University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Gender and Women's Studies Gender and Women's Studies 2020 The Construction of the American Catholic Church: Gender, Sexuality, and Patriotism in U.S. Catholic Media, 1917–1970 William Korinko University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2020.199 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Korinko, William, "The Construction of the American Catholic Church: Gender, Sexuality, and Patriotism in U.S. Catholic Media, 1917–1970" (2020). Theses and Dissertations--Gender and Women's Studies. 2. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gws_etds/2 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Gender and Women's Studies at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Gender and Women's Studies by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. William Korinko, Student Dr. Melissa Stein, Major Professor Dr. Karen Tice, Director of Graduate Studies THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC CHURCH: GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND PATRIOTISM IN U.S. CATHOLIC MEDIA, 1917–1970 ________________________________________ DISSERTATION ________________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By William John Korinko Jr. Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Melissa Stein, Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies Lexington, Kentucky 2020 Copyright © William John Korinko Jr. 2020 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC CHURCH: GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND PATRIOTISM IN U.S. CATHOLIC MEDIA, 1917–1970 This project explores the complex relationship between religion, culture, and politics in the United States during the twentieth century by examining a largely unexplored pocket of Roman Catholic pamphlet literature, as well as other forms of Catholic media, including newspapers, magazines, radio programs, and television shows. During the twentieth century Catholic media makers spent a considerable amount of energy speaking and writing about issues related to gender and sexuality, and they often did so in racially coded terms. In addition to making prescriptions of what was appropriate and moral sexual and gendered behavior, these media makers repeatedly made the case that Catholic values on these issues were what made Catholics great Americans. Considering this, this dissertation will illustrate how Catholic media texts should be understood not only as a form of religious self-help literature, but as part of a larger political project aimed at helping Catholics assume a more central place in American social and political life. In doing so, this project will reveal how religious discourses about race, gender, and sexuality are not static, but always a product of their political, geographical, and historical context. My dissertation makes important contributions to existing scholarship on the historical production of ideas about gender, sexuality, and race, as well as the history of Catholicism in America. While many scholars interested in the history of Catholic ideas about gender, sexuality, and race tend to focus on official Vatican documents, this project focuses on the Catholic media texts that Catholics in America would have most regularly come into contact with. Vatican documents such as papal encyclicals and letters are important landmarks, but exclusively focusing on these documents risks perpetuating the notion of ideological homogeneity within the Catholic Church, which obscures the diversity of more localized experiences and manifestations of Catholicism. This project examines religion both as an institution and as a marker of identity that—like race, class, gender, and sexuality—is constructed and situated within a hierarchy of power. This project will expand on intersectional feminist scholarship and make the case for a heightened focus on religion as an axis of identity that shapes people’s experiences of the world. The United States during the twentieth century is a useful site to explore how religious identities are politically situated, as this period witnessed a significant shift in attitudes towards, and growth in confidence for, Catholics in America. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Catholics in America had been cast as a national threat and were a target of a wave of xenophobia and religious nationalism. A century later, Catholics in America are now a group whose religious identity is seen as mainstream and no longer marked as “Other.” This shift was not spontaneous, sudden, or inevitable. Instead, as this project makes clear, it was a result of a well-organized media campaign that utilized racially coded discourses about gender and sexuality to reshape the popular imagination of Catholics in America. KEYWORDS: Gender Discourse, History of Sexuality, Religion in America, Religious Media, Whiteness, Immigration William John Korinko Jr. 04/13/2020 Date THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC CHURCH: GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND PATRIOTISM IN U.S. CATHOLIC MEDIA, 1917–1970 By William John Korinko Jr. Melissa Stein Director of Dissertation Karen Tice Director of Graduate Studies 04/13/2020 Date For Monica ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Throughout my graduate studies I have received generous support from the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Kentucky, for which I am thankful. Research travel grants and a graduate fellowship provided the monetary support that helped make the completion of this project possible. Additionally, the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies has provided me an intellectual home where my academic work has grown and developed. I am grateful to the faculty of the department, in particular Melissa Stein and Susan Bordo, who have developed my skills as a writer and scholar and have provided me professional mentorship and insightful guidance throughout my time at the University of Kentucky. I must thank the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame and the American Catholic Historical Association for their monetary support of my work, which helped facilitate travel that was required for this project. I have had the great pleasure of conducting archival research in a number of excellent libraries and archives across the United States, including the Jesuit Archives and Research Center, the Archives and Special Collections at the University of Notre Dame, the Province Archives Center of the Congregation of Holy Cross, the American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives at the Catholic University of America, and the Archives and Special Collections at the University of Dayton. All of these are treasure troves of Catholic Americana, and I am grateful for all of the hospitality and assistance that I was given during my research trips. The staff at these libraries and archives have been invaluable to my research, and I deeply appreciate all of their assistance. It has become quite clear to me that no historical research project can be iii completed without the generous assistance and keen insight of librarians and archivists, and I have benefited tremendously from their work. In particular, I want to thank Jean McManus at the Hesburgh Library at the University of Notre Dame and David Miros at the Jesuit Archives. Not only did they make my multiple visits to their respective institutions enriching and productive; they provided hours of deep conversation that helped shape the direction and focus of this project. My undergraduate mentor and now friend and colleague at St. Norbert College, Karlyn Crowley, helped instill in me a love of learning and a thirst for justice that has changed my life and inspired this project. Taking her courses as an undergraduate expanded my world and changed the trajectory of my life, and she has shown me how profound the relationship between a teacher and student can be. I admire Karlyn’s wisdom, vision, integrity, love of her family and friends, and sense of humor; she represents the sort of scholarly life to which I aspire. Her mentorship, friendship, encouragement, and unwavering belief in me is one of the greatest gifts I have ever received. My dissertation committee has also been a vital source of intellectual and professional development. Karen Tice, Amy Taylor, and David Hunter have provided me with hours of incredibly helpful conversation that has deepened and focused my scholarly work.