was going through the Great Depression in the 1920's, so you can just imagine how much cars helped!

Even though cars were very wanted, and by some even needed, another craze coursed its way through America. It may have been small, it may not cost as much as the car, but you can not BELIEVE the craze it brought. The small appliance that I'm talking about is the simple radio.

Radios became really common in houses and even those who were poor were able to access a radio. There were public radios! Even though the radio provided a source of entertainment, it also helped news spread more quickly. People were able to keep up with the news not only in their city, but also in the entire United States! It may seem like a simple thing for us here in present time, but back then, it was a technological miracle.

Radios also provided a good source of entertainment. People could listen to sports that were happening in other towns. They could listen to concerts that could be half way around the country. Or maybe they wanted to listen to a sermon that miles and miles away! The radio showed people a new source of fun.

Although these were the main inventions, other things were invented too, such as the dish washer and the electric toaster. Also, many discoveries were made in the 1920's such as Vitamin E. It's amazing what happened in such a short time.

Did you know...

After the electric car was introduced to El Paso, police horses could no longer keep up with people who went ove 15 miles-per-hour in a car. So how did they solve the problem? Why, they got motorcycles! But there was only one problem...no one actually knew how to use one. One police officer got permission from the chief to take the bike home and learn how to use it.

Transportation

Transportation is important to talk about. Cars are not as available so you need to know how to get around. It is quite simple. You just need to know the right information. To get around in the 1920's you might want to know the following information.

A lot of people got around by using trains. Although it may not be the most convenient way to get around town, you could move around the state easily! The trains should be able to get you around if you give them a chance.

The airport was already opened by the 1920's. Although it may not be convenient to travel around El Paso by plane, you could still move around the country by plane. You might want to keep in mind that planes are still very new and a lot of people still don't trust flight travel.

Electric cars were around at the time. They were getting quite popular and were making a new name for home-town travel. They took the pain out of your feet and made travel much faster. If you do manage to get a hot ride in a car, don't expect to go sixty miles-per-hour. Most cars went only between fifteen and twenty miles-per-hour. So get ready, put on your seat belts, and get ready for a bumpy ride.

Another source of transportation is the obvious, walking. A lot of people prefer not to walk, but hey, think of it this way! Now, you get plenty of exercise while having loads of fun in El Paso! Anyway, El Paso was not as big in the 1920's so it should be much easier to walk around. So lace up your running shoes and get ready!

Tips

For this trip, you should make sure you pack a few essentials.

1- Make sure you bring the clothes I mentioned earlier. You don't want to stick out in the past!

2- For when you're not in public, you might want to make sure that you bring good summer clothes. It's very HOT in El Paso so it's best if you are ready.

3- Of course, bring sunscreen. You don't want to go back to your family red as a tomato!

4- Bring nice clothes in case you go out.

5- Bring running or walking shoes since you might end up walking a lot. Transportation wasn't the same in the 1920's so be ready to walk a lot!

6-I recommend you to bring a bathing suit. Swimming is a very good way to cool down in the intense El Paso heat. 

These are simple things that I personally, as a hint to the reader, recommend. El Paso heat can be extremely hot. They're not eighty degree summers. Not ninety. They can reach up to ONE HUNDRED DEGREES! That's why I personally (STRONGLY) recommend that you bring these things.

Quick Fact!

In the 1920's, it might interest you to know that the girls of Loretto were quite easily entertained. Simple sources of entertainment for the girls were walks around the neighborhood, having picnics with friends, and climbing the tower in the school. (They had to climb the tower with a sister though.)

In the future, the sisters stopped escorting the girls of the tower so eventually the girls began to sneak up. This happened for many years and is actually still going on. At the top of the tower, some girls have signed their name to show that they climbed the tower. Some other girls decided to write their graduating year.

Entertainment

At first look, it doesn't seem like El Paso has many things to do. We have a lot of theatres and of course, saloons. I'm going to write about a few of the places you can go to have fun.

Theaters:

Texas Grand Theater
Androme Summer Theater
Plaza Theater

The theaters are a great place to get together with friends. You can watch plays and hear orchestras play. If you want to go to a theater, you have to make sure you bring nice clothes. You don't want to stand out and anyways, it would be rude to be appear badly dressed at a performance.

In addition to watching lovely displays, you could also be active. You could go to the Country Clubs of El Paso. There are two. There is one Near Fort Bliss and a new one. You could cool down in the pools, or maybe get a tan. You could also play tennis and get a good work out. There is also an available golf course.

If you still have swimming in mind, but you don't want to swim at the Country Club, you can swim at Washington Park Pool. You could also cool down there.

Another way to have fun in El Paso is to go to the obvious saloons. In El Paso there are about 96 saloons so you have plenty to choose from. You might have fun doing the Charleston and other popular dances.

Also, you might want to go to the classic YMCA or the YWCA. There is one YMCA and two YWCAs. It might not have as much of a "1920's" feel, but you might want to hang out there.

Another fun place to check out is the famous Ciudad Juarez. Juarez is the city that is on the border of El Paso. Juarez is in the State of Chihuahua in Mexico and is super fun. They have bull fights and have a great night-life. It might not be fun for the young ones though.

These are some simple sources of entertainment, you might even find some of your own! Go explore El Paso!

Danger at the Border

Not a lot of people know this, but the Ku Klux Klan made an appearance in El Paso history. The influence of the Klan was not as big as that of other cities, but just so you can imagine how big the entire society was, in 1870, the Klan already had one MILLION members! If you want to travel to the 1920's, you have to remember the people of that time did not have the same beliefs as we do today. Blacks, although they now have more rights, were still looked down upon.

Now, let's refresh our memory on the Ku Klux Klan. They believed in native white and often targeted Jews, Catholics, Blacks, anti-prohibitionists, and gays. The Klan has been around since 1865. Six Irish Americans began the society.

The Klan's mission here in El Paso is to stop republicans from moving south. The Klan's first appearance in Texas was in 1861 where they began to kill freed African Americans and burned houses and crops. This was the first Klan, which ceased to exist in 1871. When the Klan was reformed in 1915, more Klan members were sent to Texas to fight new threats such as illegal immigrants.

At the time, El Paso was very vulnerable to the Ku Klux Klan. We were still recovering from the Mexican Revolution. Since we were a border city, the war had a bigger impact on us than the rest of the United States. A lot of people had strong feelings about Mexicans. This made El Paso a good target for the Ku Klux Klan.

By 1921, the Klan had corrupted a large part of El Paso. They had business-men working for them, respected authorities, and people of the Herald's Post editorials. The Klan was able to corrupt the government and post its ideas in the newspaper. 

The Klan thought that Roman Catholics were beginning to take over the public school systems. The Klan showed its power when elections for the school board ended. The majority of the votes went to Klan members. School names were changed because of the Klan. They believed that school should be named after Texas Hero's. Many schools were re-named. Highland park became Fanin, El Paso High became Sam Houston High School, Manhattan Heights became Crockett,  and Grand view became Rusk. Some schools that were under construction were to be named Austin, Bowie, and Burleson Elementary. Secret meetings were held by the Klan's school board members to discuss two Catholic school principals and a librarian. They were all eventually fired.

Even though the Klan had such power, the civilians of El Paso eventually defeated them in 1923. In April of 1923, the Klan lost its power over the school board. The Klan still lingered around El Paso, but its power was incredibly weak.

What to say

That may sound weird at first, but if you were to come to El Paso, you would understand. See, a large amount of people from here in El Paso speak Spanish. I can't teach you a language through a website, but I can show you some words you might want to use.

Hello- Hola (oh-lah)

How much does this cost?- Cuanto  cuesta esto (ku-an-toh, ku-es-tah, es-toh)

Where is the bathroom?- en donde esta el baño  (en, don- deh, es-tah, el,ba-nio)

Where is the exit?- en donde esta la salida (en, don-deh, es-tah, la, sa-li-dah)

How are you?- como estas (co-moh, es-tahs)

Where is this?- en donde esta esto (en, don-day, es-tah, es-toh)

And of course, manners are VERY important! You shouldn't be rude to someone just because there is a language barrier. Remember your please and thank you's.

Please- porfavor ( pour, fah-vour

Thank you- gracias (gr- ah- see- ahs)

You're welcome- por nada (pohr, nah-dah)

Mr.- señor (seh-nee-or)

Ms.- señorita (seh-nee-or-ee-tah)

Mrs.- señora (seh-nee-or-ah)

When you come to El Paso, you have to remember that we are a border-town so a lot of people know how to speak Spanish. A lot of people also know how to speak English but it's best if you know a bit of Spanish, just in case.

Other schools around El Paso

Since we are here looking at a school, you might want to know about other schools around town. It may interest you to know that a grand amount of schools that are around El Paso in present day El Paso (2009) are 40 years old or less which means they weren't open during the 1920's.

El Paso Independent School District 

Cathedral High School- 1925

1309 N Stanton St

El Paso TX, 79902 

(915) 532-3238

St. Patrick's (pre-kinder through eight grade) 

1111 North Stanton 

El Paso TX, 79902 (915)  

532-4142

International Business College

 5700 Cromo Dr

 El Paso TX 79912

(915) 7754124

University of Texas at El Paso- aka UT of El Paso, UTEP

5o0 W. University Avenue

El Paso, TX 79968

(915) 747-5890

St. Joseph's Catholic School

1300 Lamar St

El Paso TX 79903

(915) 566-1661

Radford School

2001 Radford St

El Paso TX 79903

(915) 565-2737

St. Clement's Episcopal Parish School

600 Montana Ave

El Paso TX 79902

(915) 533-4248

Lydia Patterson  Institute

517 S Florence St

El Paso TX 79901

(915) 533-8286

The sisters of Loretto

Loretto Academy, as the name might reveal, was founded by the sisters of Loretto. What the name doesn't reveal is the sisters' background.

The story of the sisters of Loretto starts with a woman named Mary Rhodes. In 1811, Mary came from Maryland and went to Kentucky to visit some relatives. While there, she decided to begin teaching catechism. She slowly became well known and began to help teach local children. As time passed, she welcomed the help of Christina Stuart and Ann Havern. Together they helped create a mini school that was based on shrine from Italy. This is where the large journey of the sisters began.

In later years, a bishop form Santa Fe asked the sisters if they could help him teach children. Specifically, he wanted them to help with the Spanish-speaking students. The sisters agreed to help and sent out six sisters. During the long trip over to Santa Fe, two of the sisters died; one sister died from cholera, the other from terror and exhaustion.

The sisters opened their first school in 1857. They later opened a Loretto Academy in Las Cruces which closed in 1944. After they had finished their major work in New Mexico they moved on to new projects in Texas. They opened their first Texas school in San Elizario which was named St. Josephs. Originally, the first classes were ungraded so that they could make the children become more interested in learning. They kept the school running for a good while until it closed in 1892.

The sisters then moved here, to El Paso Texas. Here, they built Loretto Academy which opened on September 11, 1923. If you notice, it opened on a familiar date to most Americans. It opened on the day of 9/11 which makes it easy to remember Loretto's birthday.

When Loretto opened, it was not completely finished and was undergoing construction. It actually took fourteen years to finish the final building. In fact, Mother Praxedes gave commands for the building from her death bed. Even though the construction was finished. Loretto was in debt because of the loans that they had needed to finish building. If you notice the time period that we are in, this is during the time of the Great Depression. Even Loretto was impacted by it! They were eventually able to pay off their debt. (even after they had TWO mortgages on Loretto!) They had some help from the Hilton family. The family graciously donated money which is why their gym is called the Hilton Gym.

The sisters helped spread education through more than just Loretto Academy. The sisters also helped open other schools in El Paso like St. Josephs. They also taught in places like Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Kentucky, San Elizario, Las Vegas and more. It's amazing what women can do!

In front of Loretto Academy

The first thing you may notice is that something is missing. Actually, a lot is missing since construction is still going on. The building was finished later in 1937. Even when the first initial construction ended, the Hilton Gym was added a few years later.

Also, you may notice that there are very few buildings around Loretto. You see, Loretto was originally built near the outskirts of town. Can you imagine that the school was going to be built even farther than from here? Well, to you it may not sound so bad, but before, transportation was a lot more difficult. Since the school was too far from people, it was moved here to 1300 Hardaway. Loretto Academy is about four miles from the center of the city.
Although it may not be apparent at first, Loretto is facing Juarez. The Loretto building was built so that it would look as if it were about to embrace Mexico. This was to show that Mexicans were welcome to come to Loretto.

Note the the reader

Now that you have packed and have the right amount of money for the trip, there's one thing that you should know. The weather in El Paso is very hot. You might want to make sure you drink a good amount of water and that you have sunscreen.

What to wear- BOYS

BOYS

Suits were VERY popular. They were common not only for work, but also almost as a casual statement. Although it is not visible, pants are worn high and are buttoned up very high. The dress pants are often worn with belts. In the 1925's, wearing suits was still very fashionable, but one more trend was added; wearing baggy pants and sleeves. The pants are not worn extremely baggy, but in a sense just not as tight. Suits were worn as the same size but with baggier sleeves. Hats are also worn amongst men but not as much as with women.

What to wear- GIRLS

GIRLS

It is very important that you know what to wear. You don't want to wear something that is out of the time period that we will be walking through. You want to make sure that you fit in with the others.

A nice hat is a good accessory for all your apparel. It is very in fashion and can match most of your dresses. It is also very fashionable to wear flapper dresses. Usual colors are brown, black, and gray, but you can also wear more exotic colors. If you feel nice about your shoulders, it is also incredibly fashionable to wear tank top dresses. You can wear sleeveless dresses. It is also nice to wear a dress with a simple repeated design that can have sequins and other decorations.