Immigrant City, Catholic City

The history of American Catholicism is, at its core, an urban history. Gothic steeples overshadowing dense neighborhoods are a hallmark of the landscape of America's cities. But as we'll discuss in our reading of Studs Lonigan and the parish history of Holy Family Parish, there is more to the urban nature of American Catholicism than its architecture. For these churches embodied and represented a profound sense of community and place that not only shaped America's Catholics but America itself. To compliment our readings, below are three videos from the Chicago History Museum's "Catholic Chicago" exhibit from a few years ago. What themes are repeated here? Do we hear a little Studs Lonigan here?

Catholic Chicago - Parish Life from Chicago History Museum on Vimeo.

Catholic Chicago - Growing Up Catholic from Chicago History Museum on Vimeo.

And we'll conclude today by discussing the changes in both Chicago and American Catholicism is the years surrounding World War I. These changes would mark American Catholicism throughout the remainder of the twentieth century and would especially shape the experience of new Catholic Hispanic immigrants in the late twentieth century. Here is a brief view of the 1926 Eucharistic Congress I'll be discussing.

The Eucharistic Congress - Chicago 1926 from Chicago History Museum on Vimeo.