Faith and Action: A History of the Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati by Roger Fortin (review)

ing on utopian movements but discusses them broadly. She doesn't develop, for instance, the strong,interactive nature of Owenite societies with English reformers or the connections among abolitionists and utopians. Her focus remains specifically Ohio and the fertile ground it provided for experimentation. Morgan Mcfarland Denison University Roger Fortin. Faitb and Action: A History oftbe Catholic Arcbdiocese of Cincinnati . Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2002. 489 pp. ISBN: 0814209041 ( cloth), $ 34.95. oger Fortin's Faith and Action makes an important contribution to the history of Catholicism in the United States, and to American urban history. And the author succeeds admirably in both tasks. As the first complete history of the archdiocese in over seventyfive years (since Rev. John H. Lamott' s centennial History of the Arcbdiocese of Cincinnati, 1821-1921),Fortin's book elucidates several modern themes in American Catholic Church History, particularly the taxonomic shifts affecting the " relationship of being American and Catholic." ( xiii) The latter topic has been the emphasis of a host of recent works including Mark S. Massa' s Catholics and American Culture: Fulton Sheen,Dorothy Day,and tbe Notre Dame Football Team ( 1 999), Jim Cullen's Restless in tbe Promised Land: Catholics and tbe American Dream 2001), and the American Catholic historian laureate Jay P. Dolan's In Search of an American Catbolicism : A History of Religion and Culture in Tension ( 2002).Fortin' s exploration of American Catholicism' s efforts to reconcile its European roots with the urban nature of the Catholic Church in the United States makes his study an important addition to the " Urban Life and Urban Landscape Series"of the Ohio State University Press, edited by noted urban historian Zane L. Miller. Fortin's work is divided into four chronological parts that focus on " immigrant Catholicism (1821187Os ), bureaucratizing Catholicism in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati (188Os192Os ), modern Catholicism in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati (192Os196Os ), and local church transformed of, by, and for the people (196051996 )." ( xiv) Its footnotes and bibliography reflect a rich use of primary sources, including the Catholic Telegraph, the archdiocesan archives,and the archives of the University of Notre Dame. Woven into the account are references to major topics in both American urban and American Catholic history: trusteeismi fundraising in Europe, especially from the Propagation of the Faith and the Leopoldine Foundation; the recruitment of orders of priests and nuns; the establishment of churches, schools,seminaries,orphanages , hospitals and other charitable institutions , participation in national and international church councils; the role of the laity; nativism;the public school question; temperance; financial crises ;parish territorial disputes; devotional Catholicism ;labor;World War II;racial issues;Civil Rights; and the reforms of Vatican II. The issue of sexual abuse is sufficiently covered,particularly when consideration is given of the fact that many of the current legal cases facing the Archdiocese of Cincinnati postdate the 1756 anniversary curtain call of this study. While a work of such breadth as Faith and AcNon cannot include every possible subject in detail, it was somewhat disappointing that Fortin's treatment of such wealthy, philanthropic converts as Sarah Worthington King Peter and Reuben Springer did not receive greater attention. On the other hand,Fortin' s explanation of the financial crisis in 1878 involving Archbishop Purcell and his brother, Fr.Edward Purcell,is excellent. Further,the inclusion of an appendix listing chronologically the foundation dates of parishes as well as closures and mergers is very valuable. Of use to the general public and to historians of the American Catholic SUMMER 2003 59 BOOK REVIEWS Church and American urban history,Fortjii's work deserves a place in public and academic libraries. Paul A.Tenkotte Thomas More College Darl L. Stephenson. Headquarters in tbe Brush: Blazer' s Independent Union Scouts. Athens: Ohio University Press,2001. 355 pp. ISBN 821413813 ( cloth), $ 29.95. espite the overwhelming literature on the American Civil War,when it comes to West Virginia,historical scholarship has been a mile wide and an inch deep. While there are some fine studies on the mountaineer state, few studies exist that really penetrate the complexities of the war for the citizens of the fiercely divided region that came to form a new state during the military conflict...