Mary Brackett Willcox and Catholicism in the Suburbs

A New England Puritan becomes a prominent and influential Catholic in the Diocese of Philadelphia. An unlikely story but one that happened to Mary Brackett. Mary was born in 1796 in Massachusetts to Captain James Brackett and Elizabeth Odiorne.[1] In 1819, she married James Mark Willcox from Ivy Mill, PA.[2]

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Catholic Interracial Council

In the 1930s, there was a growing interest in cooperation between white and black Catholics to work against prejudice and towards interracial justice. This led to the creation of the Catholic Interracial Council of New York in 1934 by Father John LaFarge, S.J.[1] LaFarge hoped that local chapters would be

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TV and Radio

The Catholic Church has a long history of using television and radio to communicate to the faithful. One of the first successful instances was in 1930 with Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s popular radio show, The Catholic Hour. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia began its own radio apostolate in 1944 and would add

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Roman Catholic and Archdiocese High Schools

The start of the new academic year marks the 130th anniversary of the opening of Roman Catholic High School. The school was the dream of Thomas E. Cahill, a prominent Catholic businessman in the city. Upon his passing on August 9, 1878, he left most of his fortune to “build

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