Tracing the development of social reform movements among American
Catholics from 1880 to 1925, Deirdre Moloney reveals how Catholic
gender ideologies, emerging middle-class values, and ethnic
identities shaped the goals and activities of lay activists.
Rather than simply appropriate American reform models, ethnic
Catholics (particularly Irish and German Catholics) drew
extensively on European traditions as they worked to establish
settlement houses, promote temperance, and aid immigrants and the
poor. Catholics also differed significantly from their Protestant
counterparts in defining which reform efforts were appropriate for
women. For example, while women played a major role in the
Protestant temperance movement beginning in the mid-nineteenth
century, Catholic temperance remained primarily a male movement in
America. Gradually, however, women began to carve out a significant
role in Catholic charitable and reform efforts.
The first work to highlight the wide-ranging contributions of the
Catholic laity to Progressive-era reform, the book shows how lay
groups competed with Protestant reformers and at times even
challenged members of the Catholic hierarchy. It also explores the
tension that existed between the desire to demonstrate the
compatibility of Catholicism with American values and the wish to
preserve the distinctiveness of Catholic life.