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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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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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

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

A lengthy and active military career

...ee, March 12, 1864 In 1867, O'Reilly was sent to several army posts in the southwest and was then stationed in Wyoming Territory ending up at Fort Laramie, Wyoming. While there, he was involved in clashes between the U.S. military and the Sioux Nation in 1874 and 1880. For a

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