The Black church has long been an iconic American institution. As strongholds of faith and touchstones of community identity, countless congregations – most of them Protestant – have anchored communities from coast to coast.
In Milwaukee, a notably Catholic city, there has been a robust Catholic presence as well. St. Benedict the Moor Parish was the pioneer.
The congregation was established in 1908 by Lincoln Valle, a Black lay evangelist who had done similar work in Chicago. After three years in a storefront on Fifth and State, his “mission” moved up the State Street hill to Ninth, a location it has never left.
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With the move, administration of the parish shifted to the Capuchins, a Franciscan order with a friary only a mile away. In 1912, they opened a school on State Street. It offered traditional day classes at first, but in 1913 three resident orphans added a boarding component.
“St. Ben’s” took a giant step forward in 1925, shortly after this photograph was taken. With major support from beer baron Ernest Miller, the Capuchins completed their present Romanesque church at 930 W. State St. and bought the former Marquette Academy on the west side of Tenth Street.
Day students from Milwaukee and boarding students from across the country soon filled the building to capacity. Enrollment peaked at nearly 400 in the 1940s, and the waiting list swelled to 4,000 applicants at a time when private education was rarely available to people of color.
St. Ben’s alumni included Chicago mayor Harold Washington, jazz legend Lionel Hampton and comedian Redd Foxx.
The school was a casualty of the construction of Interstate 43 in 1967, but St. Benedict the Moor Parish remains a vital presence on State Street, serving a regular free evening meal and continuing to meet the changing needs of the community around it.
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK:
- Rev. Philip Steffes was the Capuchin dynamo who oversaw St. Benedict’s parish and school from 1923 until his death in 1950.
- Collars and ties were standard dress for students in the upper grades.
- Dominican sisters operated the school for most of its existence.
- Athletics were part of a well-rounded educational program.
Thanks to Steven Avella for research assistance.
IN COLLABORATION WITH MILWAUKEE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
