Joseph Jessing, German-American Catholics, and National Myth-Making in Late Nineteenth-Century America
This article contributes to the study of American Catholic identity formation by exploring the process by which German-American Catholics in the late nineteenth century tried to negotiate an identity that allowed for cultural maintenance but also gave them a sense of national belonging in America. T...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
American Catholic Historical Society
[2015]
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| In: |
American catholic studies
Year: 2015, Volume: 126, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-24 |
| IxTheo Classification: | CH Christianity and Society KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KBB German language area KBQ North America KDB Roman Catholic Church |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This article contributes to the study of American Catholic identity formation by exploring the process by which German-American Catholics in the late nineteenth century tried to negotiate an identity that allowed for cultural maintenance but also gave them a sense of national belonging in America. This is done by examining the rhetoric of a leading opinion-shaper in the German-American Catholic diaspora, Joseph Jessing, who edited a leading German language Catholic newspaper, The Ohio Orphans' Friend ('Ohio Waisenfreund'). His mission of preserving German Catholicism in the face of Americanization faced a quandary. As the church in the United States itself began to Americanize, the German and Catholic pillars of the diaspora's identity were increasingly at odds with each other. In the negotiation of a national identity, the forging and perpetuation of national myths played a critical role. Jessing and other opinion-shapers increasingly had to choose between the mythology of a German America and that of a Catholic America, which took as its main symbol the Catholic explorer Christopher Columbus. Although reluctant to make a clear choice, Jessing's participation in the emerging foundational myth of a Catholic America ultimately made him an unknowing contributor in the Americanization of German-American Catholics. |
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| ISSN: | 2161-8534 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American catholic studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/acs.2015.0013 |