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.

Bloody Monday in Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky, 1855. Election day turned into a violent massacre as Know Nothings attacked Catholics to prevent them from voting. Tom ... Read more

Edgar Allan Poe and the Blessed Mother

Edgar Allan Poe, the master of the macabre, was not Catholic, but much of his writing was filled with Catholic sensibilities, and even ... Read more

Father Mulcahy, MASH

Father Mulcahy was one of the most important priests ever on network TV. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us how this humble fictional military ... Read more

St. Junipero Serra

The Franciscan friar St. Junipero Serra is called the Father of California. Tom and Noëlle Crowe reveal his single-minded devotion to ... Read more

Doc Holliday

Doc Holliday was a real Old West character, a dentist, a gambler, and a gunslinger. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us that he was also a Catholic ... Read more

St. Mary of Sorrows, Clara Barton, and the Red Cross

The little Catholic church of St. Mary's in Fairfax Station, Virginia, played an important role in the Civil War as a hospital for wounded ... Read more

Venerable Nelson Baker

Ven. Nelson Baker was a Catholic priest whose radical trust in Our Lady of Victory helped him serve orphans, mothers, and children for decades. ... Read more

Roman Martyrs in a Kentucky Catholic Church

Why does a very old Catholic parish in Kentucky have the complete relics of two Roman martyrs? Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell the fascinating story ... Read more

Mark Twain and Joan of Arc

Tha man who wrote Tom Sawyer would seem an unlikely author of a book about Joan of Arc. Tom and Noëlle Crowe explain how Mark Twain, this ... Read more

Fr. Francis Sampson, Paratrooper Padre

Fr. Francis Sampson was chaplain with the 101st Airborne who jumped over France on D-Day, 1944. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us of the selfless ... Read more

Andre Cailloux

Capt. Andre Cailloux was a black free man and a hero of the Civil War. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us how this Catholic family man joined the ... Read more

Maria von Trapp

Maria von Trapp's life inspired the film The Sound of Music, but as Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us, her life was so much more exciting and ... Read more

Immaculate Conception, Patroness of the USA

In 1846, the bishops of the USA named the Blessed Mother under her title of Immaculate Conception as Patroness of the USA. Tom and Noëlle Crowe ... Read more

Sr. Ignatia and Alcoholics Anonymous

AA has been a blessing in the lives in many thousands and Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us how Sr. Ignatia Gavin was at the root of its founding ... Read more

Patricia Neal

Patricia Neal was a Hollywood star who nevertheless encountered trouble and tragedy in her life through infidelity, abortion, and illness. But ... Read more

Gary Cooper

Gary Cooper was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and lived a life reflective of that status, including some moral failings. But Tom and ... Read more

America’s First Mass, Florida, 1513

The first Mass celebrated in America may have been celebrated in Eastertide in Florida in 1513. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell the story of Ponce de ... Read more

Roger Maris

While the current Major League record holder for most home runs in a season has an asterisk in the book, Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us that ... Read more

Jean Louis Cheverus

Jean Cheverus was the first bishop of Boston and as Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us he was beloved throughout his diocese, by both Catholics and ... Read more

Daniel Barber

Daniel Barber was a man of integrity who followed where the truth led him. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us how Barber, an early 19th-century ... Read more