Holy Ghost Society of Peabody [1949-1999]

Holy Ghost Society of Peabody [1949-1999]

1949-1999

This collection includes items related to the history of the Holy Ghost Society of Peabody, primarily featuring a scrapbook with photographs, newspaper articles, letters, handwritten meeting minutes, and oral history notes about the organization. This scrapbook was created by Hilda M. Prata, a previous secretary and president of the Holy Ghost Society, and her granddaughter, Stephanie Doucette.

Historical Overview:

The foundation of the Holy Ghost Society of Peabody is said to have been the idea of Caroline (Carolina Augusta) Amaral, Hilda Prata's grandmother, who immigrated to Peabody from the Azores in 1907. She had asked her son, Joseph Amaral, to organize a way to celebrate the Holy Ghost in Peabody, and with the assistance of his relatives and friends, the Holy Ghost Society of Peabody was formed in March of 1916, and their first celebration with a mass and a meal was held. The society members used to meet at Joseph Amaral's house on 37 Holly Street (now Driscoll Street), and Caroline Amaral's personal Holy Ghost crown was used for years. For the first twelve years of the organization, the procession on Holy Ghost Sunday marched from St. John's Church, where high mass was held, to Our Lady of Help Hall, where the buffet was served. 

Eventually, this small gathering evolved into a larger celebration that was comprised of crownings, processions, and the original mass and meal. The Holy Ghost processions would start at St. Thomas Church and proceed down the Portuguese neighborhood of Peabody. From 1928 to 1965, the mass was sung at St. Thomas' Church. Then, once the Our Lady of Fatima Church was constructed in 1975, crownings and celebrations moved to the new Portuguese church. Over the years, St. John's Church, St. Thomas Church, and the Our Lady of Fatima Church in Peabody all took part in the Holy Ghost crownings, and meetings for the society would begin to take place at the Portuguese Benefit Society of Our Lady of Help.

By 1999, the Holy Ghost Society of Peabody no longer had a procession or meal, but the crownings still took place at St. Thomas' church.

The Holy Ghost Society is still active in Peabody today.

Prata, Hilda

Doucette, Stephanie

Azorean Americans

Processions, Religious--Catholic Church

Catholic Church--Societies, etc.

Portuguese American women

Catholic Church--Dioceses

Parades

Altars

Priests

Fasts and Feasts

Peabody (Mass.)

Donated by Stephanie Doucette.

UMass Lowell, Center for Lowell History

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JPEG

English

Portuguese

Physical Object

HolyGhostPeabody_