1. History

2. References

3. External links

4. Saint Joseph Catholic Church (Alexandria, VA)

St. Joseph Catholic Church in the Old Town Historic District, of Alexandria, Virginia, (United States) was founded with assistance from Mother Katherine Drexel and the Josephite Fathers in 1916 as a mission church for Black Catholics. In 1967, Richmond Bishop John J. Russell established the mission as a parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington in Virginia.

History

Before the Civil War, slaves came from around Northern Virginia worshiped at Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria, VA with slave owners. During the Civil War, Alexandria population swelled with contrabands, escaped slaves and who also worshiped at St. Mary. However, after the Civil War, Jim Crow laws restricted the rights of black Americans. Black Catholics were forced to worship from the back of the church, then told not to sit with the main congregation. They sat in the north wing, had their own religious education classes and were married by priests in their homes. ^[1] By the turn of the 20th century, black Catholics were served by their own priest, Father Charles Hannigan, who traveled from Richmond each week to conduct mass for the worshiping black Catholics. ^[2]

By 1913, black Catholics wanted their own church. Thomas Blair, a black man and sexton of Basilica of St. Mary for over thirty years, convened a committee to explore the possibility of establishing a church. ^[3] Working with Father Charles Hannigan, a Josephite, a Catholic order whose mission was to serve the needs of Native and African American communities, Mr. Blair held meetings at Basilica’s lyceum with his fellow black Catholics and drafted a letter to the Bishop Denis J. O’Connell of Richmond asking to form themselves into a new congregation.^[4] The appeal was approved and, despite the fact that black Americans were among the poorest of residents of Alexandria, Mr. Blair held a variety of fund-raising activities to raise the necessary funds to purchase property. ^[5]

In 1914, the committee acquired property at the historical black neighborhood, called Uptown, at the northwest corner of Wythe and North Columbus streets. ^[6] While Mr. Blair and the community raised additional funds for building the church, Father Hannigan convinced Mother Katherine Drexel, founder of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and member of a wealthy Philadelphia family, to donate $8,000 towards the building of St. Joseph Catholic Church. That was half of the expected cost of the church, the remaining amount was to be raised by the parishioners. ^[7] In 1915, Father Joseph J. Kelly, another Josephite, was assigned to the new congregation. St. Joseph Catholic Church was dedicated on May 14, 1916. Two weeks later, Mr. Blair, considered the father of St. Joseph Church, died at the age of 65. ^[8]

Washington architects, Murphy and Olmsted, designed the red-brick, English Gothic-style church. ^[9] In 1915, Father Joseph J. Kelly served as the first pastor, who lived in the altar boys’ sacristy unit the completion of the rectory in 1921. He served at St. Joseph’s until 1936. ^[10] The parish grew large enough within a few years to build its own school. Although a school began operating within the church building in 1916 to serve the local black American community, a new school was built in 1931 and staffed by the Oblate Sisters of Providence, an order of black sisters. ^[11] They taught at the school until 1969 when the school closed. In 1967, Richmond Bishop John J. Russell re-designated St. Joseph’s from a black American mission church to a territorial parish within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington in Virginia. ^[12] St. Joseph's is still associated with the Josephite Fathers to this day.

References

External links

• Official Parish Site
• Josephite Fathers Official Website
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington Official Site

Saint Joseph Catholic Church (Alexandria, VA)

• S. Madhushudana Chary
• S. Madhusudhana Chary
• S Madhusudhana Chary
• Smadovicioara de Secu
• Smadovita
• Smadoviţa
• Smadovița
• Smage Brothers Riding Shows
• S. Mahadeva
• S. Mahadevan
• S. Mahalingam (veterinarian)
• S. Mahmoud Hosseini Zad
• Smaida
• Smail-aga Cengic
• Smail-aga Čengić
• Smaila's
• Smail Balic
• Smail Balić
• Smail Benamara
• Smail (disambiguation)
• Smailes (Surrey cricketer)
• Smailholm, Scottish Borders
• Smail Khaled
• Smail Prevljak
• Smainak