Rise of Newport's Catholics

Nineteenth-century New England was a hostile place for Catholics. In Massachusetts a mob torched a convent; in Maine a priest was tarred and feathered; and Rhode Island elected an anti-Catholic Know Nothing governor. “No Irish Need Apply” signs were common. Newport was different. It was a religiously diverse and tolerant city that welcomed Catholic French troops during the American Revolution. Later, as it became the favored summer retreat for America’s Protestant social elite, Irish Catholics arrived to work in construction jobs, the tourist economy, and the grand Gilded Age cottages. By the end of the century, Newport’s Catholic community was flourishing. Moneyed Catholics acquired their own mansions, an Irish Catholic was mayor, and prominent Protestants were helping Catholic neighbors establish new schools and churches. In this deeply researched study, John F. Quinn delves into this rich Catholic history to discover why nineteenth-century Newport was particularly religiously tolerant and accepting.

“Many books explore the reasons for conflict between Catholics and Protestants in America; Quinn’s detailed history of the Catholic community in Newport is distinctive in that it explores the reasons for friendly relations between the two.”—Timothy J. Meagher, author of Inventing Irish America: Generation, Class, and Ethnic Identity in a New England City, 1880–1928 “Quinn’s history of the Catholic community in Newport, Rhode Island, makes a substantial contribution to American Catholic studies, New England history, Newport history, and the history of the Irish in America.”—Evelyn Savidge Sterne, author of Ballots and Bibles: Ethnic Politics and the Catholic Church in Providence

John F. Quinn is professor of history at Salve Regina University.