Thomas Nast Anti-Irish Cartoons

...] He joined Harper’s Weekly in 1862 and at his height of fame was earning close to $20,000 a year (roughly $500,000 in today’s dollars) drawing for the paper.[2] Studying these cartoons can help us better understand the culture of the United States during the 1870s. Examining cartoons is an

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Philadelphia’s First Catholic Cathedral

...races its history to 1763, when a second church was needed for the growing number of Catholics in the city. Built on land originally bought to serve as a cemetery for Old St. Joseph’s, Old St. Mary’s was referred to as “Mission Number 1” as St. Joseph’s was seen as

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Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

...merging of Byzantine and Romanesque styles.[3] The change in design had a number of reasons, which the architect, Charles Maginnis, stated arose out of a desire for a “distinctively American” church that would allow for a blending of the architecture in Washington D.C.[4] Another practical reason was the contemporary building

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Parish and School Closing

...Merge In 1992, Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua announced plans to examine the closing of a number of parishes in North Philadelphia and the city of Chester. Both areas saw a major decrease in parishioners, with both areas losing around 60% of registered members from 1970 to 1990. Due to this and

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