Catholics and politics, 1960, 1928, ...

Just wanted to quickly link to a couple of pieces that remind us of the history of Catholics in the US, especially since Kennedy's speech is getting a lot of attention recently:

John F. Kennedy speaking to Protestant ministers in Houston, TX

Reflecting on Al Smith and a time when Catholics were definitely "the other"

And from New-York Historical Society's library blog, this interesting little nugget:

In the mid 18th C New York City convulsed with anti-French and Catholic paranoia. A palisade was built on its northern edge to slow any invading force from Quebec, while dozens of slaves recently imported from Catholic islands in the Caribbean were executed. Irish malcontents were persecuted, and a Latin teacher was burned at the stake. You can see gallows and a fire pit just outside the palisade in David Grim’s map showing the city as it was in the 1740s.  Call number: M2.1.1