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The Shirt Factory: 1906-1919
The earthquake and fire may have destroyed the beautiful school, but it would not do the same to the spirit of those who taught and studied there. After the earthquake, SI built a “temporary” campus that would last for 23 years and inaugurated a host of new traditions. The school published its first literary work…
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All Hell Seemed Dancing With Joy: 1906
With the jubilee celebration over, the regular routine of school re-established itself in late 1905 and early 1906. The Jesuits even considered moving the high school portion of the school to some available land west of Fillmore Street, or even to Millbrae, and making St. Ignatius College into a university. (In the Consultors’ minutes from…
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The Great Jewel of Education: 1880–1905
In its third campus on Hayes and Van Ness, SI became the premier college on the West Coast, with the greatest enrollment of any Jesuit college and some of the finest scientific equipment and collections found in any university in America. Many consider this the Golden Age of SI, when, it seemed, nothing could diminish…
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St. Ignatius Comes of Age: 1861–1880
In its second campus, just next door to its first Market Street school, SI became one of the leading colleges in the Bay Area thanks to three great pedagogues — Frs. Varsi, Bayma and Neri. Fr. Neri shined the first electric light in San Francisco from the window of St. Ignatius College, Fr. Bayma authored…
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The Founding of St. Ignatius College: 1849–1861
Six years after the Jesuits arrived in California, St. Ignatius College appeared on Market Street as a one-room schoolhouse with the mixed blessing of Archbishop Alemany. What makes the history of SI so remarkable is that six years after the construction of this small school, SI built an impressive college right next door and attracted…
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From Spiritus Magis: 150 Years of St. Ignatius College Preparatory
by Paul Totah ’75 It is hard to imagine a less auspicious start for our school. When Fr. Anthony Maraschi, SJ, opened the doors of the first St. Ignatius Academy on San Francisco’s Market Street, expecting to see a crowd of Catholic boys eager for Jesuit education, only three small faces peered at him on…
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Top 10 History Highlights
1. Rapid Growth & Success SI went from a one-room schoolhouse in the sand dunes (where the old Emporium used to be) to one of the leading colleges in the west in a few short years, primarily because of anti-Catholic sentiment in Europe. Priests in hiding and on the run from angry mobs (in the…
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SI History: In Brief
From the Gold Rush to the New Millennium: San Francisco’s Jesuit School Since 1855 It is hard to imagine a less auspicious start for St. Ignatius College Preparatory. When Fr. Anthony Maraschi, SJ, first opened the doors of the brand-new St. Ignatius Academy on San Francisco’s Market Street, expecting to see a crowd of Catholic…