Philadelphia’s First Catholic Cathedral

...ld go all the way to the Pope to be resolved in 1822. Nevertheless, when Bishop Kenrick (then coadjutor bishop) appointed himself as pastor of St. Mary in 1831, the trustees refused. In response, Kenrick suspended all religious services at the church until the trustees backed down a month later.

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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

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Starting from Scratch: The Story of Msgr. Hawks and St. Joan of Arc Parish

...ead on each floor.” The chapel moved to June 27, 1920 to an old blacksmith shop on the property once the blacksmith moved out. However of this new location Hawks wrote “it was totally inadequate; if anything it was worse than the store. One thing was certain, the chapel had

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Josephine Walsh (center) on her way to Europe, July 1900

A “petulant girl”?: Josephine Walsh’s diaries

...es, commentary on social events, and writings on her family and even their shop business. Story drafts and inspirational ideas are scattered throughout her notebooks. She also wrote plays, which she and her friends performed for their families. Though her family was quite wealthy, she apparently sought financial independence through

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