The young scholars attending St. Thomas More Catholic Academy in Washington, D.C., know that their principal, Gerald D. Smith Jr., has high hopes for them.
“We always talk about our two goals – college and heaven,” he said.
Hanging at the top of the walls there along the school’s hallways are clotheslines strung with college pennants, including from Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Notre Dame, the University of Maryland and the University of Michigan.
And now just below those pennants, there is a visible reminder of that second goal for students, heaven, in the form of framed portraits drawn by eighth grader Cameron Anthony of the “Sacred Six,” the six African American Catholics being considered for sainthood.
Drawn with colored pencils by Anthony, the portraits depict Venerable Mother Mary Lange, who founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first Catholic order of African American women religious, in Baltimore; Venerable Father Augustus Tolton from Chicago, the first Catholic priest in the United States known to be Black; Servant of God Julie Greeley from Denver and Venerable Pierre Toussaint from New York City, who were known for their works of charity; Venerable Henriette Delille, foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans; and Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, a dynamic Catholic evangelist and educator from Mississippi.
“These are examples of how people are to act and love like Christ,” the student artist said.
The daughter of Charles and Lavelle Anthony, she will graduate from St. Thomas More Catholic Academy in June before attending Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland, this fall with her twin sister Camille, a fellow eighth grader there. Their two older siblings also graduated from St. Thomas More and went to high school at Bishop McNamara. Their brother Charles Anthony is a sophomore at McNamara, and their older sister Lindsey Lamb is now in college.
In conjunction with Cardinal Wilton Gregory’s Mass for students at St. Thomas More Catholic Academy to commemorate Black History Month in February, the Office of Cultural Diversity and Outreach of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington gave the school a plaque depicting prayer cards of the “Sacred Six.” That framed plaque was displayed afterward on a wall along the school’s hallway.
Cameron Anthony’s portraits came about after she drew a picture of Mother Lange for a religion assignment, depicting that pioneer educator who, although living in a slave state, in 1828 established St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, the first Catholic school for children of color in the United States.
The student said she admired Mother Lange because “she was trying to do good things in the world.”
Smith noticed the drawing and asked her if she would draw all six of those noted Black Catholics for her service hours. Anthony took on that extra assignment, while still participating in other service activities, including school and community clean-ups and helping out at the Knights of Columbus’s coat drive.
“She did some (drawings) at school, some after school and some at home,” he said, noting that each of her drawings took about a week. “Watching her work was powerful,” Smith added. “She was able to stay focused in class, and if there was any downtime, she used it to draw.”
Anthony said she enjoyed adding details and colors to each of the drawings, which seem to reflect aspects of the distinctive personalities of each of the “Sacred Six,” like the steely determination of Mother Lange and Father Tolton and the joyful spirit of Sister Thea Bowman.
Anthony has taken art classes over the years, and some day she would like to go to a college for the visual arts.
Asked what it’s like to see her artwork displayed along the school’s hallway, Anthony said, “It makes me really happy. I can get the message out to the school.”
As her eighth grade graduation approached, Anthony said she felt excited. “There’s a lot to look forward to… I want to see what’s in store at Bishop McNamara.”
St. Thomas More Catholic Academy is one of four Catholic elementary schools in Washington, D.C., that are part of the archdiocese’s Consortium of Catholic Academies.
From his vantage point as the school’s principal, Smith said he is very proud of Anthony. “She comes from a family of ours,” he said.
“Cameron has been here since PreK and always had a knack for drawing,” Smith said, noting how over the years, she would make little drawings, fold them and slip them in someone’s hand, book, lunchbox or backpack. “You’d unfold it and find this magical artwork she created,” he said.
Smith watched her artistic technique grow, and now he’s excited about what she’s going to do with her talent in the future. As for the present, the students there have her portraits to enjoy and think about as they walk down the hallway at St. Thomas More.
“With the ‘Sacred Six,’ my student body now has more examples of saints that look like them, as a reminder we can and will get to heaven, if we live like them,” Smith said.
