Old St. Mary Church in Pine Bluff, Arkansas was originally built on a barge in 1786, and is the birthplace of Catholicism in Arkansas.
Episodes about "America 250"
Our Lady of La Leche
The oldest shrine to Our Lady, the Blessed Mother Mary, in the United States is the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche in St. Augustine, Florida.
Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget
Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget was the first bishop of Bardstown and Louisville, Kentucky. He was a very humble man and hardworking bishop.
Immaculate Conception, the Patroness of the United States
In 1846 the bishops of the United States voted to name the Immaculate Conception the patroness of the United States of America.
Bishop Jean Louis Cheverus
Jean Louis Cheverus was the first bishop of Boston, 1808-23. He was a remarkable man of humility, learning, and service. Bishop Cheverus died in 1836.
Conversion of Daniel Barber and Family
Rev. Daniel Barber was a fine upstanding protestant minister — Congregationalist then Episcopalian — before questions of Apostolic Succession rocked his world.
The Ark and The Dove and the Foundation of Maryland
In 1634, The Ark and The Dove, two ships owned by Lord Baltimore, Cecil Calvert, arrived at St. Clement Island where settlers founded the Maryland colony
Orestes Brownson Part 2: Catholics as the Best Americans
Orestes Brownson, the first American Catholic intellectual, had strong ideas about Catholics’ place in American political life, as well as about slavery.
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Charles Carroll of Carrollton was the wealthiest man in the colonies before the Revolutionary War and the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence