H26.1474K

"St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church." Per Annalee Allen, Montclarion, 11/14/95: "St. Anthony's Parish, considered to be the mother parish of East Oakland and Alameda, served the entire area between Lake Merritt and San Leandro. The oldest Peralta family son, Antonio Maria Peralta, was among the original parishioners. People of many nationalities, many employed at the nearby California Cotton Mills and the Fruitvale area canneries, comprised most of the membership. Important ethnic groups included the Irish and Portuguese and more recently, Filipinos, Hispanics, Chinese and African Americans....St. Anthony's parish served its community in many ways through the years. San Franciscans came to appreciate it as well for in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake, St. Anthony's was the location of the East Bay refugee center set up by the Catholic Relief Committee. More than 1,000 people displaced by the disaster were sheltered and fed on the site of the present day St. Anthony's school playground." St. Anthony's School was operated by the church. Originally opened in 1886 as a girl's academy, a new school was built in 1950 near San Antonio Park in the Rancho San Antonio neighborhood. The school and nearby convent for the Sisters of Nercy was designed by William E. Schirmer (1891-1957). Both are very good examples of streamlined Moderne architecture.
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