U. S. History Archives

IP#330 Terrence Wright – “Dorothy Day” on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor Podcast

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I really love this book! This is a must-have entry point for anyone wanting to learn more about an incredible 20th-century American woman who’s life continues to speak to us today! In “Dorothy Day: An Introduction to Her Life and Thought” by Terrence Wright we are shown what conversion looks like and what fruit can be nurtured by a life steeped in mercy, prayer, and care for those in need. Servant of God Dorothy Day, please pray for us!

You can find the book here

From the book description:

In this introduction to the life and thought of Dorothy Day, one of the most important lay Catholics of the twentieth century, Terrence Wright presents her radical response to God’s mercy. After a period of darkness and sin, which included an abortion and a suicide attempt, Day had a profound awakening to God’s unlimited love and mercy through the birth of her daughter.

After her conversion, Day answered the calling to bring God’s mercy to others. With Peter Maurin, she founded the Catholic Worker Movement in 1933. Dedicated to both the spiritual and the corporal works of mercy, they established Houses of Hospitality, Catholic Worker Farms, and the Catholic Worker newspaper.

Drawing heavily from Day’s own writings, this book reveals her love for Scripture, the sacraments, and the magisterial teaching of the Church. The author explores her philosophy and spirituality, including her devotion to Saints Francis, Benedict, and Thérèse. He also shows how her understanding of the Mystical Body of Christ led to some of her more controversial positions such as pacifism.

Since her death in 1980, Day continues to serve as a model of Christian love and commitment. She recognized Christ in the less fortunate and understood that to be a servant of these least among us is to be a servant of God.

IP#312 Dr. Kevin Starr – Continental Ambitions on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

For the Audio only:

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What a delight to speak with Dr. Kevin Starr about “Continental Ambitions: Roman Catholics in North America: the Colonial Experience”! This volume is a beautifully massive work of “historical art”; so thorough and engaging, I couldn’t stop turning the pages! Dr. Starr is a master storyteller. It’s as though he has you on a high precipice overlooking a grand vista, and with the broad swipe of his arm, he points out all the personalities and movements shaping an ever changing view. And during our conversation, it was an absolute joy to hear the enthusiasm and love he has for history and for this particular subject. I simply cannot recommend this book more highly!

You can find the book here

“These accounts of a human drama heroic and villainous, saintly and sanguineous, are a feast for the historian and, more importantly, food for our generation starved of the story of its own past. The romantic whose knowledge is airbrushed and the cynic whose knowledge is cobbled together with clichés will jointly be challenged. For everyone, reading this book could be a transforming experience, and a delight as well.”
Fr. George Rutler, Author, He Spoke to Us: Discerning God in People and Events

“To see in one book the history of Catholics in the New World, its glories and its tragedies, is almost like reading a secret history of a lost tribe. Kevin Starr s magisterial narration of European Catholic presence in North America the Norse, the Spanish, the French, the English, plus a few others is a contribution of the first order to our understanding of the whole foundation of this land of the free.”
James V. Schall, S.J. Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University

IP#20 Anthony Burke Smith – The Look of Catholics on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

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“The Look of Catholics: Portrayals in Popular Culture from the Great Depression to the Cold War” is a fascinating work by Anthony Burke Smith. In film, radio, print Catholics contributed significantly to the American Imagination during some of the truly toughest years our nation has faced. It is really interesting how the country turned to the virtuous communal nature of the Catholic identity to lift itself during this time. From Leo McCarey’s Oscar-winning “Go My Way” to Archbishop Fulton Sheen to Henry Luce (publisher of Life magazine), Anthony covers a vast array of areas in this study. I loved it, and I bet so will you!

You can find Anthony’s book at Amazon.com

“Smith’s ambitious and exemplary work demonstrates decisively for all time that Catholics were not only integral players in the formation of modern American popular culture but that the role of Catholicism itself in the national popular culture was a major issue in the production of that same culture. . . . A wonderfully exciting book that will be widely hailed as a landmark achievement confirm the author’s stature as the leading scholar of Catholic popular culture, and be consulted by scholars and their students for decades to come.” –James T. Fisher

IP#134 Dr. Thomas Kidd – Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots on Inside the Pages

During this time when we are asked to remember the value of our religious liberty, our conversation with Dr. Thomas Kidd is an important one. Dr. Kidd gives us the life and passionate thought of “Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots”. Patrick Henry gave us the great rallying cry “Give me Liberty or Give me Death”, and yet many of us may not realize that he had huge reservations about the scope of the Constitution, because he feared it could one day seize that liberty and destroy it if allowed to go unchecked….very interesting. I found this to be a fascinating book. Would Patrick Henry’s concern turn out to be a prophetic one? Dr. Thomas Kidd handles his subject well, and presents the time, place and overall personality of Henry with clarity and insight in a very compelling read.

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Dr. Thomas Kidd teaches history at Baylor University and is Senior Fellow at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion. His newest book is Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots, published in 2011 with Basic Books. God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution was published in 2010, also by Basic Books. Additional recent books include American Christians and Islam, published in 2008 by Princeton University Press, The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America, published by Yale University Press in 2007, and The Great Awakening: A Brief History with Documents, with Bedford Books in 2007. He is a contributor to patheos.com and has written op-eds for USA Today and the Washington Post.

You can find the book here

Wilfred M. McClay, SunTrust Chair of Excellence in Humanities, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

“His (Patrick Henry’a) historical reputation has suffered somewhat because of his opposition to the Constitution, but as Thomas Kidd shows in this vivid and lucid new biography, that judgment fails to do him justice. Indeed, his fears of the Constitution’s tendency toward consolidation and empire turned out to be well-founded, and the principal themes of his life, including his emphasis upon the cultivation of virtue and the protection of limited government, have never been more relevant. May this fine book lead to a long-overdue reconsideration of a great but neglected figure.”

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Prayer of Pope Benedict XVI at Ground Zero

“We ask you, in your compassion to bring healing to those who, because of their presence here that day, suffer from injuries and illness. Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy. Give them strength to continue their lives with courage and hope.

“We are mindful as well of those who suffered death, injury, and loss on the same day at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Our hearts are one with theirs as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.

“God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world: peace in the hearts of all men and women and peace among the nations of the Earth. Turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred.

“God of understanding, overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy, we seek your light and guidance as we confront such terrible events. Grant that those whose lives were spared may live so that the lives lost here may not have been lost in vain. Comfort and console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and courage to work tirelessly for a world where true peace and love reign among nations and in the hearts of all.” AMEN

IP#23 Nancy Collins – The Archbishop Wore Combat Boots on Inside the Pages

I LOVE biographies, so when this one came along I was delighted. A memoir from a man who experienced the 20th century in all it’s ugly moments and also in it’s beauty…Archbishop Philip Hannan. From Irish immigrant parents, to WWII, to the Kennedy White House, to Hurricane Katrina…what a story. Wonderful! I talked with Nancy Collins, 2nd cousin of the Archbishop, who assisted him in writing his memoir. Nancy is an engaging personality in her own right, and that really comes through in our conversation! She reflects on the Archbishop’s life and contribution to our country and times…praise God the greatest generation is still with us to teach and guide!

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You can get a copy here