American
Catholic Pamphlets and Parish Histories
- American Catholic Pamphlets: This collection
contains more than 10,450 items, focusing primarily on the pre-Vatican
II period. Researchers studying the American Catholic Church's guidance
to the laity, the Church's involvement in the social issues of the day,
or the religious and lay groups which printed pamphlets will find this
collection a rich resource.
Many of the pamphlets were written to guide Catholic families with the
issues in their daily lives, setting forth the Church's directives on
family planning, chastity and abortion, temperance, successful
marriages, and the education of children. Some pamphlets were written
specifically for children, printed in large type and colorfully
illustrated. These children's pamphlets retell stories from the Bible
and introduce the children to the lives of the saints, to the Mass, and
to the Rosary. Other pamphlets address the laity's responsibilities as
members of the Church, or of religious benevolent societies. Some
discuss vocations to the priesthood and the religious life, or
encourage missionary activities at home and abroad.
Some pamphlets address societal issues such as economic justice, race
relations, parochial schools, peace and war, patriotism, prohibition,
Nativism and anti-Catholic prejudice. Official Vatican translations of
Papal documents, pastoral letters written to interpret these for
American Catholics, and pastoral letters reporting on Church synods and
councils explain the Church's position on the major issues of the times
to the members of the parishes. The pamphlets as a whole document the
development of the American Catholic Church, its relationship with the
Vatican, Americanism, and changes in liturgical practices.
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the database
Pamphlet records are searchable by author, title, place and date of
publication, publisher (usually a lay institution or religious order),
and subjects.
- Parish Histories: This
collection contains more about 3,480 items, ranging in date from 1791
to
the present. Researchers interested in the early history of Catholic
settlements, the continuity of ethnic parishes, the development of
Catholic institutions within a parish, parishioners' participation in
local and national lay organizations, or in local or foreign missions,
will find this collection useful.
The histories were usually written to commemorate an important
anniversary such as the twenty-fifth, fiftieth or one hundredth year
since the founding of the parish or the dedication of the church
building. Many of them include photographs from the early years of the
parish and biographies of the parish's priests. In addition to the
printed histories there are newspaper clippings, photographs,
postcards, and other ephemeral material which provide additional
information about the establishment of the parish, the anniversary
celebrations, or the architecture of the parish buildings. Also
included in this collection are parish directories for a single year
containing photographs of the parishioners and congratulatory notices
from local merchants, anniversary programs, booklets, dedication
programs, regional or diocesan histories, and jubilee biographies of
bishops.
Some of the parish histories include information on the schools,
orphanages, seminaries, religious orders, or civic and social groups
associated with the parish. Armenian, Czech, French, German, Hungarian,
Italian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Slovenian, Slovak, Spanish, or
Ukrainian speakers sometimes published their parish histories in their
native language, with little or no accompanying English text.
Searching
the database
Parish history records are searchable by the state, city and name of
the parish as well as by author, title, place and date of publication,
publisher (usually the parish), and subjects.
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