St. Anthony's was relatively short-lived, producing only a few African-American priests (the first being the 11th in history) before moving to Tenafly and shuttering in 1926 due to racism among the American bishops.

[1] The climate of racism, which was displayed even among the bishops themselves, was such that the only Black priests ordained before the late 19th century were the Healy brothers, all of whom passed for White during their ministries.

[2] The SMAs, however, worked with a number of US bishops to find an avenue to ordain Black men stateside, and eventually found favor with one John J. O'Connor in 1921, when Lissner gained permission to open an integrated seminary in Highwood, Bergen County, New Jersey.

[3] Pope Benedict XV and Propaganda prefect Cardinal Willem van Rossum had previously requested that US bishops remove obstacles to Black men entering their seminaries.

He had previously been in formation at Epiphany Apostolic College (the minor seminary of the Josephites, a religious community exclusively serving African Americans).

[6] St Anthony's was characterized largely by John's experience there, which included ongoing refusals from US bishops to accept him to serve as an SMA priest in their diocese upon his graduation and ordination.