Black, White, and Catholic

R. Bentley Anderson

Description

Most histories of the Civil Rights Movement start with all the players in place--among them organized groups of African Americans, White Citizens' Councils, nervous politicians, and religious leaders struggling to find the right course. Anderson, however, takes up the historical moment right before that, when small groups of black and white Catholics in the city of New Orleans began efforts to desegregate the archdiocese, and the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) began, in fits and starts, to integrate quietly the New Orleans Province.

Anderson leads readers through the tumultuous years just after World War II when the Roman Catholic Church in the American South struggled to reconcile its commitment to social justice with the legal and social heritage of Jim Crow society. Though these early efforts at reform, by and large, failed, they did serve to galvanize Catholic supporters and opponents of the Civil Rights Movement and provided a model for more successful efforts at desegregation in the '60s.

As a Jesuit himself, Anderson has access to archives that remain off-limits to other scholars. His deep knowledge of the history of the Catholic Church also allows him to draw connections between this historical period and the present. In the resistance to desegregation, Anderson finds expression of a distinctly American form of Catholicism, in which lay people expect Church authorities to ratify their ideas and beliefs in an almost democratic fashion. The conflict he describes is as much between popular and hierarchical models of the Church as between segregation and integration.

This book has been made possible through a grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Sujets

• Civil Rights
• 20th Century
• Histoire
• Religión
• History of the United States
• Civil and political rights
• Religion
• United States
• History

Informations

• Publié par: Vanderbilt University Press
• Date de parution: 29 décembre 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780826591937
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Black, White,  and Catholic

New Orleans Interracialism, 1947–1956

R. BENTLEY ANDERSON

Black, White, and Catholic

Black, White, and Catholic: New Orleans Interracialism, 1947–1956

R . B E N T L E Y A N D E R S O N

Vanderbilt University Press n Nashville

© 2005 Vanderbilt University Press All rights reserved First Edition 2005

Printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America Design by Ellen Beeler

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Anderson, R. Bentley, 1959– Black, White, and Catholic : New Orleans interracialism, 1947–1956 / R. Bentley Anderson.— 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8265-1483-9 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. New Orleans (La.)—Race relations—History—20th century. 2. Catholics—Louisiana—New Orleans—Attitudes—History—20th century. 3. Catholics—Louisiana—New Orleans—Social conditions—20th century. I. Title. F380.A1A53 2005 305.8’0097633509’041—dc22 2005005034

Publication of this book has been supported by a grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, an affiliate of the National Endowment of the Humanities.

Material from Chapters 5 and 9 appeared previously in slightly different form as “Black, White, and Catholic: Southern Jesuits Confront the Race Question, 1952,”Catholic Historical Review91 (July 2005): 484–505. Used with permission of the American Catholic Historical Association. A portion of chapter seven appeared in “Prelates, Protest, and Public Opinion: Catholic Opposition to Desegregation, 1947–1955,”Journal of Church and State46 (summer 2004): 617–44. Used with permission.

TO MY PARENTS

ROBERT BENTLEY ANDERSON, JR.

AND

JANET RIVET ANDERSON

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Preface

C O N T E N T S

Introduction: New Orleans, the Land of Creoles and Catholics

Chapter I. The Genesis of Southern Catholic Interracialism, 1917–1947

Chapter II. Interracial Agitation: Raising Awareness, 1948

Chapter III. Interracial Activism: Belief in Practice, 1948–1949

Chapter IV. Catholic Choice: Jim Crowism or Jesus Christ, 1949–1952

Chapter V. “Norman Francis Is a Negro”: Desegregating Catholic Colleges, 1952–1953

Chapter VI. Bearing Fruit: Catholic Interracialism in the Age ofBrown,1952–1956

Chapter VII. The Rise of Southern Catholic Resistance, 1955–1956

Chapter VIII. The Death of Southern Catholic Interracialism, 1956

Chapter IX. Southern Catholics, Martin Luther King, Jr., and “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

Appendix A. Population of Catholic College Students in New Orleans, 1947–1956

ix

xi

xiii

1

11

26

50

72

98

111

142

165

190

199

viii n Black, White, and Catholic: New Orleans Interracialism 1947–1956

Appendix B. Manhattanville Resolutions

Appendix C. Resolution Passed by Members of the Southeastern Regional Interracial Commission, Summer, 1948

Appendix D. Resolution 5C 48-10 Passed by the Delegates to the Fifth National Congress of the National Federation of Catholic College Students, 1948

Appendix E. Resolution 5C 48-17 Passed by the Delegates to the Fifth National Congress of the National Federation of Catholic College Students, 1948

Appendix F. Concerning Inter-racial Relations at Loyola University

Appendix G. Working Draft and Final Resolution Passed at First Regional Congress of the NFCCS, 1949

Appendix H. Resolution Introduced by the Delegates from the New York-New Jersey Region at the Tenth National Congress of the NFCCS, 1953

Appendix I. Resolution to be Presented to the Dads’ Club of the Holy Name of Jesus School on October 24, 1955

Notes

Bibliography

Index

201

202

203

204

205

208

210

211

213

263

283

IL L U ST R AT IO N S

Joseph H. Fichter, S.J.

Officers of the National Federation of Catholic College Students

Poster announcing 1st Interracial Sunday gathering

Rev. Leander Martin, S.V.D., Larry Brown, and Joan Forshag

Interracial intercollegiate men’s basketball

Interracial intercollegiate women’s basketball

Benjamin Johnson and Philip Ogilvie

Oratorical contest participants

Norman Francis, Thomas Tierney, and chaplain Joseph Fichter

Dorothy MacCandless’s award winning poster

Ernest “Dutch” Morial, A. P. Tureaud, Janet Riley, and John P. Nelson

7th annual Interracial Sunday gathering poster

66

67

68

69

70

71

136

137

138

139

140

141