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When William Sonnier took over as State
Deputy of the Knights of Columbus in Louisiana in July, 1940, succeeding
Mandeville P. Arnoult, Jr., as the 17th Knight to hold that high post,
economic conditions had improved substantially. Business was moving
forward and employment was increasing steadily. However, the country was
destined to go through one of its most critical experiences during the
ensuing six years which were to have important repercussions in the order,
bringing about a great revival of Columbianism in Louisiana, |
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but oddly enough
resulting in a depression in the insurance membership. The reason for this
apparent paradox will be explained.
Membership in the order in the state had
begun an upswing in 1935, with periodic fluctuations of declines and
resurgences, which brought membership in 1939 to the highest point since
1933‑a total of 6246. But a decline set in again in 1940, when the
state total showed 6146 Knights, and a further recession in 1941, when
only 6088 Knights were listed. Then in 1942, the upswing started with a
new era beginning for the order in Louisiana, when the membership total
went to 6147. This increased to 6354 in 1943 and the growth continued with
steady gains each year until 1945 showed a membership of 7091. Finally, in
1946, the state membership surpassed the 10,000 mark the first time since
1925, a period of 21 years. It was evident that the order had definitely
staged a come back, and had begun in truth a new era.
This period covered the administrations of three
State DeputiesWilliam Sonnier, Gerald A. Zernott and Jerry Ryan. Within
that time, nine new Councils were established in Louisiana, but this was
only a forerunner of the remarkable vitality that was to develop in the
order and result in the next six year period of the inauguration of double
that number of new Councils and more than double
the membership. The 1940 - 1946 period laid the groundwork for this
remarkable revival and the
infusion of a new spirit
into the Louisiana Knights of Columbus.
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