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Immigration and American Catholic Intellectual Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

Philip Gleason
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Extract

Relatively little has been added in the past two or three years to the discussion of Catholic intellectual life in the United States which reached a climax following the publication of Msgr. John Tracy Ellis's essay on the subject in 1955. No doubt one reason is that the subject appeared to be very nearly exhausted—or at least the reader of Catholic journals was faced with exhaustion if he tried to keep abreast of the discussion. A volume of readings entitled American Catholicism and the Intellectual Ideal contains excerpts from forty-six books and articles published in the years 1955–1958 alone. Interest flagged somewhat in the early 1960's, but two recent developments may serve to quicken it: one is the publication of Richard Hofstadter's general study, Anti-intellectualism in American Life, which includes a brief treatment of the Catholic aspects of anti-intellectualism; the other is the publication by Reverend Andrew M. Greeley of the results of a survey of the academic experience and career plans of 35,000 college graduates of the class of 1961.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , April 1964 , pp. 147 - 173
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1964

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References

1 Christ, Frank L. and Sherry, Gerard E. (eds.), American Catholicism and the Intellectual Ideal (New York, 1961)Google Scholar. Msgr. Ellis's, key essay, “American Catholics and the Intellectual Life,” appeared in Thought, XXX (Autumn, 1955), 351–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar and was republished in book form by The Heritage Foundation (Chicago) in 1956.

2 Hofstadter, Richard, Anti-intellectualism in American Life (New York, 1963), pp. 136–41Google Scholar.

3 Greeley, Andrew M., “Anti-Intellectualism in Catholic Colleges,” American Catholic Sociological Review, XXIII (1962), 350–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also Father Greeley's, article, “Influence of the ‘Religious Factor’ on College Plans and Occupational Values of College Graduates,” American Journal of Sociology, LXVIII (05, 1963), 658–71CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and his book, Religion and Career; A Study of College Graduates (New York, 1963)Google Scholar.

4 O'Dea, Thomas F., American Catholic Dilemma; An Inquiry into the Intellectual Life (Mentor paperback ed., 1962), pp. 79–81Google Scholar. The valuable brief discussion by McAvoy, Thomas T. C.S.C., “The Success of the Later Immigrants,” Social Order, XII (01., 1962), 1–12Google Scholar, contains shrewd observations on the relation of immigration to Catholic intellectual life.

5 Niebuhr, H. Richard, The Social Sources of Denominationalism (Meridian paperback ed., 1957), ch. VIIIGoogle Scholar.

6 The uncertainties surrounding the tenure of church property and the Trusteeism problem illustrate the difficulties of adaptation. For a perceptive discussion of the general problem, see O'Dea, Thomas F., “The Catholic Immigrant and the American Scene,” Thought, XXXI (1956–1957), 251–70CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 Compare the following remarks with the sort made by Catholic critics: “Why is Brooklyn, so much richer and bigger, so much more literate and educated — and with more leisure — so much less productive culturally than was Florence?” Ernest van den Haag, “Of Happiness and of Despair We Have No Measure,” in Rosenberg, B. and White, D. M. (eds.), Mass Culture; The Popular Arts in America (Glencoe, Ill., 1957), p. 520Google Scholar. On church and state, see Ellis, John Tracy, “Church and State: An American Catholic Tradition,” Harper's Magazine, CCVII (11, 1953), 63–67Google Scholar. On Bellarmine, see the discussion and citation of literature in Peterson, Merrill D., The Jefferson Image in the American Mind (New York, 1960), pp. 306–07, 501–02Google Scholar.

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9 Cf. Cross, Robert D., “The Changing Image of Catholicism in America,” Yale Review, XLVIII (Summer, 1959), 562–75Google Scholar.

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11 On one occasion, while praising the “old, healthy society of the Middle Ages,” composed of “Lehrstand, Wehrstand, und Nährstand,” and insisting that “every society should be structured according to estates,” Kenkel added, in a significant remark: “The American constitution completely did away with this principle, as with so many others,…” He concluded: “Our society is therefore sick because it is wrongly organized.” Offizieller Bericht über die Einundsechszigste General-Versammlung des Deutschen Römisch-Katholischen Central-Vereins …1916 (St. Louis, 1916), pp. 95–96Google Scholar.

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14 Thomas and Znaniecki's classic work, cited above, is the most complete description of peasant life and its bearing on immigration; see especially, volume IV, 235–36. Polish peasant life is also magnificently portrayed in Ladislas Reymont's novel, The Peasants, 4 vols. (New York, 1925)Google Scholar. Covello, Leonard, “The Social Background of the Italo-American School Child” (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, New York University, 1944), is excellent on the influence of the South Italian peasant heritageGoogle Scholar.

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17 Lubell, Samuel, The Future of American Politics (Anchor paperback ed., 1956), pp. 158–60Google Scholar. The basic premise of Covello's study is that the Italo-Americans were still a “problem” element in the schools in the 1940's because of their immigrant background and the difficulties of cultural adjustment; he characterizes their attitude toward high school education as “a pronounced rejection of high school as a whole.” Op. cit., pp. 444, 499. Cf. also Glazer, Nathan and Moynihan, Daniel P., Beyond the Melting Pot (Cambridge, Mass., 1963), pp. 199–202Google Scholar.

18 Hutchinson, E. P., Immigrants and their Children, 1850–1950 (New York, 1956), pp. 95–96Google Scholar, 108, 115. In 1853, Archbishop Bedini said in his report to Rome: “In general, the Catholic religion in the United States is the religion of the domestic servants, of the poor [,] of those whose position is lowest. They have brought this faith with them and the Irish immigrants in great part represent it. To these, the work of a domestic servant or positions in the lowest offices are almost exclusively reserved.” Connelly, James F., The Visit of Archbishop Gaetano Bedini to the United States of America (Rome, 1960), p. 282Google Scholar.

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21 Ibid., p. 132.

22 Cf. Stonequist, Everett V., The Marginal Man (New York, 1937)Google Scholar.

23 According to Riesman, David, “one can hardly emphasize enough Veblen's marginality as a second-generation Norwegian, put off and alienated from the parents' parochial culture but without the ability fully to assimilate and accept the available forms of Americanism…” Thorstein Veblen; A Critical Interpretation (New York, 1953), p. 206Google Scholar.

24 O'Dea, , American Catholic Dilemma, p. 79Google Scholar, alludes to this matter, citing the case especially of writers. One such writer, James T. Farrell, wrote of his generation: “For many of us Americans there is a gap between our past and our present,… We are the sons and daughters, the grandsons and grand-daughters of the disinherited of the earth. Our forbears partook little of the great culture of mankind.” Thomas F. Curley, who quotes Farrell's remarks, adds that the gap of which he speaks “lies not only between poverty and plenty, or between the lower and the middle classes; it is also a gap of piety and, in Farrell's work, of belief itself.” See Curley's, article, “Catholic Novels & American Culture,” Commentary, XXXVI (07, 1963), 34–42Google Scholar. Cf. Glazer, and Moynihan, , op. cit., p. 278Google Scholar.

25 Warner, W. Lloyd and Srole, Leo, The Social Systems of American Ethnic Groups (New Haven, 1945), p. 236 ff.Google Scholar; Thomas, and Znaniecki, , op. cit., V, 50–51.Google Scholar Quotation from Peter, H. and Rossi, Alice S., “Some Effects of Parochial School Education in America,” Daedalus, Spring, 1961, p. 304Google Scholar.

26 Even an individual Polish parish, the very large one of St. Stanislaus Kostka in Chicago, founded its own college. Thomas, and Znaniecki, , op. cit., V, 51Google Scholar. McAvoy, , “Success of the Later Immigrants,” loc. cit., pp. 7–8Google Scholar, mentions the seminaries founded by German and Polish Catholics. The Germans also established a Normal School and the Polish National Alliance a college. Even the small Slovak Catholic group talked of establishing a college in 1913, and Czech Benedictines founded St. Procopius College in 1901. Cf. Zatko, James J., “The Social History of the Slovak Immigrants in America, 1873–1914” (Unpublished master's thesis, University of Notre Dame, n.d.), p. 78Google Scholar.

27 Offizieller Bericht über die Sechszigste General-Versammlung des Deutschen Römisch-Katholischen Central-Vereins… 1915 (St. Louis, 1915), pp. 116–21Google Scholar.

28 Wytrwal, Joseph A., America's Polish Heritage; A Social History of the Poles in America (Detroit, 1961), pp. 254–59Google Scholar.

29 Ibid., p. 193 n.

30 Ham, Edward Billings, “French National Societies in New England,” New England Quarterly, XII (1939), 324–25Google Scholar.

31 Cf. Appel, John J., “The New England Origins of the American Irish Historical Society,” New England Quarterly, XXXIII (1960), 462–75CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

32 “Die Stellung der deutsche Radikalen in Amerika zur Kirche und ihren Stammesgenossen,” Central-Blatt and Social Justice, XIII (12, 1920), 274–76Google Scholar.

33 Haugen, Einar, “The Struggle over Norwegian,” Norwegian-American Studies, XVII (1952), 25, 32–34Google Scholar.

34 In Milwaukee, the Irish “frequently accused the seminary officials of partiality towards students of German descent.” In 1896, the Milwaukee Catholic Citizen commented on the dearth of Irish vocations at the predominantly German seminary and inquired: “Or is there something inhospitable about the atmosphere of St. Francis? We pause for meditation.” McDonald, M. justille F.S.P.A., History of the Irish in Wisconsin in the Nineteenth Century (Washington, 1954), pp. 206–07Google Scholar.

35 Anderson, Elin, We Americans; A Study of Cleavage in an American City (Cambridge, Mass., 1937), p. 101Google Scholar; Rossi, , “Effects of Parochial School Education,” loc. cit., pp. 311, 313Google Scholar; Reilly, Daniel F. O.P., The School Controversy (1891–1893) (Washington, 1943)Google Scholar; Barry, Colman J. O.S.B.. The Catholic Church and German Americans (Milwaukee, 1953), ch. VGoogle Scholar.

36 Foisy, J. Albert, The Sentinellist Agitation in New England (Providence, 1930)Google Scholar.

37 Gleason, John Philip, “The Central-Verein, 1900–1917; A Chapter in the History of the German-American Catholics” (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Notre Dame, 1960), pp. 62–65. Schrembs quoted on p. 65Google Scholar.

38 Ibid., pp. 240–42; 325–31. Kenkel quoted on p. 327.

39 Holweck, F. G., “Rt. Rev. William A. L. Stang, D.D., erster Bischof von Fall River, Mass.,” Pastoral-Blatt, LIII (01, 1919), 1–6;Google Scholar ”Germany's Debt to Ireland; oder Die Christianisirung Deutschlands,” ibid., XXV (May, 1891), 54–58.

40 Joseph, Samuel, Jewish Immigration to the United States from 1881 to 1910 (New York, 1914), pp. 146 ff., 192Google Scholar.

41 Quoted in Sombart, Werner, The Jews and Modern Capitalism (Glencoe, Ill., 1951), p. 258Google Scholar.

42 Ibid., pp. 265, 261.

43 Sklare, Marshall, Conservative Judaism; An American Religious Movement (Glencoe, Ill., 1955), p. 30.Google Scholar Italics in original. Cf. also Sombart, , op. cit., pp. 226–27Google Scholar. Zborowski, Mark and Herzog, Elizabeth, Life is with People; The Culture of the Shtetl (Schocken paperback ed., 1962), is the most detailed description of life in the East European Jewish communityGoogle Scholar.

44 Cohen, Morris R., American Thought; A Critical Sketch (Collier paperback ed., 1962), p. 206Google Scholar.

45 Wirth, Louis, The Ghetto (Phoenix paperback ed., 1956), pp. 54, 61, 80, 235–36Google Scholar; Sklare, , op. cit., p. 52Google Scholar; Strodtbeck, , “Family Interaction,” loc. cit., pp. 149–50Google Scholar; Zborowski, and Herzog, , op. cit., pp. 71–123.Google Scholar The early chapters of Abraham Cahan's novel, The Rise of David Levinsky (Harper paperback ed., 1960)Google Scholar, bring out with great force the importance and prestige of learning and its intimate connection with religion.

46 Nathan Glazer, “The American Jew and the Attainment of Middle-Class Rank; Some Trends and Explanations,” in Marshall Sklare (ed.), The Jews; Social Patterns of an American Group (Glencoe, Ill., 1958), pp. 142–45Google Scholar; Wirth, , op. cit., p. 218Google Scholar; Glazer, Nathan, American Judaism (Chicago, 1957), p. 80.Google Scholar In the case of Italian peasant immigrants, on the other hand, “The old-world system still [in 1944] retains its ancient hold. There is still feeling that higher learning, a profession, is not for the son or daughter of a contadino [peasant].” Covello, , op. cit., p. 503Google Scholar.

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49 Rischin, Moses, The Promised City; New York's Jews, 1870–1914 (Cambridge, Mass., 1962)Google Scholar, esp. chaps. VII–VIII. Cahan, David Levinsky, presents the scene with great immediacy.

50 Cohen, Elliot E. (ed.), Commentary on the American Scene; Portraits of Jewish Life in America (New York, 1953), pp. 262 ff., 282Google Scholar. Kazin's, AlfredA Walker in the City (New York, 1951)Google Scholar, is a reminiscence of his youth in Brownsville.

51 Glazer, , “American Jew and Middle-Class Rank,” loc. cit., pp. 138–46Google Scholar.

52 Glazer, , American Judaism, p. 85Google Scholar; Sklare, , Conservative Judaism, pp. 118–20Google Scholar; Introduction by Cohen, David Riesman to (ed.), op. cit., p. xiiiGoogle Scholar. See also Guttmann, Allen, “Jewish Radicals, Jewish Writers,” American Scholar, XXXII (Autumn, 1963), 563–75,Google Scholar and the symposium, “Jewishness and the Younger Intellectual,” Commentary, XXXI (04, 1961), 306–59Google Scholar, which reveals a very high correlation between intellectualism and loss of Jewish religious faith.

53 Warner, and Srole, , op. cit., p. 204Google Scholar.

54 See the discussion in Glazer, , American Judaism, pp. 69–70, 133–34. Quotation from p. 69. Sombart wrote that “so far as I am aware there is no system of dogmas in Judaism. Wherever compilation of such a system has been attempted it was invariably the work of non-Jews.” Op. cit., p. 202Google Scholar.

55 Glazer, and Moynihan, , op. cit., p. 175Google Scholar, suggest that the explanation for the large number of Jewish psychoanalysts “probably lies in the effects of secularism on Jews, who have been so rapidly divorced from traditional religion and who have accepted the possibilities of science and intellect so completely that a movement like psychoanalysis — even had its founder been a German anti-Semite [rather than a Jew] — would have been irresistibly attractive.”

56 Stonequist, Everett V., “The Marginal Character of the Jews,” in Graeber, I. and Britt, S. H. (eds.), Jews in a Gentile World; The Problem of Anti-Semitism (New York, 1942), pp. 296–310.Google Scholar See also the discussion in Sherman, , op. cit., pp. 122–27Google Scholar.

57 See the essay, “The Intellectual Pre-eminence of the Jews in Modern Europe,” in Veblen, Thorstein, Essays in Our Changing Order (New York, 1934), pp. 219–31Google Scholar.

58 Ibid., pp. 226–27, 229–30.

59 O'Dea, , American Catholic Dilemma, pp. 121–23Google Scholar.

60 “… we have not adequately studied the chief problem of the Catholic Church here in the nineteenth century … Catholic immigration.” Curley, Michael J. C.SS.R., “Deeper Study of Catholic Immigration Needed,” Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, LXIX (03–06, 1958), 62Google Scholar.