Catholics on Stage: Fritz Williams (1865-1930)
Williams, Fritz (Frederick Williams): Actor; b. in Boston, Mass., August 23, 1865; parents member at the stock company at the Boston Museum for 15 years; made his first appearance on stage at that...
View ArticleWho’s Buried in Catholic Cemeteries: Mayor Hugh J. Grant (1858-1910)
Born in New York City on September 10, 1858, Hugh J. Grant grew up in Manhattan, where he attended Manhattan College (then located in Manhattanville) before studying abroad. Upon his return he studied...
View ArticleA Dominican in Memphis: Father Joseph A. Kelly, O.P. (1827-1885)
Very Rev. Joseph Augustine Kelly, O.P.— Born in Dublin, Ireland, 1827. Came to America at the age of ten. Reared in Philadelphia, Pa., and Louisville, Ky. Graduate St. Mary’s… [in] Bardstown, Ky....
View ArticleCatholics in Public Service: Senator Francis Kernan, New York (1816-1892)
As Americans go to the polls today, we profile the first Catholic to represent New York in the United States Senate. The following is taken from the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia: Lawyer, statesman; born...
View ArticleBefore Alcoholics Anonymous: Father Mathew and the Pledge
When I was growing up in Queens, I had a number of friends whose Irish-born parents had as teens taken “the Pledge,” a vow to abstain from alcohol until age eighteen. Some kept it their whole lives. I...
View ArticleCatholics in the Movies: Raoul Walsh (1887-1980)
He was one of Golden Age Hollywood’s most prolific figures, its premier action director. Over fifty years he directed the likes of Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, and James Cagney. He...
View ArticleWho’s Buried in Catholic Cemeteries: Mayor William R. Grace (1832-1904)
Michael Bloomberg wasn’t the first New York Mayor to learn Spanish. That distinction belongs to William Russell Grace (1832-1904), an Irish immigrant who made a fortune in the Latin American shipping...
View ArticleThe Briordys of Brooklyn
A major reason I got into American Catholic history was to better understand my own background. Most Irish Americans know little about their history. When author Peter Quinn grew up in the Bronx, for...
View ArticleCatholics in the Movies: J. Carrol Naish (1896-1973)
He was known as “Hollywood’s one-man U.N.” for the various characters he played: Italians, Native Americans, Frenchmen, and many more. Described as one of Golden Age Hollywood’s most versatile...
View ArticleWho’s Buried in Catholic Cemeteries?
Brigadier General James Rowan O’Beirne (1839-1917)– Calvary Cemetery, Woodside, New York. One of the great things about living in New York City is that there’s always some interesting historical...
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