Catholics in WWII

...which Philadelphia had the second most with 51. As the war continued that number would increase to 68, unfortunately eight of those Philadelphia priests would die in the war, the most of any U.S. diocese.[7] Meyer Photo: Margherita Camp Chapel From his priests, Dougherty would often receive monthly progress reports

Continue reading

Thomas Nast Anti-Irish Cartoons

Among the recently digitized images added to our online collection are a number of drawings by cartoonist Thomas Nast. In 1846 at the age of six, Nast immigrated with his mother to the United States and by age 15 he had begun drawing for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated News.[1] He joined

Continue reading

World War One Army Chaplains

...Catholic priests in the armed forces; however, by the end of the war that number grew to over 1,000.[2] Of those, 38 chaplains came from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.[3] One chaplain’s life of remarkable note was that of Father Joseph L. N. Wolfe. Born December 26, 1881, Wolfe attended Roman

Continue reading
Portrait photograph of Robert M. O'Reilly, circa 1870

A lengthy and active military career

.... For a time, O'Reilly was stationed at Red Cloud Agency, one of the first reservations established by the U.S. government, located in the northwestern corner of present-day Nebraska. This agency served as one of the centers of activity during the Sioux Wars of 1876-77. The government assigned troops to

Continue reading