Civil Rights and the Church
Catholic and Protestant clergy members played significant roles in the Southern and Northern Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. In Milwaukee, several Catholic clergy members were active in the local movement.
Notable clergy members who participated in civil rights demonstrations include Father Eugene Bleidorn and Father James Groppi of St. Boniface Church, Father Matthew Gottschalk of St. Francis Church, Father Earl Goeden of St. Elizabeth Church, Father Simeon Keough of St. Benedict the Moor Church, Father Patrick Flood, Sister Mary Jeannine, Sister Ann Frances, and Father Carl Diederichs. During Milwaukee’s civil rights movement, the Catholic church became divided between conservative and liberal Catholics. Some members of the church, such as Archbishop William E. Cousins, supported civil rights action, while others held the belief that clergy should not publicly endorse or participate in social action. This divide was evident during the 1964 MPS boycott. Several Catholic priests had planned to participate in the boycott by allowing their parish rectories to be used as sites of Freedom Schools. Several Archdiocese officials, however, forbade the participation of clergy and the use of Catholic rectories or schools for the use of civil rights activity.
The letter above comes from a collection of support letters sent to the Father James Groppi (pictured above in the 1964 School Boycott outside St. Bonafice Catholic Church). As one of the most prominent faces of Milwaukee’s struggle for racial equality, James Groppi received thousands of letters expressing messages of hate, criticism, and support. Many of the fan letters he received came from other members of the religious community.
Learn more about the role of religion in the Civil Rights Movement in the March on Milwaukee Digital Collection.