Untitled - Digitizing America

Now a great movement began for conversion;
large numbers of Negroes, for instance, were converted
in New York City. Very few blacks had been
Catholic before, except in Louisiana and southern
Maryland where there were a large number of
Black Catholics since Colonial days-yet the conversion
of Blacks was a nation-wide phenomenon
that continued to grow until the late Fifties.
Schools grew and many new classrooms served
as convents for their teachers after school hours.
Alfred Emmanuel Smith of New York City, a "wet"
Democrat, lost to Herbert Hoover in 1928's presidential
race, but he surprised pollsters by gaining
more than forty percent of the popular vote. ln fact,
he brought in more votes than the Democratic
party had ever before received. During the campaign
there was a revival of interest in the Ku Klux
KIan, since he was popular with not only the
"papists" but with the "foreigners" as well.
At least, his loss meant that he could not be
blamed for October 29. 192Hhe black day that
led to miseries and a skyrocketing suicide rate for
the next few years. Not only financial investors lost
in those Great Depression years. People from
wery walk of life stood in breadlines. Many farmers
lost their lands to mortgage-holders. St.
Xavier Farm at old Bohemia Manor, deeded by the
diocese to the Jesuits in 1898, had been used as
loan collateral. lt, too, was lost.
As Rudy Vallee's melodious voice echoed Ufe ls
Just A BowlOf Cherrles from American radios, the
Lindbergh baby was kidnapped and murdered;
Franklin Delano Roosevelt left the Governorship
of New York and became President of a deeply
troubled United States; Prohibition was repealed;
the Morro Castle disaster killed 137 persons; Will
Rogers and Wiley Post lost their lives in an Alaskan
plane crash; a three-year drought turned the
Great Plains into "the Dust Bowl."
The Church was a blessed solace and source of
strength to the faithful in those hours of trial. Godis
our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble.
Chu rch affairs were the center of the Cathol ic fam ily's
life in the Twenties and Thirties as they enjoyed
peace after war and then sought relief from
Depression tribulations. Dramas, minstrels, and
pageants were planned for allage groups. Strawberry
festivals, bazaars, balls, concerts, lectures,
card parties, interspersed with Masses, special
devotions, society meetings, religious festivals
and processions, filled the days and nights of good
Catholics. "Five-dollars-a-month" pews were reserved
for the more prosperous, but giving was a
natural part of belonging and bullding.
Some new parisheslarticularly, but not only,
"national" parishes-had to prove a need for their
existence by accumulating funds for a building
before their establishment was approved. These
fund-raising campaigns often included the "selling"
of bricks for the church-usually at ten cents
apiece. Sometimes Protestant friends, as well as
neighboring parishes, joined in the crusade. Oldtimers
recollect, "our campaign lasted so long,
each brick must have been bought at least twice!"
Active St. Vincent de Paul Societies, and other
church-sponsored groups, visited jails, established
homes for wayward and orphaned boys,
and were missionaries to homeless and "downtrodden"
men. They helped pay rents and brought
foodstuffs to families suffering under the burdens
of Depression days. Well-known during these
times was Dorothy Day and The Catholic Worker.
Hard times had united our nation as never before.
It was not long before that spirit of unity was to be
tested again. While ShirleyTemple and the dance
team of Astaire and Rogers were captivating
movie theater audiences in 1936, Germany was
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