Church's kneeler yields a trove of artifacts, some from 19th century

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | 1-25-07 | Ann Rodgers

[Cavalcabo]

Shortly before Christmas, electrician Pio DiPofi pried open a 114-year-old box kneeler that ran for 200 feet along the balcony rail of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in the Strip District.

In the hollow where he planned to run wiring for the church's ongoing renovation he saw dirt, soot and something more colorful. He reached in and carefully pulled out two very old holy cards -- images of Jesus and the saints that are often used in Catholic prayer.

"When I looked at them, I was amazed," he said.

Items found inside the 114-year-old box kneeler include a torn prayer card of the Holy Family, above, a photograph, below, and another prayer card with an ornate floral border, bottom. As he continued to work his way along the kneeler, he found more and more holy cards, along with a 1905 pocket calendar, Depression-era campaign buttons, 19th century coins, a vast collection of children's rosaries and antique gum wrappers that probably were once hastily hidden from patrolling nuns. Derris Jeffcoat, the sacristan, has been collecting the items, cleaning and preserving them as best he can, with advice from the nearby Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center.

The earliest holy card he can find with a date of printing is from 1891, when the church was built. The oldest coin is a one-cent piece from 1825.

"There are hundreds and hundreds of things," Mr. Jeffcoat said. "We've got a whole history of bobby pins."

[Cavalcabo]

Go to the original article to see pictures.

[linda_22003]

A great old church in a great old neighborhood, one we love visiting whenever we're back in the Burgh.

[Tax-chick]

Mr. Jeffcoat imagines children hiding gum wrappers from nuns, but wonders if they played tricks on each other by dropping rosaries through cracks.

Mine used to drop rosaries down the heat registers in the floor, until we moved to a house with vents in the ceiling!

[Nihil Obstat]

Nice story, I love the old churches.