Rose Marie Pearl was just three years old when she made the over 1,200-mile trek from New York City, New York to Opelousas, Louisiana. She arrived by train and was one of 56 children on route who had received a second chance at life thanks to the generosity and compassion of complete strangers. Later in her life, Rose would have the chance to return that generosity through the gift of scholarship to students she’d never met.
Rose’s train trip to Louisiana was the result of New York’s growing epidemic of orphaned and unhoused children in the late 1800s. Tens of thousands of children became orphaned after their parents died from highly communicable diseases or were abandoned due to poor living conditions and poverty. Without any formal shelter for unhoused children, they were often left to live on the streets of New York City.
Recognizing the growing epidemic, several philanthropists created residential facilities to help abandoned children. One such philanthropist, Sister Mary Irene FitzGibbons, founded the New York Foundling Hospital, where Rose was sheltered.
Despite several moves to larger facilities, the New York Foundling Hospital quickly filled to mass capacity. The Sisters of Charity running the organization eventually sent a notice through the Catholic Dioceses asking families across the country to consider adopting the New York Foundling Hospital children. The children were then transported to their new homes and families by train, later dubbed the “Orphan Train.”
Father John Enberink, a pastor in St. Landry parish, helped connect many Louisiana families with children from the “Orphan Train,” including the Pitre family. Sosthene and Cora Joubert Pitre adopted Rose and raised her in Washington, Louisiana. She enjoyed a happy childhood and graduated from South Louisiana Institute, now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She would eventually become principal of the Garland School and marry LSU Law alumnus John R. Fridge.
John graduated from LSU Law in 1925 and was a founding partner of the Baton Rouge law firm Watson, Blanche, Wilson and Posner, LLP. He achieved national recognition in the 1930s from serving as an assistant district attorney for the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’s Office. Fridge helped prosecute several state officials wrapped up in the infamous state scandals and aftermath of the Governor Huey P. Long administration.
John was also the secretary of the State Mineral Board in 1943 and a charter member of the Martin Inn Chapter of Phi Beta Phi legal fraternity.
He and Rose enjoyed nearly thirty years together nestled alongside the LSU Lakes in a striking two-story home along Morning Glory Ave, until John’s untimely passing in November 1955. Rose would later marry Frederick Jacob Bahlinger, Sr. and inherited eight stepchildren.
When Rose died in 1993, her stepchildren discovered that a portion of her estate was to be donated to the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, revealing just how important it was for Rose to support her first husband’s alma mater. Her estate bequeathed $225,000 to LSU Law, the largest donation the law school had ever received at the time. Her “adopted sons,” Frederick Bahlinger, Jr. and Peter Bahlinger, presented the donation to Chancellor Winston Day who noted “the funds are a worthy memorial to the two Baton Rougeans, enhancing legal education and perpetuating excellence.” Rose’s generous donation established the John R. Fridge and Rose Pitre Bahlinger Scholarship, which has benefited hundreds of students of the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center.
One train ride changed the trajectory of Rose’s life. It led to a life of fulfillment and, later, generosity for generations to come.
About the Scholarship:
This endowed scholarship was created in memory of Rose Bahlinger and her first husband, John Fridge, a member of the Law Class of 1925. Recipients are chosen annually on the basis of academic excellence and financial need.
