By Carol Gentry

Fr. John Kieran of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church has completed a collection of old newspapers which reveals the history of the parish and of West End form 1932 to 1962.

These newsletters were published by the church and were originally called ST. ANTHONY’S PARISH NEWS, but later, ST. ANTHONY’S CATHOLIC NEWS. The monthly was printed without a break for 30 years.

All but three of the 365 issues were located by Fr. Kieran and have been bound into nine volumes. They will be kept in the parish so that interested persons may see them, he said.

Many parishioners helped collect the old papers, including:

--Tom Kehoe, former editor of the paper and a member of St. Anthony’s parish.

--Ed Schanno, whose brother Ernest was in the first Holy Communion Class at St. Anthony’s in 1905, and now lives in College Park.

--Mary Campbell, a former advertising editor of the NEWS.

--Emma Hoch, The first Mass in St. Anthony’s was held at her parents’ home on Lawton Street on June 13, 1903.

Fr. Kieran said he spent a year searching attics and basements for copies of the NEWS. To celebrate the accomplishment of the task, Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan gave an official opening of the volumes Sunday at St. Anthony’s

Highlights of the volumes include:

--a complete history of the parish, including an account of the first Mass in West end. This history came out in the September 1953 issue.

--a historical series on the Catholic community of Atlanta from its earliest days was printed in 1937. This, the only printed history of the Catholic Church in Atlanta, was written by the NEWS’ first editor T.J. O’Keefe.

--old advertisements, especially during the depression and the war years, give an idea of styles and prices during those days.

At the request of Archbishop Donnellan, Fr. Kieran is currently preparing a second set of the NEWS. Anyone having copies they would like to donate to be bound is asked to contact Fr. Kieran at the St. Anthony’s rectory.

The second bound set of ST. ANTHOHY’S CATHOLIC NEWS will be kept in the Catholic Chancery office, 756 West Peachtree St., N.W.