University of Kentucky UKnowledge Church History Religion 1995 What Parish Are You From? A Chicago Irish Community and Race Relations Eileen M. McMahon Lewis University Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation McMahon, Eileen M., "What Parish Are You From? A Chicago Irish Community and Race Relations" (1995). Church History. 1. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_church_history/1 WHAT PARISH ARE YOU FROM? This page intentionally left blank WHAT PARISH ARE YOU FROM? A Chicago Irish Community and Race Relations EILEEN M. McMAHON THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Copyright © 1995 by The University Press of Kentucky Paperback edition 1996 Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 www.kentuckypress.com The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows: McMahon, Eileen M., 1954- What parish are you from? :A Chicago Irish community and race relations / Eileen M. McMahon. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8131-1877-8 (alk. paper) 1. St. Sabina's (Church: Chicago, Ill.). 2. Chicago (Ill.)­ Church history. 3. Irish Americans-Ethnic identity. 4. Catholics-Illinois-Chicago. 5. Race relations-Religious aspects-Catholic Church. 6. Chicago (Ill.)-race relations-Case studies. 7. Irish Americans-Illinois-Chicago-Case studies. 8. Parishes-Illinois-Chicago-Case studies. 9. Catholic Church­ Illinois-Chicago-Case studies. 1. Title. BX4603.C5S785 1995 305.6'2077311-dc20 94-24300 Paper ISBN-10: 0-8131-0894-2 Paper ISBN-13: 978-0-8131-0894-0 This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials. Manufactured in the United States of America. ~.T.'. ~ Member of the Association of ~~ • American University Presses Contents List ofMaps and Tables vii Acknowledgments Xl Introduction 1 1 The Making ofthe Irish Parish Community: A Historical Background 6 2 St. Sabina: A Parish Founded on a Prairie 27 3 "I'm from Sabina's," 1916 to 1941 42 4 Ticket to Heaven: Community and Religion at St. Sabina's, 1940 to 1960 75 5 The Saints Come Marching In: Irish and Catholic Identity 97 6 The Troubles: Racial Tension and the Parish Community 116 7 Make No Small Plans: The Parish Community and the asc 130 8 Where Two or Three Are Gathered: St. Sabina's in the 1960s 157 Conclusion 185 Notes 191 Bibliography 214 Index 219 This page intentionally left blank Maps and Tables Map 1. Chicago's South Side viii Map 2. Auburn-Gresham Precincts ix Table 1. Top Twenty-five Churches of Baptism of Persons Married at St. Sabina's, 1916-1941 30 Table 2. Occupational Profile ofGainful Workers from Ten Years of Age in Auburn-Gresham, 1930 32 Table 3. Occupations ofSt. Sabina Parishioners and Persons ofIrish Surnames within the Parish Boundaries, 1916-1927 34 Table 4. St. Sabina Revenue Collections, 1916-1960 45 Table 5. Churches in Auburn-Gresham, 1934 47 Table 6. Marriages in St. Sabina Parish, 1921-1940 49 Table 7. Marriages in Territorial Parishes, 1900-1930 49 Table 8. Election Returns in St. Sabina Precincts, 1928 52 Table 9. Children Attending Grade School in St. Sabina Parish, 1917-1940 69 Table 10. Occupations in St. Sabina Parish, 1957-1963 77 Table 11. Children Attending School in St. Sabina Parish, 1942­ 1960 79 Table 12. Marriages at St. Sabina's, 1940-1949 80 Table 13. Top Twenty-five Parishes ofBaptism ofPersons Married at St. Sabina's, 1942-1951 93 Table 14. Top Twenty-five Parishes ofBaptism ofPersons Married at St. Sabina's, 1952 and 1955-1959 94 Table 15. Parishes ofBaptism ofFirst Communicants in St. Sabina's, 1950-1959 95 Table 16. St. Sabina's Contributions to asc, 1960-1965 150 Table 17. The Aging ofAuburn-Gresham, 1930-1960 150 Table 18. St. Sabina Parish Enrollment, 1958-1968 167 c. & ~ I. R.R. 76thSt. 903 904 907 908 Ci5 8 .!!! ~ 90S 906 en CiS "i 83rd st. U) 909 912 (ij :I: i ~ 188888l8888l.l88MIMIM I88888l888888__.I888881__I88888Ml11~ ~ 911 US 910 en 89thSt. 91stSt. AUBURN - GRESHAM To my father, JOSEPH A. MCMAHON, £n memory Acknowledgments When I was growing up in St. Linus's parish, I never suspected that parish life had historic significance. It was simply the way in which we lived our lives. The church steeple stood as a sentinel above the neighborhood and all the Catholic children attended the parish school. I remember thinking when I was young that others not ofthe parish must belong to the public religion because they went to the public school. We weren't above teasing them for having to go to school on holy days. In a generic sense, we considered ourselves American. But the everyday world, as far as we could discern, was divided between Catholics and Protestants. Our Irishness was something we brought out on St. Patrick's Day when we'd dye our milk green, listen to Bing Crosby sing "Did Your Mother Come From Ireland?" and wear green ribbons in our hair. As we got older, my friends and I debated whether we were American or Irish. We never resolved this question, in part because we knew precious little about our heritage. As I grew older and left the world of the parish, I began to understand its singularity in urban America and have come closer to answering the question the companions of my youth and I pondered. In my quest to do so, I have become indebted to many people. I would like to especially thank Lawrence J. McCaffrey for encouraging me to pursue Irish studies with him at Loyola University of Chicago. I am grateful to William Galush for his thoroughness and encouragement as he directed me through this study and for sharing his knowledge of ethnic and Catholic America. Special thanks are also due Lewis Erenberg and Kathleen McCourt for their helpful suggestions. Thanks to Ellen Sk~rrett for introducing me to St. Sabina's. Several other people assisted me in researching this work. Archie Motley and the staff at the Chicago Historical Society and John Treanor and his staffat the Archdiocese ofChicago Archives were very helpful in making their collections available to me. Sister Toman at the Sinsinawa Dominican Archives provided gracious assistance with their records. Special thanks are due to Msgr. John J. Egan for making his personal papers readily available to me. I also wish to thank the staffs at the Chicago Municipal Reference Library, Northwestern University's Deering Library, Mundelein College Resource Learning xii Acknowledgments Center, De Paul University Library, the Regenstein Library of the University of Chicago, and Loyola University of Chicago's Cudahy Library. I am especially appreciative ofthe warm welcome I received from the people ofSt. Sabina's. Rev. Michael Pfleger and his very gracious assistant, Ann Gaskin, and the rest of the staff made their records available to me and made the many hours I sat in the rectory dining room very pleasant. I am also indebted to all the people whose lives were touched by St. Sabina's and who were willing to share their experiences with me. Without them, this book would not exist. I have often been asked whether I am related to any of the McMahons mentioned in the text. Our only linkage appears to be our common ancestor, Brian Born, high king ofIreland. Projects such as this also rely on financial assistance. The Gradu­ ate School ofLoyola University facilitated my work through the grant­ ing ofa University Fellowship for the 1985-86 academic year, which I greatly appreciate. Finally, I am very grateful to my husband, Ted, for his unfailing support and encouragement. He never seemed to tire ofhearing about St. Sabina's. I also want to thank Teddy and Joey for taking long naps. Introduction It began as a typical summer afternoon in August 1965. Seventeen­ year-old Frank Kelly and his buddies headed over to St. Sabina's af­ ter their ball game to meet up with some ofthe girls from the parish. They had all graduated from the Catholic grade school and had spent many hours in the community center gym playing sports and roller skating. Now that they were in high school, they had the privilege of attendingthe popular Sunday night dances. The school and the parish, however, had changed since the days when the children had donned their uniforms for first grade. African Americans were·buying homes and moving into the apartments and flats nearby. This made many Irish-American parishioners apprehensive. Theydid nothave a history of amiable relations with blacks, with whom they had competed for employment and housing in overcrowded neighborhoods. Sometimes their associations erupted into violence. The pastor, Msgr. John McMa­ hon, reassured the people of the neighborhood that parish life could continue a:s usual. He had even enlistedthe communityorganizer, Saul Alinsky, and other local leaders to form an organization to work for neighborhood stability while integration occurred. Indeed, so far it seemed to be working.