What’s Better Than a Bake Sale?

This gangly construction was the brainchild of Rev. Dr. James Donohoe of St. Thomas Aquinas Church at 9th Street and 4th Avenue who, desiring to fund the construction of a new school to serve his parish, struck on the idea of offering outdoor picture shows on the planned school site. The setup was carefully considered, with a solid projection building, metal screen, electric lights and wooden benches seating up to 1,000 moviegoers. The church’s own Father Crawford served as censor, vetting each film for wholesomeness before presentation. Not surprisingly, most of the offerings were comedies. Live piano accompanied the show and food was available at a concession stand. Tickets were 5 cents and, according to an article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 3, 1913, attendance was reported to be brisk.

The outdoor shows could not have lasted more than a few months as they began in August and surely the New York winter would put a halt to the festivities. But the Reverend’s fundraising efforts, whether movies or other activities, clearly succeeded as the new St. Thomas Aquinas school was completed four years later and dedicated in September of 1917. It still stands today on 8th street in Park Slope.

Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal at Brooklyn Public Library. We look forward to inviting you to CBH in the future to research in our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. In the meantime, please visit our resources page to search our collections. Questions? Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.