Thomas H. O'Connor (1922–2012)

Boston Catholics is a history of the church in Boston from colonial times to the end of the 20th century. It offers an interesting overview of how Catholics grew from a persecuted minority to the dominant faith in the city. The early parts of this book were particularly interesting with the official creation of a diocese after the Revolution under the leadership of French bishop Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus. It was interesting to learn that while Puritan Boston persecuted Catholics in show more colonial Boston and nativist violence against Catholics rose in the mid-1800s, there was actually a period in-between when the French clergy ingratiated themselves with Yankee Protestants and enjoyed greater tolerance. Albeit, this was when the number of Catholics in Boston was quite small, but soon would swell with the immigration of Irish Americans who took control of the diocese from the French Americans.

While I found the book an interesting and well-written survey of Catholic history in Boston, there were a few things that troubled me. First, O'Connor structures the book around the bishops/archbishops of Boston and each section of the book focus on their leadership and influence on the church. While this could be a meta-commentary on the top-down hierarchy of the Church, I would've liked to see more about the ordinary Catholics about whom O'Connor only writes in general terms. Second, while the Irish American domination of the archdiocese is evident, I was surprised at how little O'Connor wrote about Catholics from other backgrounds. Even Italian Americans only got a few pages of the narrative, while the contemporary emergence of Boston Catholic communities originating from Haiti, Latin America, and Southeast Asia are simply mentioned. Finally, I feel that O'Connor's respect and love for the Church made it difficult for him to write from a neutral position as a historian.

Of course, the biggest thing that's missing from the book is due to the fact that it was published in 1998. While O'Connor mentions cases of clergy sexual abuse of children, the full extent of the abuse and the Archdiocese's coverup were not revealed until 2002. The scandal forever damaged the Church in Boston and ordinary Catholics relationships with the Archdiocese and their parishes. Had the book been written a few years later it would not only be a significant addition to the history, but would also recontexualized much of the history O'Connor wrote about the Church in the 20th century. Even beyond the sexual abuse crisis, there's irony near the end of the book when O'Connor praises Cardinal Bernard Law for look to the future by creating Caritas Christi Health Care to manage Catholic hospitals in the city. Caritas Christi was later sold to private equity and became Steward Health Care System, which due to financial mismanagement went bankrupt in 2024, leading to the oldest Catholic hospital in Boston - Carney Hospital - permanently closing. It leaves a bitter taste to read O'Connor's optimistic appraisal of Boston Catholicism knowing what has happened in the ensuing three decades. show less

Like other O’Connor works of late, this is kind of History Lite, with an exceptionally excessive ‘rah-rah’ approach to many of the personages depicted even they’re anti-abolitionists, corrupt politicians or exploitative industrialists. On the other hand, the book makes for a good quick reference guide to the varied personalities who populate Boston’s history. One improvement I would like to see is to arrange the biographies chronologically as opposed to alphabetically. Still there show more are more than a few Eminent Bostonians of whom I’d like to learn more:

Abigail Adams – thoughtfully patriotic woman of the Revolution / early Federal period

Emily Greene Balch – peace activist

Melnea Cass – civil rights and social justice leader

Allan Crite – self-educated artist

Mary Dyer – Quaker, proponent of freedom of religious conscience

Isabella Stewart Gardner – eccentric socialite and art collecter

Anne Hutchinson – religious leader

Elma Lewis – educator

Martin Lomasney – politician,

“The great mass of people are interested in only three things – food, clothing, and shelter. A politician in a district like mine sees to it that his people get these things. If he does, the he doesn’t have to worry about their loyalty and support.” (p. 166)

Robert Morris – lawyer and bridge-builder between African- and Irish – American communities.

Julia O’Connor – union activist

John Boyle O’Reilly – journalist and social activist

Mary Kenney O’Sullivan – union activist

Preston “Sandy” Sandiford – jazz musician

Lucy Stone – suffragist and feminist

Kip Tiernan – founder of Rosie’s Place show less

Subtitled "A Political History" this is the Dean of Boston History's story of the rise of Irish from subjugated minority to political power in Boston. While there is a lot more that could be said of Boston Irish history this book focuses on the Irish mayors and a few other political leaders as well as Irish-American Catholic bishops attempts to help lead their flock into the Boston mainstream. O'Connor follows to trends - the business-like, accommodationist attempts to work with the show more traditional Yankee power elite and the more confrontational, neighborhood-focused style emphasized by John Fitzgerald and James Michael Curley. This was an interesting summary of politics in Boston history and especially informative of the big figures in recent history of Boston. show less