This week’s #MarkerMonday highlights the St. Pius X High School historical marker in Chatham County, the newest Georgia Historical Marker erected as an addition to the Georgia Civil Rights Trail. Blessed Pius X High School was founded in 1952 as a co-educational equalization school for Savannah’s Black students. Following the canonization of Pope Pius X, the school’s name was changed to St. Pius X High School in 1955, which is also when the first class of fourteen students graduated.
Although Father Ignatius Lissner was not alive at the time of its completion, St. Pius X High School and the lower grade schools preceding it were made possible due to his efforts. A member of the Society of African Missions (S.M.A.), Lissner was ordained as a priest in Lyons, France, at age 24. As a member of the S.M.A., Father Lissner made a commitment to serving the people of Africa and those of African descent. He spent the first six years of his priesthood as a missionary in Africa’s Gold Coast and spent about four more years traveling around North America, Europe, and Egypt before relocating to Georgia. When he arrived in Georgia in 1907, he found a small number of Black Catholics. In most Catholic churches, Black parishioners sat in separate pews from the White members, except in cities with higher populations that necessitated separate parishes due to segregation. Father Lissner was sent to Georgia to help staff the St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church, which later became known as the “Mother Church” for Black Catholics.
It was during his time at St. Benedict’s that Lissner provided five acres of land for the purpose of a Catholic high school for Black students. The school was originally expected to be named St. Benedict’s High School, but it opened at Blessed Pius X High School.
Father Lissner believed that the best way to reach potential parishioners was through providing schools to their children. At the time of his death in 1948, Lissner was remembered for establishing many churches and schools for African Americans across the country, including St. Anthony’s Church, and the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Savannah; the Immaculate Conception Church in Augusta; the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, in Atlanta; and St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in Macon.
Explore the links below to learn more:
Related Marker Text - St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church
Related Marker Text – St. Peter Claver Catholic Church
Related Marker Text - Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church: Atlanta’s First African-American Catholic Church
The Bulletin (Augusta, Ga.) 1920-1957, January 01, 1921, Image 6
The Bulletin (Augusta, Ga.) 1920-1957, October 19, 1929, Image 10
The Bulletin (Augusta, Ga.) 1920-1957, October 25, 1941, Image 13
The Bulletin (Augusta, Ga.) 1920-1957, August 21, 1948, Image 28
The Bulletin (Augusta, Ga.) 1920-1957, December 24, 1955, Image 13
Southern Cross. (Savannah, Ga.) 1963-current, September 14, 1978, Image 1
Southern Cross. (Savannah, Ga.) 1963-current, March 02, 2000, Image 3
“A MAN OF STEEL”: FATHER IGNATIUS LISSNER, S.M.A. (1867-1948)