It is customary that "the Minister" of a Jesuit community maintain a diary of important events that happen or affect that community. In 1907 it happens that Fr. Nicholas Davis, S.J. was the Minister of the community which supported Sacred Heart Church and College in Augusta, Georgia. It seems that he had the peculiar habit of recording in his diary the temperature each morning at 8 o'clock. In his entry for August 15, the day the transition from Mission to Province took place, he wrote:

"Thermometer 74° at 8 AM.  At lunch the decree of Very Rev. Fr. General, erecting the Mission of New Orleans into the Province of New Orleans, is said and then is read the beautiful letter of his Paternity to the Fathers and Brothers of the New Province ... After Litanies the Te Deum is said so that we may express our gratitude to God for His great goodness towards us and promise renewed efforts to be every day more worthy of our vocation in the Society of Jesus."

Many of the local communities planned special events for August 15, 1907, to celebrate the fact that they were now part of the newly-formed New Orleans Province.

This program and dinner menu from the Spring Hill College community in Mobile, Alabama, is a well-preserved example. It seems that tastes and menu selections have not changed very much over the last hundred years! You may view or download a larger version.