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PREFACE In  David Spalding, C. F. X., published a groundbreaking article on the Colored Catholic Congresses of the nineteenth century. In “The Negro Catholic Congresses, –,” Spalding identified Daniel Arthur Rudd (–) as the “chief architect” of this important lay initiative.1 Prior to the article’s publication, Rudd’s contribution to the work of the Catholic Church in America had been largely forgotten. Spalding’s study, however, inspired subsequent scholars, including Dom Cyprian Davis, O.S.B., who in  published his seminal work, The History of Black Catholics in the United States.2 One important historical character foregrounded in Davis’s work is Daniel Rudd. Davis’s study of this black Catholic leader has inspired scholars to devote attention not only to Rudd but also to his newspaper, the American Catholic Tribune, a black Catholic weekly published from  to . In particular, Joseph H. Lackner, S.M., has to date published three articles examining Rudd and the American Catholic Tribune: “Daniel Rudd, Editor of the American CatholicTribune, from Bardstown to Cincinnati” (); “The American Catholic Tribune and the Puzzle of Its Finances” (); and “The American Catholic Tribune, No Other Like It” ().3 This book will build on the work of Davis and Lackner by exploring the nature of the “cry for justice” lifted by Rudd throughout the years of his newspaper’s publication. My primary thesis is that from  through the newspaper’s collapse, circa , Rudd promoted a church-centered vision of justice that presumed for the Catholic Church a vital role in the establishment of a racially equitable society in America. Appealing to the “Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man,” the editor of the American CatholicTribune employed the theologically rich nomenclature of the day. These convictions regarding the fundamental unity of the human family found support both in the teachings of Jesus and the Christian Doctrine of Creation. Rudd argued the best hope for African Americans living in late nineteenth-century America was the Catholic Church. He believed ix that through its mission and ministry justice would indeed prevail in American society. Moreover, during this same period Rudd found sufficient evidence and encouragement from church leaders to believe that this divine institution would play a pivotal role in society’s eventual recognition of the full equality of African Americans. The primary source material for this book is the American Catholic Tribune.There are  extant copies of this publication at the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center, and the newspaper is also available on microfilm at several libraries. Though Rudd began publishing the American Catholic Tribune in August , the earliest extant copy of the newspaper is dated  February . The last extant copy, published in Detroit, is dated  September . x PREFACE ...

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