To understand how and why the Brothers physically built the college campus, one must
understand their underlying culture.
The Brothers were founded in the country district
outside Lyons, France, in what could only be
considered very hilly land where the people eked out
a marginal existence. When Saint Marcellin
Champagnat decided something needed to be done
or get built, he relied first on his available resources
not on a fund raising drive. The prime example of
this was the mother house at St. Genis-Laval. Except
for several skilled masons, this was built almost
entirely by the brothers. They carried the rocks,
mixed the mortar, and chipped out an enormous
rock ledge (sans dynamite) to provide room for the
building which was tucked between the river Gier
and the ledge.
Around 1905, there was a heavy influx into America
of French brothers who had been expelled for
religious reasons. Champagnat's spirit of
independence and resourcefulness carried over to
Poughkeepsie after the Brothers purchased the Bech and McPherson properties, both of
which were in ramshackle condition. Using their own labor, they added extensions to
the McPherson building and to the east and west sides of St. Peter's stone house. They
built two long bungalows in 1912 to be used as temporary dormitories and a wood
shop, placed an additional third floor on the Bech house, built chicken coops, a silo,
and some fruit cellar caves (caveaus). The results were hardly architectural
masterpieces - they were the product of unskilled labor and amateur architects - but
they worked and stayed within limited budgets.




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Project Directors
Dr. Brian Henry Desilets
Dr. Linus Richard Foy
John Patrick Noone
From the beginning, Marist Heritage has been a collaborative effort.
We appreciate the contributions of the Marist Brothers and the Marists All
community, who by supplying information and personal memories, have given vitality,
scope and depth to this project
Under the guidance and direction of Dr. Brian Henry Desilets, the initial web pages
were designed and created by the following Marist College students: Michele van
Brero (Hermitage, St. Peter's, Kieran Gate House, Greystone, Marist Brothers
Builders, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel) ..... Tage Haun (Bech Homestead, Marian,
Donnelly) ..... Fang Fang Xu (Boat House, Byrne House, Kirk House) ..... Courtney Gutt
(Bech Family History) ..... Vij lyer (Cemetery) ..... Rahkee Chopra (Fontaine Hall).
All the final Marist Heritage web pages were either created, revised, rewritten
and/or reshaped by John Patrick Noone, who is solely responsible for any errors
contained therein.
We thank Richard Branigan for proofreading the Marist Heritage web pages.
We recognize the contributions of our consultants: John Ansley for his input on the
format and contents of the various web pages. Also Victor VanCarpels for his
frequent consultations and guidance in the graphics included in this CD. His
patience and dedication while working with us made the overall results more
professional.
We are grateful to Barbara McMullen for the use of the Ecommerce facility at Marist
College.
We are indebted to the Mccann Foundation which provided the funds necessary to make
this project a reality.
John Patrick Noone, editor
November 15, 2002
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