Showing papers in "Religion and American Culture-a Journal of Interpretation in 1994"
23 citations
TL;DR: The first attempt at integration of the city's "white" parish by a group of African American Catholic teenagers met with fierce resistance as discussed by the authors and the bishop of Montgomery, Thomas Toolen, attempted to prevent northern Catholics from responding to the pleas of civil rights activists for assistance, maintaining that outsiders
Abstract: ICatholic participation in the southern civil rights movement culminated at Selma in March 1965. As was customary in much of the South, Selma's Catholic churches were strictly segregated, with the priests in charge of the African American "mission" parish ignored by the city's other clergy. (One attempt at integration of the city's "white" parish by a group of African American Catholic teenagers met with fierce resistance.)' In addition, the bishop of Montgomery, Thomas Toolen, attempted to prevent northern Catholics from responding to the pleas of civil rights activists for assistance, maintaining that outsiders
17 citations
TL;DR: In 1822, from his Conway home in the shadow of New Hampshire's White Mountains, one Dr. William Porter surveyed the nation's religious landscape and prophesied, "in half a century there will be no Pagans, Jews, Mohammedans, Unitarians or Methodists" as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In 1822, from his Conway home in the shadow of New Hampshire's White Mountains, one Dr. Porter surveyed the nation's religious landscape and prophesied, “in half a century there will be no Pagans, Jews, Mohammedans, Unitarians or Methodists.” The prophecy proved false on all counts, but it was most glaringly false in the case of the Methodists. In less than a decade, Porter's home state became the eighth to elect a Methodist governor. Should Porter have fled south into Massachusetts to escape the rising Methodist tide, he would only have been buying time. True, the citizens of Provincetown, Massachusetts, had, in 1795, razed a Methodist meetinghouse and tarred and feathered a Methodist in effigy. By 1851, however, the Methodists boasted a swelling Cape Cod membership, a majority of the church members on Martha's Vineyard, and a governor in the Massachusetts statehouse.
14 citations
TL;DR: Woodward as mentioned in this paper argued that the churches were losing their sense as agencies for the plain folk to criticize the complacency, the hierarchical pretensions, and perceived decadence of the upper class.
Abstract: Two of the primary images most scholars have of the religion of white southerners in the postbellum period seem inconsistent or even contradictory. One image portrays members of the mainstream Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches as becoming increasingly secure in their positions as leaders of southern society. The churches were losing, or had already lost, their sense as agencies for the plain folk to criticize the complacency, the hierarchical pretensions, and perceived decadence of the upper class. In doing so, they had taken on the characteristics John Lee Eighmy best described as Churches in Cultural Captivity.' As on so many topics, C. Vann Woodward states this position most clearly. The Methodists and Baptists, he argued, briefly
9 citations
TL;DR: In many Native American cultures, a recent issue of national importance to some Native Americans is "repatriation"; in effect, the control and return of human burials and associated artifacts now held by educational institutions and museums throughout the United States.
Abstract: Throughout history, human communities have converted the dead into sources of living power by grafting symbolic structures onto them and their places of interment. The impact of these structures on society, however, indicates that the "dead" are understood as more than physical remains. The dead can be imagined also as memories, spirits, or deities, and the physical or spiritual locations where they reside are essential to the vitality of the symbolism. When the dead are symbolized and carefully integrated into cultural and/or religious systems, they can become a potent source of political power for those who control the meaning of the dead and their physical remains. For this reason, the dead-especially their tombs and remains-have historically been a valuable commodity in the religious and cultural marketplace.2 The process of "politicizing" the spiritual and physical remains of the dead, an identifiable pattern in many religious traditions, suggests that there is an integral relation between religious identity, cultural constructions of power, and death. When conflict arises and the meaning and handling of the dead are disputed by interested parties, the battle for control can lead to important changes in both identity and the distribution of social power. Indeed, a recent issue of national importance to some Native Americans is "repatriation"; in effect, the control and return of human burials and associated artifacts now held by educational institutions and museums throughout the United States. For some Native American groups, claiming solidarity with the burials has led to an enhancement of the power of the living and a restructuring of the "other" world of the dead.3 When examined as a means of gathering
8 citations
TL;DR: In the musical "Easter parade" as discussed by the authors, Berlin's character, Don Hewes, sings and dances his way along the streets of New York past a dry-goods store and through millinery, florist, and toy shops.
Abstract: Irving Berlin's popular musical of 1948, Easter Parade, starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, opens with a wonderful shopping scene. It is the day before Easter, 1911. Astaire's character, Don Hewes, sings and dances his way along the streets of New York past a dry-goods store and through millinery, florist, and toy shops. “Me, oh, my,” he sings, “there's a lot to buy. There is shopping I must do. Happy Easter to you.” In the millinery store saleswomen model elaborate Easter bonnets and mellifluously offer their wares: “Here's a hat that you must take home. Happy Easter…. This was made for the hat parade on the well-known avenue. This one's nice and it's worth the price. Happy Easter to you.” Everywhere Hewes goes he buys things—a bonnet, a large pot of lilies, a toy bunny. By the time he leaves the florist, he has purchased so many gifts that he is followed by three attendants who help carry all the packages. Don Hewes is a consumer on a spree, and Easter is the occasion for it.
5 citations
TL;DR: For quite some time Timothy L. Smith and J. Edwin Orr have been nudging other historians to sit up and take notice of a revival that is so haphazardly interpreted that there exists little unanimity on what even to call it as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: For quite some time Timothy L. Smith and J. Edwin Orr have been nudging other historians to sit up and take notice of a revival that is so haphazardly interpreted that there exists little unanimity on what even to call it. So began a 1982 essay by Leonard Sweet on the Revival of 1857-58, an event usually remembered for its widely publicized urban prayer meetings. As Sweet alluded, lack of consensus on what to call this revival reflected only the tip of an iceberg of interpretative confusion. In addition to what they should title it, historians have differed over where the revival began, how long it lasted, which regions of the country were involved, its religious and cultural significance, and even whether anything happened that actually had significance worthy of academic investigation.
5 citations
TL;DR: The study of evangelical moral reform has become one of the most fruitful areas of research in American religious history as discussed by the authors, and many of these interpretations follow much the same story line: antebellum evangelicals attempted, however nobly or misguidedly, to impose their standards of piety and morality on the American public.
Abstract: The study of evangelical moral reform has become one of the most fruitful areas of research in American religious history. By looking at reform, particularly voluntary societies, social and political historians have acknowledged the cultural importance of religion. Thus, nineteenth-century evangelicals have been recognized for their positive, negative, or ambiguous contributions to American society. Often with great success, historians have expounded and promoted interpretations of social control, capitalist expansionism, and neo-Marxism regarding evangelical social action. Yet, in spite of differing nuances, many of these interpretations follow much the same story line: antebellum evangelicals attempted, however nobly or misguidedly, to impose their standards of piety and morality on the American public. They feared the chaos released by the American and French revolutions.
4 citations
TL;DR: Rader was not referring to the visit of a mass evangelist; rather, he meant the graft prosecutions officially launched in October 1906 against the Union Labor party administration of the city of San Francisco.
Abstract: Almost a year after the great earthquake and fire of April 1906, San Francisco clergyman William Rader declared, "We are having a true revival of religion." Writing in the San Francisco-based Congregationalist weekly Pacific, Rader was not referring to the visit of a mass evangelist; rather, he meant the graft prosecutions officially launched in October 1906 against the Union Labor party administration of the city. He compared Rudolph Spreckels, a reform-minded member of the city's financial elite who was helping to fund the prosecution, and Francis J. Heney, the lead prosecuting attorney, to the late-nineteenth-century revival team of Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey. "God is moving the city," Rader asserted, "and when a number of our supervisors and other officials are sent to prison we will be more free. ... Thank God the Christ spirit is not dead; it lives."' That a Protestant clergyperson of the early twentieth century would view an urban reform crusade in religious terms is not surprising. The close ties between Progressive-era reform and American religion have been firmly established by a number of historians.2 Rader reflected a "crusading" moral reformism that pervaded Anglo-American Protestantism between 1890 and 1920.3 Anglo-Protestantism (shorthand for Anglo-American Protestantism) was a religious tradition that, by the turn of the century, appeared to be justifiably confident of its place in the nation. It was differentiated by denominations-the northern Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists, together with the Congregationalists and Episcopalians, were the largest groups-but it was bound together by Caucasian race, English language, interand nondenominational organizations, and a "canopy" of common sensibilities forged in British and North American contexts.4 Important elements of the AngloProtestant worldview included the theological and moral authority of the Bible, the personal and Christocentric focus of salvation and piety, the activist character of the Christian life, and the millennial goal of
4 citations
TL;DR: A review of recent works on Native American religions that make good additions to courses on American history is given in this paper. But the review focuses on three ways of including Native American religion in courses: framing questions, case study and key themes.
Abstract: What are some recent works on Native American religions that make good additions to courses on American History? With this question, the editors framed their charge for this review. This is a good moment to pose such a question because of the recent upsurge in publishing on the subject of Native American religious life. The treatment of some recent books is outlined in three stages that cover three ways of including Native American religions in courses: framing questions, case study, and key themes. Of course, teachers teach best within the compass of their own interests. This is where their passions reside and where there is the deepest motivation to communicate clearly with others. There is much to be interested in and passionate about in the recent publications on Native American religions. Can there be a more pressing question for historians of American culture than this: how will we reflect on and
1 citations