1629-16 Community Church SUN JAN 15 1989
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LENGTH: 05.14"SHORT ILLUST: photo: Monsignor BARRY SOURCE: Herald Staff
DATELINE: MEMO: HISTORY AROUND US
Barry University in Miami Shores was founded in 1940 by a Catholic family that came to the United
States from Ireland around the turn of the century.
Monsignor William Barry was ordained in Baltimore in 1910 at age 24. He came to Miami Beach in
1926,and within a month he gave his first Mass in polo stables given to him by developer Carl Fisher. In
September that same year, he opened an elementary school in more polo stables.
The church and school that he founded are now St.Patrick's Church, 3716 Garden Ave.,and St.
Patrick's School, 3700 N. Meridian Ave.
In 1939,Monsignor Barry started the Florida Catholic,a diocesan newspaper.He also was
instrumental in founding St. Francis Hospital in Miami Beach.
His dream, though, was to start a college.It was a dream shared by his family.
They worked with John Thompson, an attorney in Miami Shores who later became the village's mayor.
Their goal was to establish the first Catholic college for women in Florida.
Thompson and Monsignor Barry chose 40 acres where the college would be built, and 40 acres more
were purchased a few years later.In 1940, Barry College for Women was completed.The college
became coed Barry College in the 1970s and Barry University in 1981.
Barry's sister, Mother Mary Gerald Barry, was the superior general of the Adrian Dominican Sisters
in Adrian, Mich., where she was a resident. She sent Adrian Dominican Sisters to South Florida to staff the
college.
Their brother, Patrick Barry, was the bishop of the Diocese of St.Augustine, which covered South
Florida at the time.He helped raise money for the college.Although Monsignor Barry was the only
member of the family living in South Florida, the college was named for his lgrother, Bishop Barry.
Source: Sister Eileen Rice, professor of history emerita at Barry University.
History Around Us,compiled by Lia Fish, is a weekly feature on the people and events that have
helped shape our communities.If you have a suggestion, send it to History Around Us, Miami Herald
Neighbors, 13523 Memorial Highway, North Miami,Fla. 33161.If your suggestion is used,we'll send you a
copy of Mostly Sunny Days, a book on South Florida's history,and two passes to the Historical Museum of
Southern Florida. ADDED TERMS: END OF DOCUMENT.