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.

Blessed Stanley Rother

Bl. Stanley Rother was an Oklahoma farm boy who became a priest and then missionary in Guatemala during the height of its civil war. Tom and ... Read more

Cinderella Man

James Braddock was a rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-riches story of the 1920s and 30s, and was heavyweight boxing champion, winning in a stunning ... Read more

Annie Moore and Catholic Immigration

On January 1, 1892, Annie Moore was the first immigrant to pass through the gates of Ellis Island and as Tom and Noelle Crowe tell her story, ... Read more

Frank Capra

You may know his name as director of It's A Wonderful Life, but as Tom and Noelle Crowe reveal, Frank Capra was a talented Catholic storyteller ... Read more

St. Mary’s, Galveston

St. Mary Cathedral in Galveston is the Mother Church of the Catholic Church in Texas. Tom and Noelle Crowe tell the story of St. Mary's and of ... Read more

Fr. Leo Heinrichs, OFM

Fr. Leo Heinrichs was a Franciscan martyred during Mass in his Colorado parish in 1908. Tom and Noëlle Crowe reveal the story of this humble ... Read more

William Grace

William Grace was an Irish immigrant to the US, founder of a successful company that remains to this day, a generous philanthropist, and first ... Read more

St. Anthony Chapel, Pittsburgh

St. Anthony Chapel in Pittsburgh is a remarkable place of pilgrimage containing more than 5,000 relics of saints, the Blessed Mother, and ... Read more

Bl. Carlos Rodriguez

Carlos Rodriguez was the first Puerto Rican to be beatified and the first Caribbean native layman. Tom and Noelle Crowe talk about what made ... Read more

Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli

A young Italian Dominican friar named Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli came to the American Midwest in the early 19th century. Tom and Noëlle Crowe ... Read more

The Martyrs of La Florida

Over the span of about 200 years, up to 1,000 Catholic missionaries and natives, including men, women, and children, were martyred in what is ... Read more

Rose Hawthorne

Rose Hawthorne was born into 19th century American literary royalty, but as Tom and Noelle Crowe reveal, she suffered the deaths of family, ... Read more

Archbishop Charles John Seghers, Apostle to Alaska

In the late 19th century, Charles Seghers was bishop of Vancouver, then archbishop of Oregon City, but his heart was in the missions of Alaska. ... Read more

Loretto Staircase

An amazing spiral staircase stands in a chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the result of prayers of the nuns who needed it. Tom and Noelle Crowe ... Read more

Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth was the greatest baseball player of all time, but he was no saint in his personal life. Yet, as Tom and Noelle Crowe reveal, his ... Read more

John Barry

Commodore John Barry is known as the Father of the US Navy, its first commissioned officer, and first flag officer. Tom and Noelle Crowe trace ... Read more

James Longstreet

James Longstreet was a Civil War Confederate general rejected by his former compatriots after the war who eventually became Catholic. Tom and ... Read more

Henriette DeLille

Henriette DeLille was a woman of mixed race in antebellum New Orleans who rejected the social pressure to become a concubine. Tom and Noelle ... Read more

Stagecoach Mary

Mary Fields was a gun-toting, hard-drinking, street-brawling black woman on the old frontier. Tom and Noelle Crowe also reveal that she was a ... Read more

Mount Saint Macrina

Every year, thousands of Eastern-rite Catholics gather in a small Western Pennsylvania town on pilgrimage to Mount Saint Macrina. Tom and ... Read more