Born and raised in Philadelphia, Foley was a graduate of St. Joseph’s Preparatory School and St. Joseph’s College (now University). He was ordained a priest on May 19, 1962 by then-Archbishop John Krol.

John P. Foley, circa 1964

His earliest assignments were Sacred Heart in Havertown and St. John the Evangelist Parish in Philadelphia, and also studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome where he earned his licentiate and doctorate in philosophy. He taught for a year at Cardinal Dougherty High School, and from 1967 to 1984 he served on the adjunct faculty of St. Charles Seminary teaching ethics and metaphysics.

In 1970, Foley became editor of the official diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Standard and Times. During the decade previous he had served as assistant editor and Vatican correspondent for the newspaper, and received his master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.

circa 1975

He maintained his position as editor for the next 14 years, a period which saw some of the most important events in the history of the Philadelphia Church, including the Forty-First International Eucharistic Congress, held in 1976, the canonization of St. John Neumann in 1977 and the visit to Philadelphia of Pope John Paul II in 1978.

From 1966 until 1974 Foley was also co-producer and co-host of Philadelphia Catholic Hour on radio station WFIL.

On April 9, 1984 Pope John Paul II named him an Archbishop and appointed him head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Social Communications, a position he held for more than 23 years. Foley was elevated to the College of Cardinals on November 24, 2007.

Celebrating Foley's appointment as Archbisop, 1984

For more information on Cardinal Foley see the Archdiocese of Philadelphia website.

Photos of the Cardinal are from of the Halvey Photo Collection.

During my time volunteering at the Archives, I’ve been cataloging miscellaneous pamphlets from the late nineteenth century into PastPerfect, which are now accessible in the PAHRC’s online catalog. Within these hundreds of pamphlets are speeches given by members of the clergy, last will and testaments, and booklets on a variety of topics. I recently came across a number of documents related to the “Irish Question.”

The Irish Question, concerning Irish nationalism and independence, spanned the time period from around the mid 19th to the mid 20th century. Religion and politics were both prominent topics in this time of conflict, but most of the pamphlets I’ve cataloged so far relate to the Land War in Ireland over the centuries old landlordism system.

By 1879, about 800 families owned half of the country’s land and acted as landlords, renting small plots of land out to the majority of the population (an estimated five million people). The Franco-Prussian war of 1870 and the American Civil War created an economic depression that spread to Ireland. This depression, combined with the collapse of the potato crop and a poultry cholera epidemic, led to a great deal of tenants falling behind or not being able to pay their rent. Despite the grave difficulties renters faced, land owners continued to increase their rent. These crises led to the Irish Land War.

By the fall of 1879, tenants organized to create The Irish National Land League with the ultimate goal of abolishing landlordism. Members acted out through protests, militant riots, and even assassinations. Possibly the most famous tactic used was boycotting: landlords and people who opposed the league were socially ostracized, and people refused to work or sell produce to landlords and their supporters.

Many of the pamphlets I’ve come across were either published by or discuss the Irish National Land League; others were published by or for subgroups of the land league like the Irish National Land League of the United States. The content of the pamphlets include support and endorsements for the movement, reports of the league’s annual conventions, and booklets discussing the Irish Land War from different viewpoints.

There are several ways to find documents associated with the Irish Question and its many subtopics, like the Land War, using PAHRC’s online catalog. Users can perform a keyword search for a particular term of interest. The Click & Search function can sometimes be more helpful, since it allows users to browse the subjects and names assigned to these documents.

Reference: Fin. “An Introduction to The Land War 1879-1882.” Irish History Podcast (blog). May 20, 2011. http://irishhistorypodcast.ie/2011/05/20/an-introduction-to-the-land-war-1879-1882/. (Accessed November 14, 2011)

The Parish Calendars are similar to current parish bulletins in that they contain such information as parish events as well as marriage and death announcements. Unlike the weekly bulletins, however, the calendars were printed monthly and include much more content. They provide parish history information, including reprinted articles or excerpts from the diocesan newspaper The Catholic Standard and Times that covered prominent events such as the dedication of a church or an anniversary celebration of the founding of a parish. They also have articles on various topics that were reprinted from notable Catholic newspapers throughout the country as well as editorials concerning proper Catholic behavior.

Parish calendars can prove useful for researchers interested in the history of a parish or even for those conducting genealogical research. For social and cultural historians, they offer a glimpse into parish, and more broadly, Catholic life during the first half of the 20^th century.

As someone with an interest in film, I actually came across some intriguing  film history finds finds while going through this collection.

This  article entitled “Faith of an Actress” is from St. Cyril’s (East Lansdowne, Pa.) Parish Monthly Calendar dating from July of 1939. The article is about a Catholic actress named Elinor Flynn who was in movies during the late 1920s and 1930s. Although the article says Flynn appeared in 39 films, she only has 5 credits on IMDB. I am guessing that this is because most of her movie roles were as bit parts that were uncredited. Flynn also did work on Broadway and radio. Sadly, Flynn died at the age of 28 in an automobile accident.

The article praises Flynn not only for her career, but also for her strong Catholic faith. Flynn is noted for saying the rosary every evening as well as making the sign of the cross before she went on stage. The article tells us that Flynn was a close friend of Rt. Rev. Monsignor Fulton J. Sheen, better known as Archbishop Sheen. Yes, this is the same Sheen who became famous as one of the first televangelists. His television show Life is Worth Living ran from 1951 through 1957 and drew tens of millions of viewers each week.

This article, entitled “A Generous Non-Catholic”,  appeared in St. Joseph Church’s (Downingtown, Pa.) Feb. 1927 monthly parish calendar. The piece praises American actor James K. Hackett for entertaining the troops in WWI. Hackett was ineligible to fight in the war due to a knee injury he sustained while performing in Macbeth (as the title character) on stage. Although Hackett was not a Catholic himself, this Catholic publication was impressed that he helped the Knights of Columbus and supported the troops by entertaining them. The article also serves as an obituary since it informs us that Hackett died in Paris on November 8th, 1926 at the age of 57.

The article is noteworthy for its praise of a non-Catholic at a time when anti-Catholic sentiment was commonplace. Hackett was able to put religious differences aside to work with Catholics and entertain the troops, which the tone of the article seems to imply did not happen too often back then. Hackett is virtually unknown in 2011, but he was certainly a popular actor in his day and still remains an interesting historical figure.

There are two related articles within this August 1940 calendar on the topic of children watching movies. Both articles are fascinating as they show that children were a large demographic of the movie-going public in 1940. I’ve heard some people say that movie audiences are younger in 2011 than ever before, but I’d like to see some data to back that up. The first article not only says kids see a lot of movies, but that they are going by themselves without parents/families.

Where the first article brings up religion and morals, the second article is secular as it is about a doctor discussing the effects of movies on children. The doctor says that constant movie watching may cause youngster to be high strung and want to be “always on the go.”

While I didn’t have time to go through each page of these calendars, another parish that stood out was Church of the Holy Infancy in Bethlehem, Pa. which showed “motion pictures” each Sunday in a parish building. Here is the first article announcing the showing of these movies from October, 1926.

Robert Maitland O’Reilly (1845-1912) was the 20th Surgeon General of the United States Army serving from September 7, 1902 to January 14, 1909.  O’Reilly served a long military medical career beginning as a medical cadet in August 1862 during the Civil War.  Notable accomplishments include a position as the physician at the White House during both of President Grover Cleveland’s administrations, Chief Surgeon of the First Independent Division at the beginning of the Spanish-American War, and delegate at the International Conference for the Revision of the Geneva Convention in Geneva in 1906.  The collection contains correspondence, general orders, assignments, certificates of appointment, circulars, clippings, invitations, a notebook and a scrapbook.

O’Reilly led a long and successful military career starting as a medical cadet during the Civil War.  His first assignment was at Cuyler General Hospital in Philadelphia followed by a general field hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee in March 1864 where he writes almost daily to his mother.  These letters to his mother are the bulk of the collection.  Below is a typical letter in which O’Reilly discusses his main duty of tabulating the lists of wounded and killed soldiers into reports.

Robert M. O'Reilly to his mother Ellen O'Reilly, June 21, 1864 (Front)

Robert M. O'Reilly to his mother Ellen O'Reilly, June 21, 1864 (Back)

On March 24, 1901 O’Reilly’s son Jack died unexpectedly in early adulthood of peritonitis.  Below is a telegram and letter informing his sister, Mary “Siss” O’Reilly, of the event.

Telegram from Robert M. O'Reilly to Mary O'Reilly, October 24, 1901

Robert O'Reilly to Mary O'Reilly, October 24, 1901 (Front)

Robert O'Reilly to Mary O'Reilly, October 24, 1901 (Back)

When the Civil War ended O’Reilly finished his medical studies at the University of Pennsylvania.  After graduating in 1866 he served in the army around the country and was continually promoted to higher ranking positions.  The actual certificates are large in scale, below is a letter congratulating O’Reilly on his new position as Assistant Surgeon.

Letter from War Department, August 5, 1867

Letter from War Department, August 5, 1867

A high point in the collection is a scrapbook kept while O’Reilly was abroad serving as a delegate at the 1906 International Conference for the Revisions of the Geneva Convention for the conference.  The scrapbook contains calling cards, menus, invitations, and notes.

Scrapbook page, 1906

Scrapbook page, 1906

Herman Joseph Heuser (1851-1933) was a Catholic intellectual and prolific writer who influenced scholarly circles and clerical life in the United States and abroad through his literary work. For thirteen years he aided in the editing of the American Catholic Quarterly Review run by his mentor Monsignor James Andrew Corcoran. Heuser served as the editor of the American Ecclesiastical Review from 1889-1927, with a brief interruption from 1914-1919 when Reverend William Turner served as editor. In addition to the AER he published The Dolphin, a supplemental Catholic literary magazine, from 1900-1908. He was ordained on February 2, 1876 becoming a full time seminary professor at the time of ordination and teaching at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary for over fifty years.

The bulk of the collection is correspondence, both personal and professional with the primary concern being articles in the AER or The Dolphin.  Mother Katharine Drexel,  Louise Imogen Guiney, Thomas Eakins, Leopold Stokowski, and Oliver Wendell Holmes are among some of the  distinguished correspondents of Heuser.

Katharine Drexel (1858-1955) was a nun dedicated to identifying and attending to the needs of Native Americans and African Americans and protesting the injustices of racism. Born to a family which owned a large banking fortune, Drexel used her wealth to fund missions and schools. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1988 and canonized on October 1, 2000. In the letter below Drexel asks questions about the new constitution for her order.

Katharine Drexel to Herman Heuser, front

Katharine Drexel to Herman Joseph Heuser, inside

Katharine Drexel to Herman Joseph Heuser, back

Poet and essayist Louise Imogen Guiney (1861-1920) frequently wrote to Heuser regarding her articles in the AER and The Dolphin.  Below she asks that her piece remain unsigned.

Louise Imogen Guiney to Herman Joseph Heuser, May 15, 1912, front

Louise Imogen Guiney to Herman Joseph Heuser, May 15, 1912, back

Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) was an American Realist painter. He studied and taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia and frequently painted portraits.  In this letter to Heuser, Eakins asks him to translate a phrase into Latin for a portrait of a woman who plans on giving the painting to her son who is learning Latin.  He also mentions a portrait of Dr. Patrick Garvey he has painted in 1902, hoping it has been found and hung in the (St. Charles Borromeo) Seminary.

Thomas Eakins to Herman Joseph Heuser, June 28, 1908, front

Thomas Eakins to Herman Joseph Heuser, June 28, 1908, back

Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977) was a conductor known for his free hand style. This letter thanks Heuser for his letter about Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and his hopes that performing the piece annually will inspire the public to love it as much as they do.

Leopold Stokowski to Herman Joseph Heuser, April 17, 1917

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1841-1953) served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Count of the United States from 1902-1932. Holmes was concerned with Heuser’s work concerning Canon Patrick Augustine Sheehan, an Irish Roman Catholic priest who was an author and activist. In this letter discusses Holmes reading proofs of Heuser’s biography on Sheehan, Canon Sheehan of Doneraile.

Oliver Wendell Holmes to Herman Joseph Heuser, May 1, 1917

Catholic Standard and Times, June 3, 1911

Prendergast studied, was ordained, and served in the in the Philadelphia Archdiocese for almost a half-century by the time Pope Pius X appointed him Archbishop Patrick J. Ryan’s replacement in  May 1911. He was installed as Archbishop July 26, 1911. Prendergast was the first graduate of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary to become bishop of Philadelphia.

Edmond F. Prendergast was born in Clonmel, County Tipperary in 1843 into a family with numerous members who had chosen the priesthood or religious life. Accepting an invitation from one of his uncles to come to the United States in 1859, Prendergast enrolled at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Overbrook, PA. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop James Frederick Wood on November 17, 1865.

Edmond F. Prendergast, circa 1890

Prendergast immediately became extremely active within the diocese. He served as assistant pastor and pastor of several parishes in the diocese, including  St. Paul’s Church in Philadelphia and St. Mark’s Church in Bristol. His last appointment as pastor was St. Malachy’s Church in Philadelphia where he served for 15 years. Prendergast was also a member of the Diocesan School Board and Building Committee, was on the Board of Trustees of the Clerical Fund, among other activities, and directed the Catholic Total Abstinence Society and St. Vincent de Paul Society, among other activities.

In addition to his duties at St. Malachy’s, he was named vicar general of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1895; and in 1897, was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia and Titular Bishop of Scilium.

The transition in leadership from Ryan to Prendergast seemed to have been fairly seamless, with Prendergast following a course similar to the one his predecessor had set with the goal of catering to the rapidly growing Catholic population and expanding diocese. Multiple parishes and parish schools were erected, especially ethnic parishes for the increasing number of southern Italian and Eastern European immigrants. Three Italian parishes in the city alone, including St. Nicholas of Tolentine, Our Lady of Pompeii, and Our Lady of Consolation, were established during Prendergast’s brief tenure.

St. Nicholas of Tolentine

Several Catholic institutions devoted to education and social services, some of which Archbishop Ryan had initiated, were completed and erected under Prendergast, including Catholic Girls’ High School, West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys, the Archbishop Ryan Memorial Institute for the Deaf, and the Don Bosco Institute in South Philadelphia .

Prendergast’s health began to fail only a couple of years after his appointment. He died at the episcopal residence, 1723 Race St., on February 26, 1918.

Reference:

Connelly, James F. The History of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Archdiocese of Philadelphia, 1976.

Something interesting that I’ve come across  are several pamphlets about miracles. Three pamphlets published between 1810 and 1830 are about live-saving, miraculous cures.  Two in particular caught my eye because they were about the same woman, Ann Mattingly, whose story has recently become popular with the release of the book Mrs. Mattingly’s Miracle, by Nancy Schultz. The two pamphlets examine Ann’s extraordinary cure and give evidence that a miracle saved Mrs. Mattingly’s life.

The first pamphlet was published in 1824, the same year as her recovery.

1824 Pamphlet about Ann Mattingly

It begins with two letters, one from William Matthews, Rector of St. Patrick’s Church in Washington DC, and one from Reverend Ambrose Marechal, Archbishop of Baltimore, who both profess their belief in Mattingly’s miraculous cure.

Her ailment began in 1817, when she began to feel pain in her left side. Her left breast gradually became more and more painful, until “she could distinctly feel a small lump at that spot, about the size of a pigeon’s egg.” Doctors failed at relieving the pain, and in 1818 Mattingly “was seized with a violent puking” which continued for days. After this, she was unable to leave her bed for months, though she was visited consistently by doctors.

The pamphlet gives explicit details of the pain and agony she endured while she was bedbound. One such detail is that “she constantly felt a tightness across her breast, as if lashed tightly rough with a cord, and an internal burning and smarting sensation, resembling, as nearly as she can conceive, the exposing of a raw burn to hot fire.”

After months of pain, she followed the directions of Prince Hohenlohe, a Catholic Priest in Germany who she communicated with through Reverend Dubuisson, of St. Patrick’s Church in Washington DC. At his advice, she performed nine days of devotional acts. On the final day, Mr. Dubuisson gave her the Holy Eucharist. Right after she completed swallowing it, she was immediately relieved of all pain. She was able to get out of her bed unassisted and knelt to pray to God for thanks. Since that time, she had no more pain, gained strength, and was left with a sweet taste in her mouth, “resembling that of loaf sugar.”

The account of her miraculous recovery was signed and affirmed by Ann Mattingly herself. The pamphlet goes on to include other witnesses’ versions of the miracle. Mattingly’s sisters, sister in law, and friend were all present at the time of her cure, and each swore oaths to the truth of the event. There are also accounts from other friends, family members, clergy members and doctors, who each swear to Mattingly’s pious and honest character, as well as their full belief that a miracle occurred. In all, there are thirty four sworn testimonies, each declaring a true miracle was performed.

The second pamphlet about Ann Mattingly was published in 1830.

1830 Pamphlet about Ann Mattingly

Her story had drawn much attention all over the country. So much so, that the Reverend John England, Bishop of Charleston, requested the incumbent Archbishop of Baltimore’s permission to reinvestigate and reexamine the evidence.  James Whitfield, who succeeded the Reverend Ambrose Marechal as Archbishop of Baltimore, granted his request. Thus, the second pamphlet is a collection of the Reverend John England’s observations and inquiries into the case.

He does a complete investigation, first quoting and citing references found in the 1824 pamphlet, then showing how each assertion made in the original story was repeated and affirmed by multiple witnesses.  He not only looks at previously collected evidence, he speaks to the witnesses again and chronologically organizes their statements to create a narrative of events. His investigation is much more thorough than the original pamphlet and in extreme detail shows how up to the minute of her recovery how dire and grave Ann Mattingly’s condition was.

The pamphlet conveys John England’s belief that a miracle undoubtedly occurred.  He writes:

“I submit, then, that the following statement is fully upheld in all its parts by the documents, and that the testimony of their witnesses is every way unimpeachable – of course, that the statement itself is an exact history of facts, and that the facts being admitted as true, the miraculous nature of the occurrence is evident.”

John England, no date

References:

England, John. Examination of Evidence and Report to the Most Reverend James Whitfield, D.D.,  Archbishop of Baltimore, etc, etc. upon the Miraculous Restoration of Mrs. Ann Mattingly, of the City of Washington, D.C., Together with the Documents. Charleston, 1830. Print.

Matthews, William. A Collection of Affidavits and Certificates Relative to the Wonderful Cure of Mrs. Ann Mattingly, Which to place in the City of Washington, D.C. on the tenth of March, 1824. Washington, D.C.: James Wilson, 1824. Print.

More reading found in: http://www.mrsmattinglysmiracle.com/

At a more recent DVAG meeting, I was introduced to another form of outreach that some archives are employing: the catablog. Started by the  University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries Special Collections and University Archives, some institutions are using this method as a way to allow users to access their collections. As explained on the University of Massachusetts’ UMarmot site, the catablog originated:

We are a less technologically-intensive institution; we use WordPress for our site; we need inexpensive and easily-implemented alternatives…Perfect! The catablog looked like a great option that would allow us to make our collections more accessible to researchers.

With the help of our IT consultant, Walt Rice, Jr. I have begun to create our own catablog to highlight PAHRC’s manuscript collections. Each collection includes an abstract and controlled access terms; some entries also have a link to a PDF version of the full finding aid.

Researchers have the ability to search for collections by keyword by using the website’s search engine. They can also select collections by name or subject, using the drop-down menus, and browse collection descriptions alphabetically, using the alphabetic menu. The controlled accessed terms are configured as link that will show a user all of the collections that share subject terms.

Entry for Coad, Patrick family. Papers, 1798-1880

Our goal is to create entries for all of our manuscript collections as well as to provide full finding aids, both xml and PDF versions, for each of these collections.

Researchers will also be able to access our collections and finding aids through our PastPerfect online catalog.

The state of South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860.

In apparent response to this news, Reverend Joseph Cullen from St. Bridget’s Parish recorded a brief yet profound statement in the church marriage register. Dated December 1860, Father Cullen wrote: 

Last days of the Union

Secular notations such as these were rare in 19th century sacramental registers.

The firm of Packard and Butler was started by Herbert S. Packard and William H. Butler. Packard was an artist and lithographer from Boston where he worked for the lithography firm of Haskell and Allen. Butler was a lithographer from New York City. The firm first appears in the 1879 Philadelphia City Directory as Packard and Butler, Lithographers and was located at 716 Filbert Street. In 1883 they were joined by David Anson Partridge, a photo-lithographer originally from Vermont. The firm was re-named as Packard, Butler and Partridge.  At about this time, they also relocated their business to 715 Arch Street.  The church lithograph collection contains items from both firms.

On January 26, 1886, the building where the firm was located was destroyed by a fire. This appears to have ended the firm, although Packard and Partridge continued to work together until 1893.

The church lithograph collection contains images of churches from Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Mississippi, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, and a few from Canada, mainly Montreal.

Almost nothing is known about why the company chose to specialize in church lithographs or how they solicited business or performed the execution of the lithographs. Packard appears to be the main artist with Butler and Partridge executing the lithographs. PAHRC has a lithograph of St. Mary’s Church in Lawrence, Massachusetts that was published by Packard’s old firm of Haskell and Allen. It is signed HSP, so Packard apparently did these types of drawings in Boston. They may have been a specialty of his.

St. Mary's Church, Lawrence, Massachusetts

Almost all of the church lithographs are 16” x 20” and are black and white. The majority of the lithographs follow a standard format. All of the interior prints show views of the main altar from a point in the back of the church, straight down the center aisle.

St. Peter's Church, Jersey City, New Jersey

Occasionally the standard format is varied by including vignettes of the pastor or the exterior of the church.

St. Stanislaus Church, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

A number of the exterior views also include vignettes of the pastor or other parish buildings such as the school, rectory and convent or the former church.

St. Mary's Church, Norwalk, Ohio

The exterior views also have standard touches such as well dressed passers-by.  Almost all include a horse and carriage of some sort and some of the prints from larger cities include streetcars.

St. Agatha's Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Only a few prints break from this standard format. The lithograph of St. Mary’s Church in Masillon, Ohio is a larger size and in color, though it contains the Packard and Butler standard touches of a horse drawn carriage and bystanders.

St. Mary's Church, Massillon, Ohio

A color lithograph of the burning of St. Xavier’s Church in Cincinnati, Ohio also breaks from the standard format.

Burning of St. Xavier's Church, Cincinnati, Ohio

PAHRC also has about a dozen preliminary drawings of churches by Packard, some of which include marginal notations or the signature of the pastor approving the final drawing.

Sketch of St. Patrick’s Church, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

The prints seem to have been produced for a variety of uses. There are a number of prints that were used as certificates commemorating First Holy Communion and Confirmation.

Some were given as gifts for contributions to the church building fund. The remainder may have been sold simply to raise money for the church.

St. Paul's Cathedral, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Catholic churches were not the only lithographs created by Packard, Butler and Partridge. The PAHRC collection includes a few lithographs of Catholic institutions:

Convent of the Sisters of Mercy, Brooklyn, New York

A few portraits of priests:

Reverend B.F. McLoughlin

And large bird’s eye views of Norristown, Pennsylvania and New Brunswick and Paterson, New Jersey.  The bird’s eye views include vignettes of notable businesses, institutions and residences.

Norristown, Pennsylvania

There are not enough of these prints in the collection to determine how much of this type of work was created by the firm. The largest examples of remaining lithographs by the firm are of Catholic churches which appears to have comprised the majority of their work.

Biographical information on Packard and Butler and Packard, Butler and Partridge came from the Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers at the Library Company of Philadelphia and Philadelphia City Directories.  More information can be found at:  http://www.librarycompany.org/pos/posdictionary.htm