ACUA Photographic and Audiovisual Collections

Lawrence F. Wright Photograph Collection
Lawrence Frederick Wright, a member of The Catholic University of America class of 1921, compiled the 78 images in this collection during his years at CUA from 1917 to 1921. The images are all black and white with Mr. Wright the photographer for many of them. This collection contains images of the CUA buildings and grounds, students and professors on campus, and student events both on and off campus. Many of the images appear to have been used in the 1917-1921 editions of the Cardinal, the CUA yearbook., As historical objects, these photographs can reflect the customs and perspectives of their times. Some of the images in these collections may be offensive to contemporary viewers. We have chosen to leave all of the digitized contents intact as part of the historical record, though as with other records and objects in our archive, we do not endorse the views depicted in the archival materials we make available to the public.
Bishop John J. Keane Collection
Bishop John J. Keane served as the first Rector (President) of The Catholic University of America from 1887 to 1896. A photographic album containing a total of 47 images including portraits of the University administrators and faculty and the buildings and grounds in 1896 is digitized here. The faculty presented the album as a gift to Bishop Keane when he left the University in 1896. The inside back cover includes a handwritten index to all photographs in the album.
Carroll, James. CUA Scrapbook
As historical objects, these photographs can reflect the customs and perspectives of their times. Some of the images in these collections may be offensive to contemporary viewers. We have chosen to leave all of the digitized contents intact as part of the historical record, though as with other records and objects in our archive, we do not endorse the views depicted in the archival materials we make available to the public.
Karl M. Schmitt Collection
The images in this collection were taken by Karl M. Schmitt. The images fall into two time periods: pre-World War II and post-World War II. The images from the 1940s are of the students and The Catholic University of America campus during those periods. The photographs reflect everyday life at the University., As historical objects, these objects can reflect the customs and perspectives of their times. Some of the images and language in these photographs may be seen as offensive to contemporary viewers. We have chosen to leave all of the digitized contents intact as part of the historical record, though as with other records and objects in our archive, we do not necessarily endorse the views as depicted in the archival materials we make available to the public.
Catholic University Anti-Nazi Broadcast, November 16, 1938
Like other Americans, Catholics in the U.S. were shocked when they learned of the violence being committed against Germany's Jews, particularly in the aftermath of Kristallnacht, which literally means "night of crystal". This title refers to the broken glass of Jewish-owned homes, synagogues, and shops that lined the streets of cities where anti-Semitic pogroms took place across Germany and Nazi-occupied territories on November 9-10, 1938. The primary materials on this site reveal that American Catholics were influenced by various elements in their reaction to the Nazis and the Kristallnacht pogrom. On the one hand, some drew from an American Catholicism that saw Judaism and Catholicism as part of a single tradition and emphasized that Jews should be able to live and worship freely. On the other hand, some Catholics emphasized an American Catholicism that saw Judaism and Catholicism as completely distinct, and that a supposed Jewish Communist conspiracy made Jews legitimate targets of the Nazis. The Catholic University broadcast represents the more inclusive view, while broadcasts by Father Charles Coughlin broadcast expresses the exclusionary view. Both make numerous references to the persecutions of Catholics elsewhere in the world in their reactions to the Kristallnacht pogrom. The Catholic University broadcast, delivered on November 16, 1938, was organized by Father Maurice Sheehy, Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Education at Catholic University and assistant to the Catholic University rector. Sheehy was an adept organizer who managed the university radio station, possessed many contacts within the church, in the Washington, D.C. community, and in national politics. Sheehy gave the first address of the 27 minute broadcast, which was carried by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) radio networks. Sheehy was joined in the broadcast by Archbishop John J. Mitty of San Francisco, California; Bishop John M. Gannon of Erie, Pennsylvania; Bishop Peter L. Ireton of Richmond, Virginia; former Democratic Presidential Candidate and Governor of New York, Alfred E. Smith, and Catholic University Rector, Monsignor Joseph M. Corrigan. The participants were selected to represent both lay Catholics (hence Smith's inclusion) and clerical leaders' unified view that the violence unleashed on Jews and Jewish property in Germany was immoral, contrary to Christian teaching and against American ideas of religious and civic freedom. They also compared the treatment of the Jews by the Germans to the persecutions of Catholics in Spain and Mexico.