The Holy Trinity Catholic Com- Munity in Indianapolis on the Diamond Jubilee of the Founding of Holy Trinity Parish
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258 Indiana Magazine of History Slaves to No One: A History of ’the Holy Trinity Catholic Com- munity in Indianapolis on the Diamond Jubilee of the Founding of Holy Trinity Parish. By James J. Divita. (In- dianapolis: Holy Trinity Parish, in cooperation with the Ethnic History Project, Indiana Historical Society, 1981. Pp. xi, 135. Illustrations, maps, appendixes, notes, sources, index. Paperbound, $7.50.) Significant anniversaries of Indiana’s Catholic parishes usually result in the publication of commemorative books. Within these books the parish priest or an amateur local his- torian presents a brief account of parish history. Slaves to No One represents a distinct departure from these customary an- niversary publications. James J. Divita is a professor of history at Marian College, Indianapolis, and his book is a full-scale, professional effort. Holy Trinity parish and the Haughville neighborhood that it served were both products of industrial growth in Indian- apolis. By the turn of this century foundry and other factory industries attracted European immigrants seeking work. The Holy Trinity community consisted of Slovene immigrants, South Slavs from the northwest corner of the Balkan peninsula. Divita traces the social and economic forces leading to Slovene migration to America and specifically examines the immi- grants’ arrival in Haughville. The clear majority of the immi- grants had been peasants in Slovenia and became blue-collar laborers in Haughville’s industries. Holy Trinity emerged after a rift with a nearby Irish par- ish that the Slovenes had first attended. Within his detailed history of Holy Trinity parish, Divita presents biographical sketches of the priests and nuns who contributed to the church’s spiritual and physical growth. He properly places the church within the context of the immigrant neighborhood it served; thus, he includes the social history of Holy Trinity’s immigrant and American-born members. Divita discusses their factory occupations, small businesses, fraternal societies, hous- ing, diet, customs, and family life in Haughville. He concludes with an examination of changes in Holy Trinity’s mission as Slovene-Americans left Haughville in the face of black and southern-white migration into the aging neighborhood. Divita’s book touches some of the major themes in Indi- ana’s urban, ethnic, and religious history. Slaves to No One is a first-rate effort. Calumet College, Whiting, Ind. Edward A. Zivich .