Archbishop John Hughes Council 481 History
On January 27, 1900, eighty Catholic gentlemen launched upon a fraternal and social mission obtained permission to organize a Council the Knights of Columbus to be named after the first Archbishop of New York, Reverend John Hughes. The Supreme Body of the Knights of Columbus granted a Charted to this group of men under the title, "John Hughes Council No. 481 of the Knights of Columbus".
On that evening the Council was installed and the honors of Knighthood were conferred upon a class of sixty-five new members at Odd-Fellows Hall, corner of Benson and 18th Avenues, Brooklyn. This installation attracted Brother Knights from Councils in New York, Brooklyn and Jersey City.
After a few years that section in which the clubhouse was located gradually changed to a business neighborhood with the result that many realtors offered prices netting a profit to the Council of from 100% to 200%.
In April 1929, the stupendous figure of $120,000 was offered for the property and the Board of Directors decided to sell.
The Board of Directors, after considerable investigation, determined to make their temporary home at the old Dyker Heights Club then occupied by the Italian Country Club. After a short stay in this building the sentiment developed that this property be purchased because the location and the surroundings were most agreeable.
The Council realized that its future existence and virility depended entirely upon an alert and active membership campaign and thusly, it has been richly rewarded by the achievement of the Honor Roll and Century Club certificates.
In the 1950's the Council participated in the following activities:
Organizing company B of the Honor Guard,
First appearance of our Honor Guard at the Shrine Church of St. Bernadette,
Christmas toy drive for underprivileged children,
Blood Donors drive,
Organizing of Wheel Chair Brigade to assist the disabled veterans of Brooklyn Veterans Hospital to attend Mass on Sunday,
Our Council was honored with a visit from Bishop Constantine Luna, of Zacapa, Guatemala on July 16, 1959. Later, the same year, the Council sponsored a Clothing Drive for Boys Town of Zacapa, Guatemala.
One of the major events of 1960's took place on January 16, 1964, when the Council paid tribute to the memory of Archbishop John Hughes, the first Archbishop of New York, whose name has been our proud heritage since the founding of the Council. In celebrating the Centennial of the death of this ardent prelate we also honored a great nephew of the Archbishop, Monsignor John Hughes, pastor of St. Pius IX Church, Bronx New York, who visited the Council and to whom we presented a plaque to commemorate the occasion. We also placed a full size painting of Archbishop John Hughes in or Council Chamber.
On August 18 2002, we had another historic event the renaming of the street in front of our council to "Fr. Michael J. McGivney Way" It was historic, that it was a community event and it was well attended by our members, and our community leaders. Fr. McGivney was a simple priest with a big heart; he would always answer the call for help, no matter who was calling, a true Hero in his time. Also we dedicated a glass image in his honor.
