Sunday, August 30, 2009

St. Bartholomew's Catholic, Little Rock


The members of this Little Rock church will celebrate their church's centennial this Friday and Saturday.

The first chapel was a converted store and doctor's office at 8th and Gaines, and in the beginning the congregation was but one man, Pleasant Smith. Word spread among African-American Catholics and the parish grew quickly. St. Batholomew Elementary / High School was built at 16th and Marshall streets, and in 1931 the present church and its neighboring rectory was dedicated. (Today the old parochial school houses the Helping Hand food pantry.)

Read more about the history of St. Bartholomew's as well as their plans for the centennial celebration in this article in the current Arkansas Catholic.

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