I've never been to a cornerstone-laying, but judging from the photo, the crowd of about 2000 attending the ceremonies at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary School on Aetna Road in Cleveland felt this was a significant event.
 Laying of the cornerstone of Nativity BVM School, November 14, 1915Many may regard this as a sad story, but it really isn't. The buildings were a neighborhood anchor for thousands of Slovaks, descendants of immigrants who founded this parish in 1903, made good lives for themselves and their families, and established Slovak fraternal society branches.
The parish itself closed at parishioners' request in 1992 for lack of clergy who could continue to serve them and their traditions. The Cleveland Catholic Diocese sold the property to a well-meaning and very industrious minister, but after he died it was eventually abandoned.
Current residents of Nativity's southeast Cleveland neighborhood and the City of Cleveland itself viewed the abandoned buildings as dangers, but for many former parishioners the structures were as important to their lives today as their own families.
It was here that their parents, grandparents, and beyond discovered how to cope with life in America, how to find employment, and how to gain the skills needed to be successful in America.
It was here that they helped to create and maintain a neighborhood center on four acres of land, where they could preserve their culture and at the same time take steps toward successful American citizenship, many becoming political and social leaders in Cleveland.
It was here where they learned how important it was to hang on to the most important possessions brought here by their parents and grandparents-family, language and religion.
In August 2024 the city decided to raze the abandoned church and the school, and this news raced through the internet at light speed. The church and school had sat vacant for at least five years, so what was there to save?
Even though all furnishings, including even stain-glass windows, had been removed from both buildings, and the structures had suffered severe damage from break-ins and the elements, two items remained in each structure-the cornerstones and their contents.
Although this was an unusual request, the city approved, and in late August my wife Jeanne and I received a metal box containing memorabilia that had severe water damage since the church was built in 1925-26. However, they still reveal a snapshot of parish history.
We found published lists of contributions of parishioners from 1924 along with parish news for that year along with Slovak and English newspapers containing articles about the cornerstone laying.
The parish report included a surprising notice for a drawing to be held on Thanksgiving for a nearby vacant lot. Whoever won the lot would also win a house, which would have been moved from the parish property. This was how the parish's four acres of land would be cleared for the church and school.
The school cornerstone box, which dates to 1915, contained considerably more material, which survived quite well after 109 years. The most revealing document was handwritten by Fr. Vaclav Chaloupka, the pastor, with details of the day the cornerstone was laid-November 14, 1915.
At least 2000 people attended this event, with support from neighboring Catholic pastors and Cleveland Diocesan officials. According to newspaper accounts, a mile-long parade of parishioners escorted Bishop John Farrelly to this event.
According to the 1915 document, "There now belong to this parish about 300 families, about ten of them being Polish, 20 of them Bohemian, and the balance Slovak. The school is attended at present by 308 children divided into four classrooms. About 60 of our children go to the public school for want of space in our school."
The school was Fr. Chaloupka's first priority when he arrived at Nativity as its fourth pastor in 1909. In an early report to parishioners, he wrote in Slovak that it makes no sense for young men of the parish to be "shooting dice" under streetlights at E. 93rd St. and Way Ave. when the parish could have a building that would serve as a neighborhood center.
Eventually, the school would feature a poolroom, two bowling alleys, and a large auditorium where parishioners could enjoy movies on weekends or watch semiprofessional boxing matches along with other sporting events.
These facilities, along with active Slovak fraternal benefit lodges, helped to keep the community together, helped immigrants learn the English language, and helped to ensure gainful employment for family members.
The school cornerstone bears the words "Za Boh a Narod Slovensky" - "For God and the Slovak Nation." This cornerstone has now found a new home at the Slovak Cultural Garden in Cleveland, where it eventually be part of a bench marked with a plaque detailing its history.
Nativity parishioners were-and still are-proud of their Slovak heritage, evident in church records, which, according to the Cleveland Diocese, contained more documents in the parish's native language than any other nationality parish at the time (around the year 2000).
Many still mourn the passing of Nativity, especially now since these buildings have been demolished. But in reality, its's a joyful fact that the parish lives on in all of them and their children, grandchildren, and beyond since they are all the "living stones" on whom this community was built and still survives to this day.
Contents of the church cornerstone suffered severe water damage due to the cornerstone's position in the church wall.
The church cornerstone consisted of several English and Slovak newspapers plus a parish financial report, but all were victims of water damage.
This notice from a 1924 Nativity Viestnik (Messenger) offers raffle tickets (at 50 cents) for a lot on Dunlap Ave. in Cleveland. The winner of the lot would eventually get a house that would have been moved from the parish property.
John Sabol and his wife Jeanne were both parishioners of Nativity BVM parish and graduates of its elementary school. John is the host of the New Czech Voice of Cleveland Radio Program (WHKW-1220 AM, Sundays 3–4 p.m.)
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