In March of 2007, I travelled back to my old haunts in Chicago and picked up a few Christmas albums. This is one of the last ones from that trip left to be shared.
There's about 25 schools in Chicago named Sacred Heart. Considering that 1/2 of the album was sung in Croatian, my first guess was that it was recorded up somewhere in the West Town section of Chicago where Ukrainian Village is.
From some comments and consulation with my father (who grew up at 83rd & Buffalo - in the shadow of South Works), there was a Croation enclave on the south side of Chicago as well.
Sacred Heart Croation Church is located at 96th and Escanaba Ave. on the Southeast side of Chicago.
This album is nothing fancy (a lot of my shares are usually just that). School kids singing Christmas songs. The school sold this album to parents so they could assumingly fund other programs at their school. We are talking about Chicago here - ask Gov. Rod Blagojevich!
I would love to hear from anyone on the back of the cover! And according to one of the commenters below, this album was recorded in 1961.
Sacred Heart School Choir - Sings Croatian & English Christmas Carols
Happy listening...
Capt
9 comments:
Thanks, Capt - I love these kind of records.
Not to nitpick, but I'd point out that the record says it is in Croation, not Ukrainian.
There once was a Croation enclave on the south side of Chicago. St. Jerome church (1700 W. Lunt) was once a popular gathering site for Croation immigrants. They have since moved away and been replaced by a latino population. It might be worth contacting them to see if they have (or had) a Sacred Heart school.
Also, never mention Gov.Blagojevich (a serb) in the same sentence with Croations...it could get you killed (or worse!).
Thanks for the wonderful share!
I was part of this choir. Sacred Heart Croation Church is located at 96th and Escanaba Ave. on the Southeast side of Chicago. This album was recorded in 1961. The above person mentions St. Jerome's Church. This Church still stands at 26th Princeton in Chicago, also known as the Bridgeport area.
Buster - Thanks for pointing out my misteak!
Anon 8:11 - I asked my dad who grew up on the South Side and he remembers the Croatian area but couldn't pin it down.
Anon 8:29 - My father promises to point out the church next time we go through the area.
What else can you tell us about the album?
Capt
I was the organist on this recording and also the nun that you see pictured. However, I left a few years later and now have a family of my own. I can answer most of any questions about this recording. It was a wonderful experience and I taught those children at Sacred Heart in So. Chicago which IS located at 96th and Escanaba near Commercial Avenue. I was quite young and was blest with a wonderful group of children who loved to sing english and Croatian. Most of the children did not understand, but were raised in a Croatian environment.I was raised in a Croatian community in Cleveland, Ohio as well.
Organist - How old or what grade were these kids?
What year was this released?
How well did the album sell?
How long were you at the school?
Capt
This is wonderful. I am on this album, also. The "Organist" as I remember her was named Sr. Elaine. We have many wonderful memories connected with that time.
I am the organist, Sr. elaine, as I was known then. I left the convent soon after as I mentioned before. I was at Sacred Heart from 1958 - 1966. In my choir I had all students in Grs. 5-8 grades. All children expected to sing in the school choir. This was made in 1962 or 3, I think. It was during my position of organist which was during those eight years. We created about 700 recordings and sold about 550. Fr. Myron was pastor as the time and he just wanted the Croatian people to have a wonderful remembrance of the children singing. We sang harmony and they had beautiful voices. We even sang three part in some of the music. It was a wonderful time for all of us who were there.
Anon - Please share some of those memories with us!
Organist - Thanks for filling in some of the empty holes! I'm glad you've help to reconnect several people (including yourself) with those great memories of Christmas!
Capt
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