Give Thanks by Giving
In 1897 an article appeared in San Francisco’s Catholic newspaper, the Monitor, in which a fascinating word picture of a Holy Family Tradition, already 24 years old, was described.The following excerpt from that article sets the mood of the event, which was an annual occurrence.
"The most pleasing sight on last Thanksgiving Day was to be seen in the convent of the Sisters of the Holy Family on Hayes and Fillmore streets.The Sisters had gathered together the children to whose care they devote their lives, and it was an inspiring scene to witness these eight hundred little ones so carefully trained, so happy and so full of promise for the future.
We reproduce a photograph of one of the four dining halls where the children were served."
The photograph that accompanied the above article is included for you here so that the style of the dinners for poor children can be examined. The nicest china is being used, with napkins, tablecloths, decorations of fruit and flowers. Chains of colored paper hang from the ceiling, and flower garlands curl around the pillars of the room. Usually the decorations feature autumn colors, but in 1909 the sister writing the annals describes one of the rooms as having a very striking appearance in American flags and ferns. Some big turkeys on festive platters await the arrival of the dignitaries who will “do the honors” (usually the Archbishop and a number of pastors and priests or leading lay people from all around San Francisco).
The children will sit on wooden stools, just as the sisters would when they eventually went to their own dining after the children were feasted and celebrated. Depending on the year, the health of the children (the flu epidemics come to mind) and the availability of space, the dinners, which first occurred on November 27, 1879, went on in grand fashion for 50 years, attended by anywhere from 16 children on the first occasion to hundreds of children in the Sisters’ home as the event matured. Even after the great earthquake and fire of 1906, the dinner was conducted with its usual panache. The annalist that year noted, “Thanksgiving Day was celebrated as is our custom to the children, most refugees.”
The last occasion of the Thanksgiving dinner for children was in 1929, as the great depression began. The annalist, on November 26, 1930 wrote: "Today, Wednesday, each Day Home served the children with the usual Thanksgiving dinner, only this year the children will be able to spend Thanksgiving with their parents, and the dinner was at each Home instead of here at the convent. Needy families of the Day Home received boxes of food."
The next day, a similar entry was made. "Other families, in need, in the parishes, came to the convent for food. Of course, the turkey was the main item in the box or basket given; this with dressing, potatoes, etc. was given cooked. This was thought a better plan, that of helping the families, than having dinner here for the children only. There are so many at present unemployed." And so, in the spirit of practicality with which Sister Dolores Armer imbued her sisters, the new arrangements went into effect, and the festive dinners which had been so much a part of the sisters’ Thanksgiving tradition, passed into happy memory.