Parish Boundaries: The Catholic Encounter with Race in the Twentieth-Century Urban North

by John T. McGreevy

Parish Boundaries chronicles the history of Catholic parishes in major cities such as Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Philadelphia, melding their unique place in the urban landscape to the course of twentieth century American race relations. In vivid portraits of parish life, John McGreevy examines the contacts and conflicts between Euro-American Catholics and their African-American neighbors. By tracing the transformation of a church, its people, and the nation, McGreevy illuminates the enormous impact of religious culture on modern American society.

" Parish Boundaries can take its place in the front ranks of the literature of urban race relations."—Jonathan Dorfman, Washington Post Book Review

"A prodigiously researched, gracefully written book distinguished especially by its seamless treatment of social and intellectual history."—Robert Orsi, American Historical Review

" Parish Boundaries will fascinate historians and anyone interested in the historic connection between parish and race."—Ed Marciniak, Chicago Tribune

"The history that remains to be written will rest on the firm foundation of Mr. McGreevy's remarkable book."—Richard Wightman Fox, New York Times Book Review

Genres: History, American History, Race, 20th Century, Urban, Nonfiction, Religion

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Frank Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's rare that an academic book opens up such an original and insightful perspective on an era, but this book certainly does. By looking at the world of mid-20th century Catholicism, Greevey is able to show how it shaped the nature of both American cities and American politics, and, most importantly, how it shaped northern reactions to the great migration of African-Americans from the South.

First, Greevey explains in detail exactly how powerful Catholicism was in America at the time. While Protestants or Jews often had weekly service attendance rates of 10 or at most 20%, Catholics often attended mass about 70% of the time, and over 50% of them sent their kids to parochial schools. Catholics often answered the question of "Where do you live?" by responding, not by city or neighborhood, but by parish, "I'm from Saint Ann's," and real estate ads in major papers directed at Catholic areas often mimicked this. Priests encouraged parishioners to buy homes near their churches and form real estate "improvement associations" directed at bringing the church and local homeowners together. The priests also helped start savings and loans or credit unions to give out mortgages to locals, and then burnt the mortgages on the altar in a formal ceremony when parishioners paid them off. Catholics also built massive church "plants" in the midst of these working class districts, with fortress-like churches attached to rectories, convents, schools, service houses, seminaries and more, while Protestants and Jews often used no more than a store front or a single building for worship.

The intense nature of these very local and very physical connections meant that while Protestants and Jews often retreated quickly in the face of black migration, Catholics fought with vicious riots in which local priests were sometimes instigators. Yet Greevey, who teaches at Notre Dame, also shows how forward thinking the hierarchy of the church sometimes was. The increased focus on the Thomist philosophy of the church as a "Mystical Body of Christ," as well as hopes for proselytizing in Africa caused the church to form "Catholic Interracial Councils," starting in New York in 1936, and "Human Relations" groups to integrate blacks into the service. By the 1960s many church groups were receiving money from the Ford Foundation or the Office of Economic Opportunity to organize urban blacks (at the same time some priests were even striking at schools and trying to form a national priests' union). The conflict between their interracial ideas and local ethnics, often Polish or Irish, fiercely attached to their homes and their parishes, in some senses broke up both Northern cities and the American church itself.

So this is an amazing and important story, told with verve (if sometimes with too many anecdotes). It is perhaps only 20th century historians' general ignorance of religion that has caused so many to ignore it, but hopefully Greevey will inspire others to look at this fascinating and important world.

[Stella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and rare analysis of the ways in which religion affect the day to day choices they many Americans make each year. In this book, the author chronicles the ways in which various Northern/Urban Catholic parishes created and maintained isolated neighborhoods.