This chapter maintains that Catholic parishes were the most accessible and important institutions in Providence's ethnic, working-class neighborhoods in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and that as such, they played critical roles in politicizing new Americans. It was at church that the largest proportion of immigrants congregated on a regular basis. Parishes functioned not only as sources of spiritual solace but also as dispensers of charity, promoters of upward mobility, and centers of neighborhood life. Priests initially promoted lay societies to foster congregational loyalties, but over time the groups also served as political organizing spaces for Catholic women and men. For many, the Church served as a place where new Americans organized for change.
Falling through the Cracks: Deaf New Americans and Their Unsupported Educational Needs
