Fides Senechal’s First Communion Memorabilia
Rosenberg Treasure of the Month
During the month of May, Rosenberg Library will exhibit a beautiful, hand-carved mother-of-pearl rosary which was presented to Galveston resident Fides Senechal Boening (1891-1966) when she received her first communion at Sacred Heart Church on May 1, 1904. Displayed with the rosary is a photographic portrait of Boening wearing her first communion dress with a traditional white veil. These items were a gift of her daughter, Mary Agnes Boening, and are preserved in the Rosenberg Library Special Collections.
Fides Senechal was born in Galveston May 21, 1891. Her parents, Louis and Rosa Senechal, owned a corner grocery store at 1602 Winnie. The family lived in a residence next door and also built a second residential property at 1608 Winnie in 1907. These structures still stand in Galveston’s East End historical district.
In 1913, Fides married William Paul Boening. The couple moved to Kingsville, Texas in 1916 where Mr. Boening worked as a railroad roundhouse foreman. They had one daughter, Mary Agnes Boening, who was born in 1919. The family later lived in Hearne, Texas until W.P. Boening’s death in 1941. Fides Senechal returned to Galveston and lived in the family home at 1608 Winnie until her death on July 16, 1966. Her funeral mass was held at St. Mary’s Cathedral, and she is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Galveston.
The Treasure of the Month is located on the library’s second floor near the East Entrance. It can be viewed during regular library hours, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, please contact the Museum Office at 409-763-8854 x. 125 or visit us on the web at rosenberg-library-museum.org.
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Rosenberg Library
Rosenberg Library has offered over a century of community service to the Galveston area, and is the oldest public library in Texas in continuous operation. The building itself was dedicated on June 22, 1904, the birthday of its patron, Henry Rosenberg. The Moody Memorial Wing opened in 1971, more than doubling the floor space and allowing for a children’s library, a history center, several galleries to showcase museum collections, and later, a computer lab. The Library accepted its first museum piece shortly after it opened in 1904. Since then, thousands of rare and interesting objects from around the world have been added to the collection. Each month they display a “Treasure of the Month”. Learn more by visiting the Rosenberg Library page and the Gifts of Henry Rosenberg section.
