Category Archives: American Catholic History

Tom and Noelle Crowe finds the hidden gems and compelling stories of Catholic Americans who have contributed to their nation by virtue of their faith over the past three centuries.

Sister Blandina, Fastest Nun in the West

Sister Blandina was a tiny Italian-born nun in the late 19th century sent alone to bring the Gospel to the Wild West. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell ... Read more

Mrs. Mattingly’s Miracle

In 1824, a Catholic widow in Washington, DC, experienced a miraculous healing of a debilitating cancer that had kept her bedridden for six ... Read more

John McLoughlin, Father of Oregon

In the early 1800s, John McLoughlin was in charge of essentially all of the Pacific Northwest as local head of major trading company. Tom and ... Read more

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock was a master filmmaker who created some of the most compelling movies of the 20th century. Tom and Noëlle Crowe also tell us ... Read more

An important message from StarQuest’s Dom Bettinelli

Dom Bettinelli shares an important message about the future of this podcast and all the shows at StarQuest. Read more

Fr. Vincent Capodanno, The Grunt Padre

Fr. Vincent Capodanno was a chaplain with the US Marines in Vietnam and a Maryknoll priest. As Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us in this very ... Read more

Lt. Col. John Fitzgerald

John Fitzgerald was a Catholic and one of George Washington's aides de camp. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us that Fitzgerald helped Washington ... Read more

Fr. John Bapst, SJ, and the “Know Nothings”

Before he was the first president of Boston College, Jesuit Fr. John Bapst served Catholics as a pastor in Maine. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us ... Read more

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne

Surviving the French revolution, Rose Philippine Duchesne's dream was to go to the New World and become a missionary to the native peoples. Tom ... Read more

Eusebio Kino

Fr. Eusebio Kino, S.J., was a 17th century Jesuit who ministered tirelessly to the native people of Arizona and Sonoran Mexico. Tom and Noëlle ... Read more

Potawatomi Trail of Death and Father Benjamin Petit

In 1836, the Potawatomi native Americans, many of whom were Catholic, were forced off their land in Indiana and force-marched to Kansas. Tom ... Read more

Padre Pio and US Servicemen

While Padre Pio was not American, as Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us, he did have some interesting interactions with US servicemen during and ... Read more

Joyce Kilmer

Every student learns the poem "Trees" in school. But now Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us the story of its author Joyce Kilmer Catholic convert who ... Read more

Dorothy Day

Dorothy Day famously asked not to be called a saint in her lifetime. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us this Catholic champion of the rights and ... Read more

Irene Dunne

Irene Dunne was one of the most successful and famous actresses of Hollywood's golden age. But as Tom and Noëlle Crowe recall, she was also a ... Read more

Kentucky Catholics and Bourbon

The histories of whiskey and Catholicism in Kentucky have close ties. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us of the Kentucky pioneers who established ... Read more

Gene Kranz

Gene Kranz was an unsung hero of NASA's golden age of manned spaceflight. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us that as director of mission control, he ... Read more

Happy Easter from StarQuest

From all of us at StarQuest, we wish you a Happy and Blessed Easter with this brief message from our chaplain, Fr. Cory Sticha. Read more

Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra was perhaps the greatest catcher in baseball history, but he might almost be better known for "Yogi-isms," his homespun, ... Read more

The 1918 Spanish Flu and Philadelphia’s Catholics

The Influenza pandemic of 1918 hit Philadelphia particularly hard, killing up to 16,000 people. Tom and Noëlle Crowe explore how the Catholic ... Read more