The John C. Cort papers consists of correspondence, clippings, writings, book drafts, publications, and photographs reflecting his career as a labor leader, writer, and activist. Please see finding aid at http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/cort.html

Responding to an appeal by the Commission on American Citizenship at Catholic University, George A. Pflaum of Dayton, Ohio began publishing a bi-monthly comic book, the Treasure Chest of Fun & Fact, for distribution in Catholic parochial schools. Intended as an antidote to the perceived immorality of popular comic books, Treasure Chest contained educational features, narrated the lives of saints, and presented adventure stories featuring realistic characters with what were considered wholesome values, like patriotism, equality, faith, and anti-communism.

By the early 1960s, the Treasure Chest was at the height of its popularity. In 1964, Joe Sinnott, the illustrator of Marvel Comics’ “The Fantastic Four”, teamed up with writer Berry Reece to produce a story depicting a U.S. presidential election. It was set in the future: the presidential election was supposedly that of 1976, the year of the nation’s bicentennial. “Pettigrew for President” lasted for ten issues, following the campaign trail of the fictional Tim Pettigrew from the announcement of his candidacy through the national convention of his party. The candidate’s face was carefully hidden in every panel, until the final page of the final issue of the story, when Pettigrew is finally revealed: the first black candidate for president of the United States!

This site presents the full Pettigrew series in its entirety for the first time. It also features biographical material on the series’ author and illustrator, a question and answer interview with Berry Reece, and background information contextualizing the series.

A new finding aid is available online for the Bishop Ernest Primeau Vatican Council II Collection. This collection includes preparatory materials that he compiled for the pontifical commission for the discipline of the clergy and the faithful, documents that reflect his work with the Secretariat for the Promotion of Christian Unity and his personal involvement in the development of key decrees and declarations, as well as correspondence pertaining to more general work. It does not contain material relating to the administration of the diocese of Manchester during the council.Access the finding aid at http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua

A new finding aid is available for the small but important Second Vatican Council related collection of prominent layman James J. Norris It includes correspondence, notes, and newspaper clippings as well as published and non-published documents associated with his involvement from his initial attempts to become a lay auditor to his participation in post-conciliar sub-commissions. The finding aid can be accessed at http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/norris.html

A revised finding aid (inventory) and new digital version of the Robert Lincoln O’Connell World War I collection is now available. Ranging from 1900 to 1972, but focused on the period of 1917 to 1919, the collection contains correspondence and related material as well as publications, postcards, and photographs associated with his time as an engineer in the U.S. Army from basic training in the states through military service in France and Germany in the First World War. The letters he wrote to his mother and sisters are of particular interest, especially his observations on war-time Washington, D.C., as well as incidents on the front lines in France and post-war occupation duty in the Rhineland of Germany. The finding aid can be accessed at http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/oconnell.html
and once on this site you can follow the links to individual digital images, or you can access the main site of the WRLC Digital collection at http://test.aladin.wrlc.org/gsdl/collect/oconnell/oconnell.shtml

The American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives is pleased to announce the creation of a finding aid for the papers of Msgr. George Higgins. Born in 1916 in Chicago, he obtained a Master’s degree in Economics in 1942 and a Ph.D. in 1944 from The Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, DC. He served the American bishops’ conference from 1944 to 2001 in various capacities relating to Catholic social thought, labor relations, and ecumenical affairs. He attended the Vatican II Council and was a moving force in the Church’s support for Cesar Chavez and the farm workers union movement. He also served as Chairman of the Public Review Board of the United Auto Workers of America (AFL-CIO) and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. Higgins wrote numerous book reviews for Commonweal and America, was the author, 1945-2001, of the syndicated column “The Yardstick,” and, in his later years, returned to Catholic University as a lecturer. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Bill Clinton in 2000 and died on May Day, 2002.  He was widely mourned as a tireless champion of the labor movement and a progressive voice in the Roman Catholic Church. The bulk of the collection consists of paper records including correspondence, subject files, and publications.  

The records of the Commission of American Citizenship of the Catholic University of America spans 1938 to 1970, consists of manuscripts (mostly correspondence) and the publications by the Commission, including guides for social teaching and textbooks for grade schools as well as periodicals for the youths and children. Special thanks to Yuki Yamazaki and Library School practicum student Taras Zvir for assistance in creating this finding aid.

Our newest primary source materials website features digitized primary documents and audio from the American Catholic History Center and University Archives related to U.S. Catholic responses to the Nazi regime in 1930s Germany. The materials on the site suggest that American Catholics responded to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany during the anti-Jewish pogrom known today as Kristallnacht in ways distinct from Catholics outside of the United States. Users will find, for example, a recently discovered November 16, 1938 broadcast featuring a group of 5 American Catholic clerical leaders and one layperson condemning the Nazi violence against Jews. The broadcast was made under the auspices of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and received considerable media attention as it presented an instance, unusual at the time, of Catholic priests and bishops voicing support for a religious group other than their own on a national level. In contrast, another prominent Catholic clerical leader with millions of devoted fans, Father Charles Coughlin, responded to Kristallnacht with a November 20, 1938 broadcast that justified the Nazi atrocities as a natural defense against a Jewish-dominated global communist movement. A transcript of that Coughlin broadcast is reproduced here. In addition to the CUA broadcast audio and the Coughlin transcript this site features a photo gallery of participants in the CUA broadcast and related correspondence and press materials that help users contextualize the broadcasts.

Between July and October 2008, Catholic University is presenting an exhibit titled “Together in Faith: The Pope Visits Catholic University” which focuses on the April 17 visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to our campus. Some of the items included in the exhibit are a papal zucchetto, a museum-grade reproduction of the Letters of St. Peter and the chair designed by CUA students that Pope Benedict XVI used during his his address on Catholic education.

While the physical exhibit will tour several locations on campus, we have also created an online exhibit: Together in Faith. This online exhibit allows you up-close access to the items in the exhibit, as well as further details about the different parts of the exhibit.

The papal exhibit will be available for viewing between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the following locations:

John Mitchell served as President of the United Mine Workers from 1899-1908, Vice President of the American Federation of Labor from 1898 to 1914, and he represented the UMW at the AFL conventions from 1898 to 1919.

The photographs in this newly digitized collection, 1898-1924, include many portraits of historically significant figures, such as Clarence Darrow and Theodore Roosevelt, and record important events like the 1902 Anthracite Coal Strike. There are also photographs illustrating mining techniques of the time, featuring the Beech Flats Coal Company and the Kehota Mining Company.