The #NationalBlackCatholicClergyCaucus voted in 1990 to establish November as Black Catholic History Month because of the number of important dates to Catholics of African descent that fall within this month.
I have fond memories of researching and sharing Black Catholic history with the late Josephite Father Peter E. Hogan, archivist at the Josephite Fathers Archives in Baltimore.
For more information, visit: https://www.dosp.org/multicultural-2/blackcatholic/black-catholic-history-month-2/
These items are just a sampling of the vast African American Catholic collection within the Nanny Jack & Co Archives. They span from 1868 to 1948. Some of the other Catholic items are from Delaware, New York, Louisiana, etc.
1) Epiphany Apostolic College: Established in Walbrook, Baltimore, MD in 1889. It was razed in 1925 when the college moved to Newburgh, New York. (Information courtesy of the Jesuit Harvest)
2) Cabinet card of native Baltimorean #FatherCharlesRandolphUncles (1859-1933). In 1891, he was the first black American to be ordained a Roman Catholic priest in the United States. The Charles R. Uncles Senior Plaza is named for him.
For more information: http://archnyarchives.org/2016/02/29/rev-charles-r-uncles-s-s-j/
3) First Grade Class at St. Peter Claver School, 1948 (#OldWestBaltimore).
For more information:
https://www.archbalt.org/st-peter-claver-is-120-years-strong-2/
4) June 1938 St. Peter Claver School Diploma for Joseph C. Brooks. Signed by Joseph P. Hanley, SSJ (Saint's Joseph Society of the Sacred Heart, Inc.)
5) 1905 Christmas Day Mass Program, St. Mary's Chapel, Baltimore (#HistoricSetonHill)
6) January 1868 Baltimore Tax Receipt for the Sisters of Providence. http://oblatesisters.com/
7) Solemn Consecration of the Colored People, 1872 (St. Francis Xavier, #HistoricEastBaltimore) https://www.historicfrancisxavier.org/
Keepin' it historically significant ✊🏿