“Holy Rosary Homecoming”

There won't be a football game, cheerleaders, a band, floats or royalty. There will be coffee, donuts, pastry and perhaps Potica. And pictures - everyone should bring pictures. (start now, looking through those scrapbooks and notebooks)

Did you attend Holy Rosary Church? Or the school? Were your parents or grandparents married at Holy Rosary? Do you remember the sisters, priests or lay teachers who taught you? Did you learn to play the piano from Sister Mary Magdalene? Are you a member of one of those families with eight or nine children who were connected to Holy Rosary? Or to those large numbers of cousins who called the parish home? Are you a current parishioner? Did your children attend religious education at Holy Rosary? Did you enjoy the many pancake breakfasts and the stories?

Picnic about 1934 Holy Rosary Choir

Right now, the plan is to hold some social get togethers several times a year in the school cafeteria - sometime during Lent would be good since no weddings or quinceañeras take place then. And bring your scrapbooks, notebooks, photos, and jokes. Bring your cousins, too. You might find out some family history!

Information will be forthcoming on the parish website 

http://holyrosarydenver.com

and our facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/HolyRosaryChurchDenver

Badges, Ribbons and Banners

Your logo here! Today's promotional materials include mugs, pens, T-shirts, key chains, stress balls, rain jackets, umbrellas and drink coasters  Globeville's earlier residents also liked to remember important events, such as the dedication of Holy Rosary Church, with souvenirs.
Slovenes and Croats had saved a long time to build a church of their own and planned a gala celebration for April 18, 1920 with Mass, choirs, speeches by visiting dignitaries, and processions by fraternal groups. Those in attendance may have come away with a commemorative badge
produced by the Colorado Badge and Novelty Company located on 1752 Champa Street in Denver.
The front of the badge features a photo of the newly completed church, while the reverse side provides information about the company itself. Noteworthy is the union label number 30 - probably significant to the Mill and Smeltermen, or Western Federation of Miners - whose badges were also manufactured by the company.

 

Lodge ribbons would also be important souvenirs, with one side being displayed during conventions and the reverse side worn at funerals.

 

Ribbons for St. Joseph's Polish Lodge 

And, of course, there were the banners with embroidered type, images and fringe - proudly displayed at meetings, parades, and conventions. These century-old commemorative mementos were meant to be substantial - I wonder if any logo-bearing T-shirts will survive a hundred years.

  Banner for St Joseph's Lodge, American Fraternal Union

4th of July, 1920

The Denver Catholic Register began, "The Yugo-Slavs * of Globeville celebrated the Fourth of July on Sunday by dedicating their beautiful new church at 47th and Pearl." The church, named in honor of the Queen of the Holy Rosary, was the culmination of years of effort.
Before World War I, Slovenes and Croats had been under the rule of Austria-Hungary, their language and culture suppressed and their young men forced to serve in the military forces of their oppressor. As early as the 1880s, they begin arriving in Globeville, recruited to work in the smelters, railroads and meat packing plants. Soon after they settled, Slovenes and Croats organized fraternal organizations that provided sick and death benefits, life insurance, and fostered singing and dramatic groups and social activities. These societies were a clearinghouse for information, a source of political power and the way to achieve common goals, one of which was to build a church of their own.
In the early years of the community, Catholics in Globeville could attend Annunciation Church at 36th and Humboldt, or Sacred Heart at 27th and Larimer, each about a two mile walk. After 1902, Slovenes and Croats could attend St. Joseph's Polish Catholic Church in the neighborhood, but the situation was far from satisfactory. The pastor, Father Jarzynski, felt that his mission was primarily to the Polish congregation and didn't offer to send for a priest who could say Mass, administer sacraments or hear confessions in the Slovenian or Croatian language. Southern Slavs, not feeling welcome, didn't contribute monetarily to St. Joseph's, adding to the hard feelings. The larger concern was that people weren't attending church at all - it was too much trouble.
In 1916, the community began organizing in earnest, with the heads of several fraternal organizations meeting at St. Jacob's Hall, appointing representatives from each lodge to raise funds in all their societies, in Leadville, Pueblo, Salida, and Aspen as well as in Globeville. A delegation was appointed to ask the new bishop, J. Henry Tihen, permission to organize the new parish, a block away from the Polish church. Permission was granted and the fundraising began, with delegates going door-to-door asking for money, glee clubs and dramatic societies giving performances, and businesses contributing. Father Cyril Zupan, OSB, agreed to take on the role of shepherd of the new parish, in addition to his duties as pastor at St. Mary's Slovenian Parish in Pueblo.
Ground was broken on May 27, 1919, the cornerstone blessed on August 17, and the building completed in April of 1920. A spring blizzard caused the dedication to be moved to July 4, 1920.
Bishop Tihen congratulated the congregation on their efforts, reminding them that poor people, rather than princes, built the cathedrals of Europe. Tihen also remarked that it was fitting to hold the religious celebration on the national holiday, for he said that true independence could only flourish side by side with religious freedom.

* After 1919, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia, were part of the newly created country of Yugoslavia, which means Southern Slavs.

Photo used with written permission Holy Rosary archives

Photo used with written permission of Betty  Zalar

Holy Rosary Parish

Among the Eastern European immigrants seeking religious liberty, economic opportunity and freedom from serving in the Austrian army were Slovenes and Croatians, who began arriving in Globeville during the 1880s. They had been farmers in the old country, but with little education, few urban skills and no knowledge of the English language, they were relegated to industrial jobs in mills and smelters. Their one avenue for spiritual and cultural expression, as well as a connection to the Old Country, was their Catholic faith, and it was their hope to build a church of their own. 
Slovenes and Croatians in Colorado had already established ethnic parishes - St. Mary's in Pueblo in 1894 and St. Joseph's in Leadville in 1899 - but it would be a longer process for those in Globeville.
Denver's Bishop Nicholas Matz urged all of Globeville's Catholics to attend St. Joseph's Polish Catholic Church and discouraged the establishment of another ethnic parish just a block away. But St. Joseph's was very small, the Polish pastor Father Jarzynski didn't speak Slovenian or Croatian and made no arrangements to bring in a priest who could. Periodically, Slavic priests from Pueblo, such as Reverend Ignatius Burgar or Father Cyril Zupan, would travel two hours by train to say Mass, hear confessions and conduct funerals at St. Jacob’s Tavern. With such sporadic attention to their spiritual needs, many people just quit attending Mass. 
Leaders in the community decided to take matters into their own hands, and on October 20, 1916, held a meeting in St. Jacob's Tavern with leaders from several fraternal lodges, dramatic societies and glee clubs. A decision was made to begin raising money in the neighborhood, appeal for funds from lodges in Leadville, Aspen, Salida and Pueblo and wait. With the death of Bishop Matz in August, 1917, a committee approached his successor Bishop J. Henry Tihen for permission to start a parish for Slovenians and Croatians. Years of planning and saving allowed the parish to move quickly after receiving the Bishop's blessing, with the ground breaking ceremony on May 27, 1919, and the completion of the building on February 20, 1920. The church was dedicated on July 4, 1920 with Bishop Tihen praising the parishioners for their efforts - reminding them that poor people, rather than princes, built the great churches of Europe.
Holy Rosary now serves the descendants of the Slovenian and Croatian founders, the Hispanic community of Globeville and new urban pioneers settling the neighborhood.

Laying the cornerstone, 1919 photo ® Mary Lou Egan

Dedication, July 4, 1920. Photo ® Mary Lou Egan

Holy Rosary Church, 2012. Photo ® Mary Lou Egan

Holy Rosary Parish

The youngest of the three churches receiving historic designation in Globeville, 

Holy Rosary Church, convent and school State Register 3/10/1999, 5DV.349