WILMINGTON — Salesianum School celebrated the 75th anniversary of the arrival of its first Black students on Nov. 14 by welcoming back the lone surviving member of the “Quintus Five,” as they are known.
James Owens traveled to Wilmington from his longtime home of Albany, N.Y., joined by members of his family, where the students heard his story from principal Father Christian Beretta and Owens himself. Father Beretta also made a few announcements about some changes coming to the all-boys school.
One of the changes will be the addition of a plaque to Salesianum’s front lawn. It will join the one already there from the Delaware Public Archives. That one briefly tells the story of the five young men who integrated Delaware’s schools four years before the landmark Brown v. the Board of Education decision. The new sign will include the names of the five boys who started at Salesianum on Nov. 14, 1950: Owens, Alfred Connell, Thomas Connell, William Jones and Fred Smith.
“On that morning, everything began to change,” Father Beretta said.
The second change will take effect fully beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. The school is retiring the number 5 across all sports. That announcement was made by Jay Burrell, who wears the number for the football team.
No. 5 is already retired in basketball in honor of Donte DiVincenzo, who graduated in 2015. DiVincenzo led the Sals to their first two state championships and now plays professionally for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association.
The ceremony took place in the middle of Black Catholic History Month, which is marked every November. Established by the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus in 1990, it recognizes the contributions and heritage of Black Catholics. November was selected in part because it includes significant dates such as the feast days of St. Martin de Porres and St. Augustine.
Owens engaged in a question-and-answer session with students. He said Salesianum “has carried me through” since his graduation in 1953.
“Salesianum gave me a foundation that I carry to this day,” he said. The philosophy of St. Francis de Sales is central in his life, he continued. “Be well, do well, and treat everybody well.”
He said he walked through the front door of the school, which was located at Eighth and West streets in Wilmington, not knowing what to expect. The Black students already knew some of the Salesianum boys through Catholic Youth Organization sports, which were already desegregated.
“We just couldn’t go out together after we played,” Owens said.
Owens told the group he never imagined the impact he and the other Black students would have on the school, or what Salesianum would mean to him.
“There’s nothing more important as a young man than being true to yourself and true to your friends. I got that from here,” he said.
“I am proud to be a Salesian. It never leaves me.”
Photos by Mike Lang.
