"Riding with St. Paul in the Passenger Side": The Archdiocese of Milwaukee Enters the Automobile Age, 1920-1965
This essay investigates the relationship between Catholic life and car culture. The coming of the automobile had manifold effects on Catholic life in Milwaukee. Parishes defined by geographic areas were replaced by congregations built on cultural consensus. Patterns of clerical life changed as the a...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
American Catholic Historical Society
2010
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| In: |
American catholic studies
Year: 2010, Volume: 121, Issue: 2, Pages: 65-93 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This essay investigates the relationship between Catholic life and car culture. The coming of the automobile had manifold effects on Catholic life in Milwaukee. Parishes defined by geographic areas were replaced by congregations built on cultural consensus. Patterns of clerical life changed as the automobile became a status statement for archbishops and as diocesan priests incorporated the machine into the rhythms of their ministry. Churches and shrines became intertwined with the new automobile based consumer economy. The automobile pilgrimage became a popular form of pious recreation, but it also brought about anxiety. Catholics were concerned about the dangers of "the machine age," and new anxieties developed regarding death and the freedoms of Catholic youth. Overall, car culture and Catholic life shared a reciprocal relationship: Catholics shaped car culture as they were in turn shaped by it. Milwaukee's Catholics reshaped their religious practices to fit a new matrix of cultural and social relations marked increasingly by technology and consumerism. Examining this transformation deepens understanding of community change in the pre-conciliar American church. |
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| ISSN: | 2161-8534 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American catholic studies
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