Special Collections

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Special Collections

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: Catholic Heroes of the World War Collection; Digitized here are the contents of a scrapbook detailing the weekly newspaper column, “Catholic Heroes of the World War,” 1928-1933, written by Daniel J. Ryan. The scrapbook highlights Catholics who had won medals for service in World War I. Ryan began in December 1928 to write and supply to the feature service of the National Catholic News Service a weekly column profiling men, and some women, who had won the Congressional Medal of Honor (CMH), the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), and/or the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM). There are about 250 stories in all, covering persons from all 48 states and the majority of American Catholic dioceses

: Changing Spirituality of Emerging Adults Project Collection; The Changing Spirituality of Emerging Adults (Changing SEA) Project Collection was the final project initiated by Catholic University of America sociologist Dr. Dean R. Hoge (1937-2008). It was conceived as a project to study the "spiritual hunger" of young adult Americans, with the purpose of providing information to religious leaders on how to better minister to the needs of this age group. The project consisted of a series of 15 essays written by scholars on different aspects in the lives of emerging adults, including finances, spirituality, and politics; case studies conducted at various religious institutions that have successfully maintained and added to their emerging adult membership; and surveys of emerging adults on social influences that have molded their attitudes and practice. This collection consists of the fifteen original essays, written circa 2008; four commentaries written by religious and secular authors on the essays and their possible effects on the programs with which they are involved; and nine case studies of religious institutions that have been successful in the area of emerging adult ministry. This early twenty-first century project focuses on emerging adults and offers researchers information on the spirituality of this age group. The digital collection includes essays, commentaries, and case studies

: Commission on American Citizenship of the Catholic University of America; 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. Digitized here are the textbooks produced by the Commission of American Citizenship of the Catholic University of America spanning 1938 to 1970. The collection spans to 1970 but the textbooks to 1960.

: CUA Yearbooks; Catholic University's undergraduate yearbook, known as The Cardinal Yearbook, was first published in 1916. It has been published ever since though it was on hiatus for a few years, 1918-1919 and 1944-1947, due to the world wars. It has also changed size and shape a few times though it has on average been about nine by eleven inches and two hundred fifty pages. As historical objects, yearbooks can reflect the customs and perspectives of their times. Some of the images and language in these yearbooks may be seen as offensive to contemporary viewers. We have chosen to leave all of the digitized images intact as part of the historical record, though as with other records and objects in our archive, we do not necessarily endorse the views as depicted in the archival materials we make available to the public.

: Fenian Brotherhood Collection; Established in Ireland in 1858 as the Irish Republican Brotherhood, their American branch was known by 1859 as the 'Fenians,' with the avowed purpose of overthrowing British rule in Ireland and establishing an Irish Republic. The Fenians in the United States grew to include over 50,000 members and hundreds of thousands of sympathizers by the end of the Civil War, but, rocked by internal factionalism and opposed by the formidable military power of the British Empire, they never came close to achieving their aims. The American wing mounted two short-lived invasions of Canada in 1866 and 1870 and the Irish Fenians launched a small rebellion in Ireland in 1867. The American Fenians faded out of prominence after the last unsuccessful assault on Canada. Many Irish and Irish American nationalists, first recruited to the cause as Fenians, continued to fight for Ireland's independence after the order's decline. The digital collection consists of letters to and from John O'Mahony, James Stephens, John Mitchel, O'Donovan Rossa, and other Fenian leaders; ledgers of accounts; rosters of Fenian soldiers in New York; speeches; pamphlets; newspapers; chromolithographs; cartes de visit photographs; tickets; and legal records. Letters between O'Mahony and Stephens and between Mitchel and O'Mahony touch upon major conflicts and points of debate within the Fenians in the 1860s. Roster books, ledgers, subscription lists to the United Irishmen and Proceedings of Fenian Conventions document the membership and the general activities of the movement. The bulk of the collection is concentrated in the 1860s through 1880s, but it also includes assorted newspapers and pamphlets from the 1850s to the early 1900s that address a wide range of topics in Irish history and nationalism., The full manuscript collection at the American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives (ACUA) consists of letters to and from John O'Mahony, James Stephens, John Mitchel, O'Donovan Rossa, and other Fenian leaders. It also includes speeches, pamphlets, newspapers, chromolithographs, cartes de visit photographs, tickets, and legal records. Membership and the general activities of the movement are documented in roster books, ledgers, subscription lists to the United Irishmen, as well as Proceedings of Fenian Conventions. The bulk of the collection is concentrated in the 1860s through 1880s, but it also includes assorted newspapers and pamphlets from the 1850s to the early 1900s that address a wide range of topics in Irish history and nationalism.

: First Vatican Council Photograph Album; This digitized album consists of a leather-bound album containing 30 pages of carte de visite albumen prints. The album features prints of Pope Pius IX, and 730 cardinals, patriarchs, primates, archbishops, bishops, and abbots who attended the Vatican Council I from 1869-1870., The First Vatican Council Photograph Album was most likely created sometime during the council sessions, from 1869-1870. Around 800 church leaders attended the sessions, including cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, abbots, and religious superior generals. Most of the carte de visite prints are live portraits, though some are based on oil or charcoal prints.

: Fulton J. Sheen Collection; Born in El Paso, Illinois, in 1895, Fulton Sheen attended St. Viator College and was ordained in 1919. He taught at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., from 1926 to 1950. In 1930, he began his radio program on "The Catholic Hour" which ran until 1952. He also hosted a weekly television series called "Life is Worth Living" from 1951 to 1957. He served as Bishop of Rochester, New York, from 1966 to 1969 and died in 1979. The digitized Fulton J. Sheen Collection consists of his philosophy notes taken while a student at the University of Louvain, several published booklets, press clippings, and many published and non-published material and personal notes related to his work for the Commission on Missions at the Second Vatican Council.

: Irish Repeal Campaign Cartoons; Illustrating opposing attitudes to the 1801 Act of Union which created a legislative union between England and Ireland. Three anti- union cartoons published in Dublin flatteringly portray Daniel O'Connell, (Irish statesman, founder in 1840 of the Repeal Association which sought restoration of the Irish parliament), in his struggle against English rule as personified by Arthur Wellesley, (Duke of Wellington, British Prime Minster, 1828-1830, 1834), and Sir Robert Peel, (Prime Minister, 1834-1835, 1841-1846). Accompanying O'Connell in two cartoons is a figure that may represent Thomas Osborne Davis, (Irish writer, organizer of the Young Ireland movement, founder of the pro-repeal newspaper, The Nation). In contrast, a fourth cartoon, by English caricaturist, George Cruikshank, represents O'Connell as an ax-wielding bully attempting to sever the hands of England and Ireland united in friendship. The final item, a damaged election flier entitled, "Under the British Flag," depicts Liberal policies favorably in comparison to those of the Tories (Conservatives).

: Iturbide-Kearney Family Papers; Throughout his life, Agustin de Iturbide III (1863-1925) regarded himself the rightful heir of the Mexican empire, first established by Agustin de Iturbide I in the 1820s. Born in Mexico City, the son of a longtime Washington resident and a Mexican diplomat, he became ensnared in the political machinations of Mexico. In 1865, Emperor Maximilian and his wife Carlotta claimed guardianship over two-year-old Agustin Iturbide III to provide an heir to the throne. Two years later, Maximilian's regime fell. Subsequently, Maximilian, Carlotta, and Agustin Iturbide III lived as exiles in Cuba. Shortly afterwards, Agustin Iturbide III was re-united with his birth parents and lived in Washington until, at the age of twelve, he began his education in Brussels. Illness interrupted his stay in Europe, and he finished his education at Georgetown University. In 1887, he moved back to Mexico and enrolled in a military academy. Retaining his dreams of becoming emperor, Agustin Iturbide III engaged in a dispute with President Porfirio Diaz, was court-martialed in 1890, and subsequently exiled. He returned to Washington, became a professor at Georgetown University, and married Mary Louise Kearney, a descendant of James Kearney who emigrated from Ireland during the French Revolution and settled in Fairfax County. The bulk of the digital collection consists of papers and memorabilia from both the Iturbide and Kearney families, including correspondence, Mexican governmental documents, military medals and coins, newspapers, magazines, and portraits.

: John A. Ryan Papers; From the first decade of the twentieth century to his death in 1945, John Augustine Ryan was the Catholic Church in America's leading expert on social and economic questions and one of its strongest advocates for improving the living and working conditions of American workers. Ryan was born in Minnesota in 1869, was educated and ordained there in the 1890s, and earned a doctorate in Sacred Theology from Catholic University in 1906. He taught in the seminary at St. Paul, Minnesota from 1902 until 1913 and then at Catholic University and Trinity College in Washington until his death. Ryan helped found the Catholic Association for International Peace in 1927 and served in a number of federal government posts during the New Deal era of the 1930s. From 1920 until 1945, he headed the Social Action Department of the National Catholic Welfare Conference. Ryan wrote sixteen books and hundreds of articles and spoke frequently to audiences around the nation and on radio. His books include: Living Wage (1906), Distributive Justice (1916), and A Better Economic Order (1935). In 1919, he wrote the advanced draft of the Bishop's Program for Social Reconstruction, which advocated national health and old age insurance, a minimum wage, factory safety legislation, and labor's right to organize. His papers consist of personal diaries and journals from Ryan's seminary days; correspondence from 1925 to 1945, including letters written to him after his attack on Coughlin; drafts and copies of many of his writings; outlines and lecture notes from his courses; reference files; and scrapbooks. The papers digitized here focus heavily on the last twenty years of his life, 1925 to 1945. Ryan's correspondence is the largest portion of materials, occupying over half of the collection. There are also articles, sermons, clippings, reports, pamphlets, lecture notes, scrapbooks, a personal journal, a small number of photos, and some audio recordings.

: John M. Cooper and Regina F. Herzfeld Ethnographic Field Notes; This collection contains the field notes of Catholic University anthropologists John M. Cooper and Regina F. Herzfeld, taken during their ethnographic studies of the James Bay Cree of Ontario, Canada in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. John Montgomery Cooper, priest, theologian, anthropologist and sociologist, served as professor and administrator at the Catholic University of America from 1909 until his death in 1949. Regina Flannery Herzfeld trained under Cooper in the Catholic University Department of Anthropology, then joined the faculty herself. This digital collection contains the field notes of Cooper and Regina Flannery Herzfeld taken primarily during their ethnographic studies of the James Bay Cree of Ontario, Canada in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. These voluminous notes, both handwritten and typed, are comprised of a series of 3 x 5 index cards and depict observations on the traditions, culture, language, and territories of the Cree and additional tribes. The collection also contains museum objects, teaching notes, student-faculty correspondence, published material, and chapter and article drafts by both Cooper and Herzfeld, Field notes, both handwritten and typed, are comprised of a series of 3 x 5 index cards, and depict observations on the traditions, culture, language, and territories of the James Bay Cree.

: The John Mitchell Photographic Collection; Mitchell, a legendary leader of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), was born 4 February 1870 in Braidwood, Illinois, to Robert Mitchell and Martha Halley. Though mostly working in Illinois, he also worked in both Colorado and New Mexico. Mitchell was first a member of the Knights of Labor and then, successively, legislative agent, organizer, vice president and president of the fledgling UMWA. He was also vice president of the American Federal of Labor (AFL) and member of the National Child Labor Committee, the National Civic Federation, Federal Milk Commission, Federal Food Board for New York City, New York State Labor Industrial Commission, New York State Food Administration, and the New York State Council of Farms and Markets. It was, however, as president of the UMWA, 1899-1908, that Mitchell would have his greatest impact. His leadership in the momentous Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902 resulted in significant gains for coal miners and greater recognition for the UMWA. Often in poor health, Mitchell stepped down as UMWA president in 1908 and died in 1919. He is buried in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His published works include Organized Labor: Its Problems, Purposes, and Ideals (1903) and The Wage Earner (1912). The photographs digitized here, 1898-1924, entail many portraits of important people, such as Clarence Darrow and Theodore Roosevelt, as well as significant events like the 1902 Anthracite Coal Strike. There are also photographs illustrating mining techniques of the time., This is a collection of 207 photographs collected by John Mitchell from 1896 to 1924. These images are part of the John Mitchell Papers and relate to Mr. Mitchellbs personal and professional life as the President of the United Mine Workers of America.The collection includes images of Mr. Mitchell, his family, prominent Americans such as US Presidents and labor leaders (among others), union activities, and glimpses of what the workplace was like for coal workers around the turn of the twentieth century in the United States.

: Margaret Richards Millar Papers; Margaret Richards Millar was born in 1858 in Vermont to Jonas DeForest Richards and Harriet Bartlett Jarvis. Her father, a New England Congregationalist pastor, decided late in life to move the family to the American South. Immediately following the end of the Civil War in 1865, the family relocated to Alabama, having purchased a cotton plantation in Wilcox County. Margaret was educated at home and ultimately obtained a degree from the Bradford Academy in Massachusetts in 1880. Marrying Stocks Millar, a Scottish immigrant educated at the University of St. Andrews, she spent her married life on the Wyoming plains, where she developed a reputation as a hostess for army personnel stationed in the Territory. When her husband passed away in 1890, she spent the next several years in France and Germany with their three children. In 1896, she converted to Catholicism alongside her son, future Jesuit Morehouse F. X. Millar (later collaborator with John A. Ryan). In 1918, as a representative of the American Bureau of Education, she was sent to France to recruit French women to attend college in the United States. Shortly thereafter, she was sent back to France as a representative of the Committee on Special War Activities of the National Catholic War Council (NCWC), in order to organize and supervise service clubs for American soldiers. She would open the Etoile Service Club in Paris that same year. In 1919, she was sent as the only American Catholic delegate to the Women's Peace Conference in Switzerland, serving alongside Jane Addams. In October 1919, Millar was unexpectedly recalled to the United States by Rev. John Burke, head of the NCWC. She subsequently remained in Texas the following year, helping to organize the first conference of the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW), held in 1920. An active member of the NCCW and NCWC for the remaining years of her life, Millar passed away in 1947. This digital collection consists of correspondence, clippings, a diary, and photographs, and memorabilia highlighting the work of Mrs. Margaret Millar and the National Catholic War Council "Women Workers" in France immediately following the First World War.

: Msgr. Joseph Clifford Fenton Diaries; Diaries of Catholic priest Joseph Clifford Fenton during the years of 1948-1966. The Right Reverend Msgr. Joseph Clifford Fenton (1906-1969) was a priest of Springfield, Massachusetts, Dean of the School of Theology at the Catholic University of America, and editor of the American Ecclesiastical Review. He also served on the Pontifical Theology Commission in preparation for the Second Vatican Council. He retired from Catholic University in 1963 and is probably best remembered as an aggressive opponent of Jesuit John Courtney Murray regarding Church and State. The diaries digitized here cover the years of 1948-1966, with most dealing with his trips to Rome to participate in the Second Vatican Council.

: National Council of Catholic Men; The NCCM was established in 1920 as part of the Lay Organizations Department of the National Catholic Welfare Council (NCWC). Its various functions included the federation of Catholic men's groups, to be a central clearinghouse for information on lay activities, to promote lay cooperation, to help existing Catholic lay organizations on the local level, to contribute to national and international movements with moral questions, and to inculcate appreciation of Catholic principles in society. It operated through a committee system on national, diocesan, and parish levels and published a monthly news organ and other publications as well. It operated a film distribution office and a New York radio and television office, from which it produced The Catholic Hour, 1930-1968. It was briefly merged with NCCW to form the National Council of Catholic Laity, before going defunct in 1975. Records include constitutions, bylaws, and incorporation; minutes of the Board of Directors; reports and convention proceedings; general correspondence including national organizations and diocesan; Catholic Hour radio and television scripts, transcripts, audio tapes, photographs, and phonographs; and miscellaneous publications.

: The Papal Autograph Collection; This digital collection is comprised of digitized letters and formal documents signed by several popes from Gregory XIII to Pius IX. Included are the rare signature of Gregory XIV as pope, an office he only held from 1590-1591, and a bull of Clement XII, 1737 (with seal removed). The donor of the collection, John D. Crimmins, a New York contractor and philanthropist, was a noted collector of books and manuscripts and a trustee of The Catholic University of America., This collection contains 23 letters and official documents signed by several popes from Gregory XIII to Pius IX, mostly concerning administration of the Papal States.The collection dates from 1578 to 1865. Included are the rare signature of Gregory XIV as pope, an office he only held from 1590 to 1591, and a bull of Clement XII from 1737 (with seal removed).

: Photographs of theCatholic Educational Exhibit, World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago,1893; In May 1890, a group of Catholic educators met with members of clergy and religious orders and decided that a Catholic Educational Exhibit at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago would be an appropriate way to showcase advances in Catholic education as an important aspect of American Christianity. The result was the Catholic Educational Exhibit at the World's Fair in Chicago. This digital collection consists of photographs of fifty 8"x10" images documenting the building, hall, and alcoves where the Catholic educational institutions displayed their objects and printed material. The educational exhibits occupied 115 alcoves, though the photographs document just under than half of these., This series of 50 images shows booths created by numerous Catholic Diocese in the United States that highlight their contributions toCatholic Education. These booths were part of the Catholic Education Educational Exhibit at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition (World's Fair) in Chicago.

: Strishock Print Collection; This digital collection displays an eclectic mix of etchings, paintings, and wood block prints acquired through collecting clubs and subscription groups and purchased by Daniel and Joan M. Strishock. The Strishocks donated this collection to The Catholic University of American in 1968 and it features a variety of subjects, themes, and artists., Mr. and Mrs. Strishock donated the collection of over 200 original prints and engravings to CUA in 1968 to strengthen the Department of Art.

: Terence Vincent Powderly Photographic Prints; Terence Vincent Powderly, the son of Irish immigrants, was born in 1849 in Carbondale, Pennsylvania. Employed at a young age as a railroad switchman, he later apprenticed as a machinist. Powderly joined the International Union of Machinists and Blacksmiths in 1871, eventually becoming local president, then joined a local Scranton, Pennsylvania, Knights of Labor in 1876 and rose steadily until assuming the national leadership from 1879-1893. In addition to his labor connections, Powderly served as a progressive mayor of Scranton from 1878-1884, practiced law, and became a political operative with the Republican Party. From 1897-1901, he served as Commissioner General of Immigration, following these duties with a position as Chief of the Immigration Division of Information, 1907-1921, then Labor Department Commissioner of Conciliation, 1921-1924. Beyond these professional positions, Powderly was a world traveler, photographer, and author of Thirty Years Of Labor (1889) and his memoirs, The Path I Trod (1921). In 1999, Powderly was honored as the newest inductee into the U.S. Department of Labor's Hall of Fame, joining figures such as Samuel Gompers, Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, and Philip Murray. Powderly, a photography enthusiast, took and collected thousands of photographs, nearly 1300 of which are reproduced in this digital collection., Terence Vincent Powderly (1849-1924) led the Knights of Labor at the peak of its power as Grand Master Workman (1879-1893), and later held important posts with the Bureau of Immigration (1897-1921).He was also an avid and talented amateur photographer, and several thousand of his photographic images produced in the first decades of this century (ca. 1902-1921) have survived in the form of glass and nitrate-base negatives (the nitrate has since been converted to safety film) and as glass lantern slides. In addition to his own work, Powderly collected prints produced by other photographers. This digital collection currently contains over 300 images selected from the collection.

: Thomas J. Bouquillon Papers; Rev. Thomas Bouquillon was born at Warenton, Belgium on May 16, 1842. He studied philosophy and theology at Roulers and Bruges. In 1865 he was ordained in Rome. Two years later, Bouquillon received his doctorate in theology from the Gregorian University. In that same year he was appointed Professor of Moral Theology in the Seminary of Bruges. Bouquillon was appointed to the Catholic University of Lille, France in 1877 and remained there for the next decade. He came to The Catholic University of America as one of the original faculty members. From 1889 until 1902, the year of his death, he served as Professor of Moral Theology. The collection contains biographical information, general correspondence, miscellaneous lectures and notes, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous publications.