About This Issue
This issue marks the second appearance of the new/old American Catholic Studies. Although the first issue under this title appeared in print in August of 2001, the journal under its former name, RECORDS of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia has been in continuous existence since 1887. It may have a new name and a new look (color photographs on the cover yet!), but American Catholic Studies will continue to publish articles, symposia, and book reviews relating to the historical study of Catholicism in the United States. We are grateful to the members of the American Catholic Historical Society for their financial and moral support, and to Villanova University for providing additional financial assistance and office space.
This issue reflects a few of the ways in which research on the history of American Catholicism is currently being conducted. The article by Regina Siegfried, ACS, for instance, places Jessica Powers within the context of the Catholic Revival. As Seigfried notes, Powers has been overlooked in other studies of the Revival, but an in-depth examination of the Carmelite poetess may shed additional light on this event. "Protestant Mother and Catholic Sisters," by Joseph Mannard, looks at nineteenth-century convent education through the eyes of antebellum Protestant female reformers. Despite the anti-Catholic rhetoric found in the writing and thought of some of these reformers, Mannard finds that they admired the ways in which Catholic women were educated. Anne Klejment provides readers with one look at the American Catholic world of the 1950s through the lens of Catholic Digest, a magazine still being published today. Using financial records and advertising campaigns, Klejment explores the way in which CD responded to U.S. Catholicism during the post-war era. Sr. Marcianne Kappes' article on Bishop Augustin Verot examines the prelate (usually remembered for his role at Vatican Council I) within the context of the American experience. The author gives us an idea of Verot's views on issues relevant to his life in the United States, such as slavery and the era of reconstruction, in order to provide a better understanding of the prelate's role at the first Vatican Council. Msgr. William Kerby is the subject of C. Joseph Nuesse's article. As the first Catholic sociologist to hold a faculty position at a Catholic university, Kerby's writing and teaching would influence future generations of Catholic sociologists and social workers. If you read Rodger Van Allen's brief reflection on Father Andrew Greeley, you will understand why we chose to be on the cover of this issue!
We hope this issue of American Catholic Studies contributes to a field of study that is finally coming into its own. Read and enjoy! And let us hear from you. We welcome your comments and suggestions, as well as your manuscripts.
Margaret McGuinness, Co-editor