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Youth, Christianity, and the Crisis of Civilization, 1930–1945

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2018

Thomas E. Bergler
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Abstract

During the 1930s and 1940s, the Great Depression and the rise of communism and fascism in Europe convinced a broad spectrum of Americans that they were living through a prolonged “crisis of civilization” with real potential to destroy all they held dear. Meanwhile, they saw evidence that these global problems put young people especially at risk for immorality, loss of hope, and political subversion. Because the “youth problem” and the “world crisis” seemed to be inextricably linked, even the everyday behaviors of young people took on a heightened political significance in the eyes of many adults. Christian leaders from across the spectrum of churches—Mainline Protestant, Evangelical, Roman Catholic, and African American—did not just capitalize on this obsession with youth and the fate of civilization; they did all they could to fan those flames. They did so not cynically, but sincerely, believing that they could and should save the world by saving American youth. Yet these leaders were also making a bid for influence in American society and for control of the future of their churches. The resulting politicized views of youth and youth work would not only influence the outcomes of internal church battles, but they would also shape how various Christian groups responded to the Cold War.

Keywords

youthChristianitypolitics
Type
Research Article
Information
Religion and American Culture , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , Summer 2014 , pp. 259 - 296
Copyright
Copyright © Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture 2014

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References

Notes

1. Corrigan, Jones I. S.J., The Church and Some Outstanding Problems of the Day (Washington, D.C.: National Council of Catholic Men, 1932), 5–11, 70,Google Scholar Cardinal, Edward V. Papers (hereafter cited as CCRD) 12/4,Google Scholar University of Notre Dame Archives (hereafter cited as UNDA).

2. For a summary of Hall's theory and an exploration of its connections to wider cultural fears linking the fate of manhood and white civilization, see Bederman, Gail, Manliness and Civilization (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), 77–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Just as the “muscular Christianity” movement arose in the early twentieth century as a response to the crisis of manhood and civilization, so Christian youth leaders understood their new programs of the 1930s and 1940s as a response to their own “crisis of civilization.”

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7. See, for example, Rainey, Homer P., How Fare American Youth? (New York: D. Appleton-Century Co., 1938);Google Scholar Winslow, W. Thatcher, Youth, a World Problem (Washington, D.C.: National Youth Administration, 1937);Google Scholar Plavner, Murray, Here Are the Facts: Is the American Youth Congress a Communist Front? (New York: Murray Plavner, 1939);Google Scholar and Davis, Maxine, The Lost Generation: A Portrait of American Youth Today (New York: Macmillan, 1936).Google Scholar For a description of how the rise of dictatorships in Europe impacted American political thought, see Purcell, Edward A. Jr., The Crisis of Democratic Theory: Scientific Naturalism and the Problem of Value (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1973), 117–138.Google Scholar For an example of a public intellectual who believed the crisis of civilization was real, see Sorokin, Pitirim A., The Crisis of Our Age: The Social and Cultural Outlook (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1941).Google Scholar Sorokin deplored those who tried to make use of the crisis to promote various political and social agendas that he believed were doomed to fail. Yet he took it as beyond dispute that Western civilization was in the throes of a crisis that would lead to dramatic transformations.

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11. A Program of Action, 3, 19. Other American Youth Commission publications praised the efforts of religious organizations, although the authors sometimes worried that such groups might be losing their effectiveness. See Stewart, Youth in the World, 28–29, 34–35.

12. “Invitation to a Holy War,” Christian Century, January 18, 1939, 78–79.

13. “Msgr. George Johnson Dies while Delivering Address at Commencement Exercises,” June 5, 1944, Archives of the Catholic University of America, National Catholic Welfare Conference, Press Department, 10–51.

14. Reiman, New Deal and American Youth, 39–44.

15. For the story of Wyrtzen's military influence, see Forbes, Forrest, God Hath Chosen: The Story of Jack Wyrtzen and the Word of Life Hour (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1948), 63.Google Scholar For the public reception of Youth for Christ, see Carpenter, Joel, Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 161–76;Google Scholar Clarence Woodbury, “Bobby Soxers Sing Hallelujah,” American Magazine, March 1946, 26–27; “Youth for Christ,” Time, February 4, 1946, 46–47; “Wanted: A Miracle of Good Weather, and the ‘Youth for Christ’ Rally Got It,” Newsweek, June 11, 1945, 84; and William F. McDermott, “Bobby Soxers Find the Sawdust Trail,” Colliers, March 26, 1945, 22.

16. Rochemont, Louis de, “Youth in Crisis,” The March of Time, vol. 10, no. 3 (New York: Time, Inc., 1943),Google Scholar re-released in The March of Time: American Lifestyles—American Youth (New Line Home Video, 1987). As further evidence of the power of such ideas, it is worth noting that, although some social scientists tried to temper wartime exaggerations of the “youth problem,” their findings did not often make it into the press. See Abrams, Ray H., ed., The American Family in World War II (Philadelphia: American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1943), 69–78,Google Scholar 157–63; and Soper, Wayne W., A Study of Youth in Wartime (Albany: University of the State of New York, 1945).Google Scholar

17. For criticism of Roosevelt for invoking religion to motivate support for the Allied war effort in Europe, see “Invitation to a Holy War,” 78–79; Facing Life with Jesus Christ: Record of the Proceedings of the Methodist Young People's Conference Held in the Municipal Auditorium, Memphis, Tennessee, December 27–31, 1935 (Nashville: General Board of Christian Education, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1936), 15–17, 82–89, 125–33, 169–77.

18. Youth and the Mind of Jesus: A Record of the Proceedings and Addresses at the Methodist Young People's Convention, Memphis, Tennessee, December 31, 1925–January 3, 1926 (Nashville: Publishing House, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1926), Methodist Commission on Archives and History (MCAH), General Board of Discipleship Records (GBD), 1126–6–3:01.

19. “Minutes of the Meeting of Advisory Group Concerning Church-Wide Methodist Young People's Conference, Nashville, Tennessee, January 18, 1935,” 3–6, MCAH, GBD 1126–6–2:22; “Minutes of Meeting of the Directing Committee for Methodist Y. P. Conference, April 27, 1935,” 1–2, MCAH, GBD 1126–6–2:22.

20. Kirkpatrick, Blaine E., Adventures in Christian Leadership: A Guide to Young People's Work in Church Schools and the Epworth League (Chicago: Board of Education, Methodist Episcopal Church, n.d.), 3–5,Google Scholar 33–34; Burt, Roy E., Adventures in Building a Better World (Chicago: Board of Education, Methodist Episcopal Church, 1933);Google Scholar Geer, Owen M., Adventures in the Devotional Life (Chicago: Board of Education, Methodist Episcopal Church, 1936);Google Scholar Geer, Owen M., Adventures in Recreation (Chicago: Board of Education, Methodist Episcopal Church, 1934).Google Scholar

21. Being Christian in Times Like These: A Report of the Second National Conference of Methodist Youth Held at Berea College, Berea, Kentucky, September 2 to 6, 1936 (Chicago: National Council of Methodist Youth, 1936), 12–18, 83–84, 102, MCAH, GBD 1124–4–1:15; “The Story of a Movement,” Newsletter of the National Conference of Methodist Youth (July, August 1941), 4, 12, MCAH, GBD 1124–4–2:41. For other examples of generational conflict, see “Youth Serves in NewWays,” Newsletter, March 1942, 1, MCAH, GBD 1124–5–2:08; Third Annual Report of the National Conference of the Methodist Youth Fellowship, August 29–September 4, 1943, 13–15, MCAH, GBD 1124–5–2:13; Our World for Christ: Report of the Second National Convocation of the Methodist Youth Fellowship Held at College Campus, Lake Geneva, WI, August 25–30, 1944 (Nashville: National Conference of the Methodist Youth Fellowship, 1945), 59, MCAH, GBD 1124–4–3:03; and The Fifth Annual Meeting of the National Conference of the Methodist Youth Fellowship, Adrian College, Adrian, Michigan, August 24–30, 1945, 51–54, MCAH, GBD 1124–5–2:13.

22. Nall, T. Otto, ed., Christian Fellowship in a World of Conflict: Report of the National Conference of Methodist Youth in Biennial Session at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, August 30–September 4, 1938 (Chicago: National Council of Methodist Youth, 1938), 82, 108–10.Google Scholar See also, “The Story of a Movement,” 12.

23. Seifert, Harvey, ed., Methodist Youth United: The Report of the First National Conference of the Methodist Youth Fellowship, Baker University, Baldwin, Kansas, August 29–September 2, 1941 (Nashville: National Conference of the Methodist Youth Fellowship, 1941), 21–24,Google Scholar MCAH, GBD 1124–4–2:39. This smaller group of young leaders issued a strong peace message on the eve of the war. When the larger convocation of Methodists met in 1942, they endorsed freedom of conscience and called on the church to work for peace. Their statements showed a significant retreat from earlier pacifist positions. Moore, Alfred E., ed., For the Living of These Days: Report of the First National Convocation of the Methodist Youth Fellowship Held at Oxford, Ohio, September 1–5, 1942 (Nashville: National Convocation of the Methodist Youth Fellowship, 1942), 24–25,Google Scholar 30–31, 32–33, 38–39.

24. “History of the 1946 Conference, Mt. Sequoyah, Fayetteville, Arkansas, August 5–15, 1946,” MCAH, GBD 1126–6–2:33. For similar optimism regarding Methodist political influence, see “Program Suggestions for Meetings” Planner, October, November, December 1943, 1–3, MCAH, GBD 1184–3–1:22, and “The Crusade for a New World Order,” Planner, July, August, September 1943), 1–4, MCAH, GBD 1184–3–1:22. For the comments by a Catholic bishop, see “The Aims, Purposes, and Philosophy of Catholic Youth Work: Proceedings of the Buzz Sessions of the Seventh National Conference on Catholic Youth Work, Nov. 17–20, 1958,” 8–10, Archives of the Catholic University of America, National Catholic Welfare Conference Records, Education Department Papers, 10-84. For youth protests of segregation at the Mt. Sequoyah campground, see “Prepare the Way: Report of the 1939 Young People's Leadership Conference,” 22–24, 28–29, MCAH, GBD 1126–6–2: 35; “A Statement from one Member of the Board of Trustees with Reference to the Entertainment of Negro Speakers at Mount Sequoyah,” by J. Fisher Simpson, August 24, 1939, MCAH, GBD 1126–6–2:41; and Secretary to Mr. Bell to Retha L. Sadler, August 20, 1965, MCAH, GBD 1126–6–2:41.

25. “Youth Meeting Saturday, May 23, 1942,” MCAH, GBD 1184– 3–1:09. For similar discussions, see “Minutes, Youth Worker's Commission, Methodist Conference on Christian Education, November 29–December 3, 1943,” MCAH, GBD 1122–5–3:13, and “Minutes of the Youth Department Staff Retreat, October 14–17, 1946,” MCAH, GBD 1124–2–3:07.

26. Our World for Christ, 13–14; Fifth Annual Meeting, 20.

27. Beckes, Isaac Kelley, Young Leaders in Action (Nashville: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1941), 6–7,Google Scholar 16–25.

28. “Wanted: A Miracle of Good Weather.”

29. Carpenter, Revive Us Again, 161–76. See also Carpenter, Joel, ed., The Youth for Christ Movement and Its Pioneers (New York: Garland, 1988),Google Scholar and Hefley, James C., God Goes to High School (Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1970).Google Scholar For claims that YFC rallies prevented juvenile delinquency, see Johnson, Torrey and Cook, Robert, Reaching Youth for Christ (Chicago: Moody Press, 1944), 20.Google Scholar

30. Johnson and Cook, Reaching Youth for Christ, 35-36; interview of Torrey Maynard Johnson, October 23, 1984, tape T3, collection 285, papers of Torrey Maynard Johnson, Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois; interview of John Von Casper “Jack” Wyrtzen, October 5, 1991, tape T3, collection 446, John Von Casper “Jack” Wyrtzen Papers, Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois; “Dating: 20 Questions, 20 Answers,” reprint from Youth for Christ Magazine, 1946, folder 10, box 17, collection 48, Youth for Christ USA Records (hereafter cited as YFC Records), Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois; Chicagoland Youth for Christ Rally (Chicago: Youth for Christ, October 21, 1944), video 1, collection 48, YFC records, Billy Graham Center Archives, Wheaton, Illinois; McDermott, “Bobby-Soxers Find the Sawdust Trail,” 23; “Wanted: A Miracle of Good Weather.”

31. Torrey Johnson, “Accepting the Challenge!” in Minutes of the First Annual Convention (July 23–29, 1945), 17–19, folder 35, box 13, collection 48, YFC records, Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois.

32. Torrey Johnson, “God Is in It!,” in Minutes of the First Annual Convention (July 23–29, 1945), 26–32, folder 36, box 13, collection 48, YFC records, Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois.

33. See Harold E. Fey, “What about Youth forChrist?” Christian Century, June 20, 1945, 729–31, and “Has Youth for Christ Gone Fascist?” Christian Century, November 14, 1945, 1243–44. For the claim by YFC leaders that their organization was not political, see their official publications, “What is Youth for Christ International?” (Chicago: Youth for Christ International, 1946), folder 9, box 17, collection 48, YFC records, Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois; and “Brief Facts about Youth for Christ International” (Chicago: Youth for Christ International, 1946), folder 9, box 17, collection 48, YFC records, Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois. For the fundamentalist opposition to YFC, see Carpenter, Revive Us Again, 161–76.

34. The Call to Youth (Washington, D.C.: National Council of Catholic Women, 1937), 16–21.

35. For a good summary of The Christian Education of Youth, see Buetow, Harold A., Of Singular Benefit: The Story of Catholic Education in the United States (New York: Macmillan, 1970), 229–30.Google Scholar

36. Summary of Catholic Education, 1944–45 (Washington, D.C.: Department of Education, National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1946), 22; “Religion and the High School Student,” Catholic Action 35 (September 1953): 12. For the dangers of non-Catholic education as a justification for new youth programs, see “Secularization of Education Today's Greatest Danger to Youth, Says Archbishop McNicholas,” Catholic Action 19 (September 1937): 6, and “February Study Topic—‘The Catholic Family and the Youth Movement,”’ Catholic Action 17 (February 1935): 19–20. For calls from educators to supplement school activities, see Croft, Aloysius, “The Catholic Youth Movement and the Parish School,” Catholic School Journal 37 (February 1937): 48–49,Google Scholar and McNeill, Leon A., “What Shall We Do for Our Boys and Girls in Public High Schools?” Catholic Educational Review 32 (January 1934): 37–42.Google Scholar

37. For background on the Catholic action movement, see Gleason, Philip, Contending with Modernity: Catholic Higher Education in the Twentieth Century (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 152–54.Google Scholar For the easy coexistence of Catholic and American values in some minds, see O'Brien, David J., “Catholicism and Americanism,” in Modern American Catholicism, 1900–1965: Selected Historical Essays, ed. Kantowicz, Edward R., (New York: Garland, 1988), 98–115.Google Scholar

38. The 1937 Franciscan Almanac (Paterson, N.J.: St. Anthony's Guild, 1937), 442.

39. Sheil claimed to be replacing worldly ideals with Catholic ones in “The Catholic Youth Organization,” Edward Cardinal, V. Papers, CCRD 12/5,Google Scholar UNDA. For his claim to be restoring young lapsed Catholics through boxing, see “The Records Speak,” CCRD 12/5, UNDA. For the “youth is not a problem” quote, see “The Problem of Youth,” CCRD 12/5, UNDA. For summaries of Sheil's work with the CYO, see Treat, Roger L., Bishop Sheil and the CYO (New York: Julian Messner, 1951);Google Scholar Kantowicz, Edward R., Corporation Sole: Cardinal Mundelein and Chicago Catholicism (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1983), 173–202;Google Scholar Avella, Steven M., “The Rise and Fall of Bernard Sheil,” in Ellen Skerrett, Kantowicz, Edward R., and Avella, Steven M., Catholicism, Chicago Style (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1993), 95–108;Google Scholar and Avella, Steven M., This Confident Church: Catholic Leadership and Life in Chicago, 1940–1965 (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992), 109–49.Google Scholar Early reports and pamphlets published by the CYO presented the organization as a benefit to the church, to the general population of Chicago, and to the nation. See “Facts on the Catholic Youth Organization of the Archdiocese of Chicago,” CCRD 11/8, UNDA; “Facts on the CYO,” CCRD 11/8, UNDA; “Historical Survey of the Catholic Youth Organization,” CCRD 11/8, UNDA; and “Catholic Youth Organization, Nov. 1949,” CCRD 11/1, UNDA

40. Zotti, Mary Irene, A Time of Awakening: The Young Christian Worker Story in the United States, 1938 to 1970 (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1991), 96.Google Scholar

41. Ibid., 46–47, 64–66; Dennis Michael Robb, “Specialized Catholic Action in the United States, 1936–1949: Ideology, Leadership, and Organization” (Ph.D. diss., University of Minnesota, 1972), 172, 182.

42. “Growing Interest in Meeting Problems of Catholic Youth,” “N.C.C.W. Plans for Girls’ Welfare,” “Youth Leaders Confer with N.C.C.M.,” Catholic Action 16 (March 1934): 4–5, 14; “Need of a Catholic Program for Youth,” Catholic Action 16 (October 1934): 14, 18.

43. Youth Today and Tomorrow (Washington, D.C.: National Council of Catholic Women, 1935); The Call to Youth, 10–12; Youth Leaders’ Handbook (Washington, D.C.: National Council of Catholic Women, 1939): 6–9, 14–18, 25–27, 31–32, 34, 39–41.

44. O'Brien, John A., Why the Catholic School? (Notre Dame, Ind.: Ave Maria Press, 1947), 19.Google Scholar

45. Robb, “Specialized Catholic Action,” 88, 114–19, 154–60.

46. “God or Mammon: Sanctity in This Highly Mechanized World,” Today, December 1, 1947, 19, John Cogley Papers, 6, UNDA.

47. Lethia Craig, “Junior Missionaries,” Star of Hope 1 (January 1938): 21.

48. George E. Haynes, “The Crisis Confronting the American Negro and the Negro Churches,” National Baptist Voice, October 20, 1934, 1, 6–8.

49. Proceedings of the 1945 Session of the National Sunday School and Baptist Training Union Congress Held in St. Louis, MO, June 18–24 (Nashville: Sunday School Publishing Board, 1945), 14–18.

50. Frazier, E. Franklin, Negro Youth at the Crossways: Their Personality Development in the Middle States (New York: Schocken Books, 1967), 112–33Google Scholar. This study was originally published in 1940 by the American Youth Commission of the American Council on Education.

51. M. D. Dickson, “Youth's Seat Reserved at the Table,” National Baptist Voice, January 19, 1935, 5.

52. “The World Outlook for Young Baptists,” National Baptist Voice, March 2, 1935, 3, 7–8.

53. W. H. Jernagin, “The Most Important People in the World Challenge the Home, the Church and the State,” National Baptist Voice, April 6, 1935, 3, 8; W. H. Jernagin, “The Responsibility of the Present Day Church,” National Baptist Voice, June 29, 1935, 1, 7–8.

54. Harris, Michael W., The Rise of Gospel Blues: The Music of Thomas Andrew Dorsey in the Urban Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).Google Scholar For the influence of Lucie Campbell, see Reagon, Bernice Johnson, ed., We’ll Understand It Better By and By (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992), 81–140.Google Scholar

55. Henry T. McCrary, “Jazz Band Evangelism,” National Baptist Voice, May 19, 1934, 6.

56. R. C. Barbour, “A Religion for Youth,” National Baptist Voice, June 30, 1934, 2; D. V. Jemison, “Baleful Influence of Church Members Indulging in Social Dancing,” National Baptist Voice, August 4, 1934, 6.

57. “Dr. D. D. Crawford Advises Seminary Students to Throw Social Gospel Out of the Window,” National Baptist Voice, October 6, 1934, 3.

58. Mordecai W. Johnson “Christianity and Occidental Civilization,” National Baptist Voice, September 1, 1934, 1, 7.

59. Barbour, “A Religion for Youth.”

60. R. C. Barbour, “Baptist Fathers and Their Sons,” National Baptist Voice, May 12, 1934, 3; Laura Tanned, “Now I Know the Truth,” National Baptist Voice, April 5, 1930, 2. For more on tensions between preachers and intellectuals, see “The Intellectuals,” National Baptist Voice, April 9, 1932, 2; “Enemies of the Church,” National Baptist Voice, February 11, 1933, 2; and E. D. W. Jones, “Negro Intellectuals Seek to Destroy Race Leadership,” National Baptist Voice, April 29, 1933, 1.

61. Frazier, Negro Youth, 283 n. 3.

62. “My Spiritual Pilgrimage,” January 12, 1947, Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS), Wade Hampton McKinney Papers (WHM), 5–4.

63. For McKinney's message of personal conversion, see “The New Birth,” Fourth Anniversary of the Junior Church, March 10, 1940, WRHS, WHM, 6–1. For denunciations of injustice, see “While Cleveland Sleeps!” WRHS, WHM, 4–2; “Why This Concentration of Crime in the Negro District?” August 23, 1942, WRHS, WHM, 5–1; and “The Central Area,” address to the City Club, February 3, 1945, WRHS, WHM, 5–2. “The Reign of Sin,” April 4, 1942, WRHS, WHM, 5–1; “The Church on the New Frontier,” Pittsburgh, Penn., October 22, 1945, WRHS, WHM, 5–2. For the young church member's praise of McKinney, see “Dr. McKinney as an Example and Leader of Youth,” delivered by Samuel B. Dickerson, Twentieth Anniversary Program of Dr. W. H. McKinney, pastor Antioch Baptist Church, Friday, July 23, 1948, WRHS, WHM, 1–1. For a summary of McKinney's youth programs, see “The McKinney Era,” n.d., WRHS, WHM, 1–1.

64. Frazier, E. Franklin, The Negro Church in America, and C. Eric Lincoln, The Black Church since Frazier (1963; repr., New York: Schocken, 1974), 78.Google Scholar

65. For examples, see Setran, David, The College “Y”: Student Religion in an Era of Secularization (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007);CrossRefGoogle Scholar Young Life, March 1944, 3; United Christian Youth Movement, Christian Youth and the Economic Problem (Chicago: United Christian Youth Movement, 1944); United Christian Youth Movement, Report of the Christian Youth Conference of North America (Chicago: Joint Committee on United Youth Program, 1936); and Lehtonen, Risto, Story of a Storm: The Ecumenical Student Movement in the Turmoil of Revolution (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 9–21.Google Scholar

66. Historians have not assumed that the Protestant “two-party system” was firmly in place by the 1920s or that the fundamentalistmodernist controversy tells the whole story of twentieth-century American Protestantism. But even when their interpretations are more nuanced, the role of Christian young people in the rise and decline of various theological and social movements in the churches has not been well explored. See, for example, Hutchison, William R., The Modernist Impulse in American Protestantism (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1992),CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Marsden, George, Fundamentalism and American Culture, 2d ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).Google Scholar See also Jacobsen, Douglas, Trollinger, William V., and Marty, Martin E., eds., Re-Forming the Center: American Protestantism, 1900 to the Present (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998).Google Scholar An exception is Joel Carpenter, who treats the Youth for Christ movement as one factor in the transformation of some fundamentalists into evangelicals in mid-twentieth-century America (Carpenter, Revive Us Again). Similarly, some have tried to modify or even reject the dominant historical narrative of immigrant Catholics assimilating to American culture. See, for example, Michael J. Baxter, C.S.C., “Writing History in a World without Ends: An Evangelical Catholic Critique of United States Catholic History,” Pro Ecclesia 5 (Fall 1996): 440–69, which critiques earlier survey texts by John Tracy Ellis, Jay Dolan, and David J. O’Brien. For amore nuanced description of the relationship between Catholicism and American culture that takes some notice of the experiences of young Catholics, see Massa, Mark J. S.J., Catholics and American Culture: Fulton Sheen, Dorothy Day, and the Notre Dame Football Team (New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1999).Google Scholar

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