Transcending Boundaries:
Boston’s Catholics and Jews, 1929-1965
Jenny Goldstein
Chapter 3 Notes
1. Founded in 1859, the North American College was a seminary in Rome that allowed Americans to study for the priesthood within close proximity to the Vatican. Cushing planned to attend the North American College in Rome, but was unable to with the outbreak of World War I and hostile German submarines patrolling the Atlantic. Thomas H. O’Connor, Boston Catholics (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1998), 240.
2. Thomas O’Connor, Bibles, Brahmins and Bosses: A Short History of Boston, 2d ed., rev. (Boston: Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston, 1984), 158.
3. One important characteristic of Cushing was his private nature. As a well-known and highly publicized figure, Cushing’s paradoxical nature was reflected in the few books and articles that have been written about his life. Even though they rely on newspaper articles, magazine pieces, personal interviews and television coverage, they usually lack references to personal papers or original documents. Cushing consistently maintained that he never kept records, letters or manuscripts that would help construct his autobiography or biography. Cushing stubbornly insisted that he did not want outsiders digging into his private life. As he grew older, Cushing expressed growing distrust of reporters, journalists and writers because he did not feel they understood him or they would twist his words. Cushing proved an irresistible subject and even before his death, three major biographies were under way. Although these books provide insight into Cushing, they are written more as personal accounts with Cushing rather than scholarly reporting. What Cushing didn’t destroy is housed at the Archdiocese under the Cushing Papers, which is still closed. Most of my information about Cushing I found in newspaper articles, the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston’s communication with him, the Sachar Collection and personal interviews. Thomas H. O’Connor, Boston Catholics, 279-280, Joseph Dever, Cushing of Boston: A Candid Portrait (Boston: Bruce Humphries Publishers, 1965), 87 and J. Anthony Lukas, Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families (NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985), 379.
4. Ecumenism referred to promoting unity and cooperation, especially among religious groups.
5. J. Anthony Lukas, Common Ground, 379.
6. "Plans for Hub Diocese Revealed." Boston Post, 12 October 1944., The quote can also be found in A Tale of Ten Cities: The Triple Ghetto in American Religious Life, ed. Eugene J. Lipman and Albert Vorspan (NY: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1962), 12.
7. J. Anthony Lukas, Common Ground, 379.
8. Interview with Lawrence H. Fuchs, Meyer and Walter Jaffe Professor of American Civilization and Politics at Brandeis University on 15 February 2001.
9. Interview with Isadore Zack on 19 February 2001. Mr. Zack was involved in fact-finding for the ADL for thirty-four years. His work took him all over the Boston area and he interacted with many different people. He knew Archbishop Cushing on a personal basis so I have used some of his quotes to explain Cushing’s personality and methods of conducting business.
10. Casper M. Grosberg to Governor Leverett Saltonstall, 20 July 1944, box 1, folder: Central Advisory Committee and Founding of Boston Jewish Community Council (BJCC), Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, American Jewish Historical Society (from henceforth AJHS), Waltham, Mass.11. When originally formed in 1944, the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston brought together the following twenty-one basic Jewish groups devoted to improving human relations: American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress, Associated Jewish Philanthropies, Associated Synagogues, B’nai B’rith, B’rith Abraham, Combined Appeal, Jewish Labor Committee, Jewish National Workers Alliance, Jewish War Veterans, Mizrachi, Pioneers of Palestine, Poale Zion, Rabbinical Association, Workmen’s Circle, Vaad Harabonim, Vaad Hoir, Zionist Groups, Young Israel, League of Jewish Women, and Council of Jewish Women. The Israel Histadrut Committee soon joined after the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston’s founding. Box 1, folder: folder: BJCC, statements of purpose and general program, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
12. "The Early Years of the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston," written by Robert E. Segal, Executive Director, 1944-1972. The name later changed to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston. Box 1, folder: folder: BJCC, statements of purpose and general program, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
13. Established in March 1944 response to Antisemitism, the National Community Relations Advisory Council (NCRAC) influenced the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston. This national group, composed of professionals, national agencies and local councils, combated anti-Semitism. The NCRAC also shaped programs that encouraged healthy relations with church councils, the media, labor units, governmental agencies and leaders of minority groups. Edward S. Shapiro, A Time for Healing: American Jewry since World War II. The Jewish People in America, vol. 5 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 1992), 16.
14. Mr. Zack also explained some of the financial aspects behind the Council. The Council received a lot of its funds from Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP). CJP was the Boston Federation and was responsible for delegating money to Jewish causes. By ‘controlling the purse strings,’ CJP, along with the Council, retained a strong voice in the community. Interview with Isadore Zack. 19 February 2001.
15. On 28 May 1946 the Council adopted this policy: "Wherever an issue is a matter of concern to the Jewish community of Greater Boston that matter will first be referred to the Comm Council before action is taken, and the agencies will be bound by the Comm Council's decision." Information sheet, box 1, folder: BJCC, statements of purpose and general program, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
16. Leonard Dinnerstein, Antisemitism in America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), 151.
17. Interview with Meyer and Walter Jaffe Professor of American Civilization and Politics at Brandeis University Lawrence H. Fuchs on 15 February 2001.
18. Interview with Monsignor Peter Conley, present editor of The Pilot, the Catholic archdiocesan newspaper for the past nine years and pastor. Interview on 15 February 2001.
19. Edward S. Shapiro, A Time for Healing (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1992),15.
20. Edward S. Shapiro, A Time for Healing (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1992), 9.
21. Leonard Dinnerstein, Antisemitism, 150.
22. Edward S. Shapiro, A Time for Healing, 12.
23. Edward S. Shapiro, A Time for Healing, 17.
24. Although a majority of the attacks occurred in the Dorchester-Roxbury area, it is important to note that attacks were reported elsewhere in Boston. For example, a Jewish cemetery was desecrated in Melrose on 22 June 1950; five teenagers in Chelsea attacked a 13-year-old Jewish boy on his way home from the stadium on 10 July 1950 and three teens assaulted thee older men in Malden on 15 August 1950. From a memo Robert E. Segal wrote to the Administrative Committee, 17 August 1950. Box 18, folder: Civic Defense and Public Relations, 1944-51, the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
25. This quote is purposely vague for privacy reasons. The original report contained names, but I used brackets to protect the victims. From a memo Robert E. Segal wrote to the Administrative Committee, 17 August 1950. Box 18, folder: Civic Defense and Public Relations, 1944-51, the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
26. The lack of information about Cushing denouncing the antisemitic attacks was strange, because Cushing had already begun to establish himself as a friend to the Jewish community in Boston. My examination of this era did not provide any conclusive remarks about where Cushing fit into the resurgence of antisemitism.
27. This committee was under the auspices of the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston.
28. An agenda of for the of the Civic Defense-Public Relations Committee meeting, 13 November 1941. Box 18, folder: Civic Defense and Public Relations, 1944-51, the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
29. The Feeney affair was gaining momentum during these years, but I do not believe Feeney stirred up significant antisemitic feelings among youth. Father Feeney will be explored in detail as a case study at the end of this chapter.
30. Jonathan D. Sarna and Jonathan J. Golden, "The twentieth century through American Jewish eyes: A history of the American Jewish Year Book, 1899-1999." American Jewish Year Book, (2000), 55.
31. George Kellman, "Anti-Jewish Agitation." American Jewish Year Book (1952), 135.
32. George Kellman, "Anti-Jewish Agitation." American Jewish Year Book (1952), 135.
33. George Kellman, "Anti-Jewish Agitation." The American Jewish Year Book (1953), 92-93.
34. George Kellman, "Anti-Jewish Agitation." American Jewish Year Book (1952), 135.
35. Jewish Labor Committee Report on Boston Mayor’s Committee on Civic Improvement, January 1958, Box 19, The Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
36. The Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston helped influence the founding of the Mayor’s Committee, but the Mayor’s Committee aimed to work with a variety of organizations to ensure a safer Boston. As announced by Mayor Hynes in 1951, the purposes of the committee included: "to help reduce incidents to the barest minimum, to foster good will among various groups, to recommend an effective educational program, to search out the causes for tensions, to examine into a method of eradicating these causes, to espouse a method of discouraging vandalism on the part of juvenile offenders." Agenda for Public Relations Committee, meeting 18 January 1951. Box 18, folder: Committees, Civic Defense and Public Relations, 1944-51, The Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
37. From an agenda for the 13 November 1941 meeting of the Civic Defense-Public Relations Committee. Box 18, folder: Committees, Civic Defense and Public Relations, 1944-51, The Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
38. The Early Years of the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston," written by Robert E. Segal, Executive Director, 1944-72. Box 1, folder: Central Advisory Committee and founding of Boston Jewish Community Council, The Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
39. Leonard Dinnerstein, Antisemitism,153.
40. Jonathan D. Sarna and Jonathan J. Golden, "The twentieth century through American Jewish eyes: A history of the American Jewish Year Book, 1899-1999." The American Jewish Year Book, (2000), 52.
41. Leonard Dinnerstein, Antisemitism, 153.
42. Jewish Labor Committee Report on Boston Mayor’s Committee on Civic Improvement, January 1958. Box 19, the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
43. The organization was originally called the "Massachusetts Committee, Conference of Christians and Jews," and changed its name in 1944 to "Massachusetts Committee of Catholics, Protestants and Jews." From memo, Box 83 folder: Massachusetts Committee, Catholics, Protestants and Jews, the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass. .
44. "Politicians Requested To Omit Racism," The Pilot, 21 October 1944, Box 73, folder 1, the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
45. Interview with Isadore Zack. 19 February 2001
46. In addition to Mr. Zack’s comment about the Committee, I did not find any instances when the Massachusetts Committee, Catholics, Protestants and Jews spoke out against injustices committed to Jewish youth. As a result, I gathered the Committee aimed to further relations not by an aggressive policy, but through its distinguished goodwill dinners.
47. Albert I. Gordon, Jews in Suburbia (Boston: Beacon Press, 1959), 1.
48. The Many Voices of Boston: A Historical Anthology, 1630-1975, ed. Howard Mumford Jones and Bessie Zaban Jones (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1975), xi.49. Michael D. Haydock, The GI Bill, American History online.
50. Gerald Gamm, Urban Exodus: Why the Jews Left Boston and the Catholics Stayed (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999), 11.
51. Alan Lupo in 1969 described how Blue Hill Avenue became increasingly dominated by African-Americans. "Blue Hill avenue stretches from the Don and the Volga and the Vistula to the Mississippi Rivers. Once it was a world peopled with the Yiddish and their offspring. Today, it is more Mississippi than Minsk." Quoted in Gerald Gamm, Urban Exodus, 275.
52. Gerald Gamm, "In Search of Suburbs: Boston’s Jewish Districts," in The Jews of Boston, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna and Ellen Smith (Boston: Combined Jewish Philanthropies, 1995), 153.
53. The situation is more complex than this. Understanding the hierarchy and structure of the Catholic Church is important in understanding why Catholics remained. Catholics identified with their local parish and associated the names of their churches with a certain geographical area. Jews, on the other hand, often named their temples after the street where the synagogue was located: the Blue Hill Avenue Synagogue, the Seaver Street Temple. Jews understood by ‘borrowing’ names from their streets, that it was the street and not a synagogue’s presence that made the district truly lasting. Gerald Gamm, Urban Exodus, 139.
54. One example of how suburbanization affected the Jewish religion involved the rise of synagogues and Jewish community centers. The synagogue in the suburbs became the meeting place for Jews physically spread out in large sprawling suburbs.
55. The sorting of families by income and color actually began before the Civil War and the rise of the streetcar accentuated divisions. Kenneth T. Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States (New York: Oxford University Press, 1985), 241.
56. Thomas O’Connor, Boston Catholics, 254.
57. Both American Catholicism and Judaism had been religions of immigrants, whereas Protestants had less first and second generation Americans. It is also important to recognize that Jews and Catholics came from different backgrounds. The nineteenth century Catholic and Jewish immigrants hailed from Ireland and Germany, respectively. Later Catholic immigrants came from Italy, Poland and Lithuania, while the twentieth century Jewish immigrants fled from Eastern Europe. When interpreting religious differences, one must take into account the fact that not all Catholics and Jews arrived from the same area. Are differences among Catholics and Jews the result of religion or their ethnic backgrounds? Stephan Thernstrom, The Other Bostonians, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973), 147.
58. Will Herberg, Protestant, Catholic, Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1983), 23.
59. Edward S. Shapiro, A Time for Healing, 53.
60. Will Herberg, Protestant, Catholic, Jew, 60.
61. Will Herberg, Protestant, Catholic, Jew, 60.
62. Thomas O’Connor, Boston Catholics, 253.
63. Some projects the National Conference of Christians and Jews (NCCJ) sponsored included studying the relationships between Catholics, Protestants and Jews in American history, creating materials to cultivate appreciation of the various groups, and guiding and assisting local community groups about teaching religious freedom and about each group’s contribution to the United States. One Catholic, Protestant and Jew co-chaired the NCCJ. Claris, Edwin Silcox and Galen M. Fisher, Catholics, Jews and Protestants: A Study of Relationships in the United States and Canada (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1934), 332-333 and Will Herberg, Protestant, Catholic, Jew, 242.
64. John Murray Cuddihy, No Offense: Civil Religion and Protestant Taste (New York: Seabury Press, 1978), 28.
65. The construction of the chapels was actually a long process at Brandeis. The original plan was to build one chapel, where all faiths would meet. Later it was changed to be a Jewish chapel. However, Brandeis students and the Justice, the independent student newspaper, challenged both notions. Committed to the ideal of a non-sectarian university, they wanted a solution that would affirm Brandeis’ Jewish identity along with its inclusive ideals. Students brought President Sachar around to their position and after many months of negotiating in 1953, Sachar announced three distinct chapels would be built. Commencement collection, folder: Three Chapels Plan, Robert D. Farber University Archives, Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass.
66. Abram L. Sachar collection, folder: Correspondence, Brandeis University Chancellorship Papers, Robert D. Farber University Archives, Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass.
67. Both Dever and Perini were prominent Catholics in Boston and America. Abram L. Sachar, A Host at Last, special addition, unabridged (Waltham, Mass: Copigraph, Inc, 1976), 136.
68. I used "anti-Judaic" because the word antisemitism was not developed until the late nineteenth century.
69. Father Bullock was studying to be a priest and had the honor of consecrating the altar. He later worked at Brandeis as the Chapel Chaplain from 1969-78 and was the Directory of Campus Ministry in the Boston Archdiocese. Interview with Father Bullock. 24 October 2000.
70. Hillel and Three Chapels Collection, folder: Dedication Three Chapels. Robert D. Farber Archives, Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass.71. An interesting side note to the 1955 tribute involved a $7,500 donation by the Massachusetts Committee, Catholics, Protestants and Jews to Brandeis University in 1954 to further student religious programming on campus. From minutes of the Board of Trustees, v. 4, November 1954-June 1955. Recorded in the 3 November 1954 meeting. Hillel and Three Chapels Collection, folder: Dedication Three Chapels. Robert D. Farber Archives, Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass.
72. By 1962, Cushing served as the spiritual head of 1,550,000 Catholics. Approximately 700,000 Protestants and 150,000 Jews also lived in the area encompassed by the Boston Archdiocese. Thus, Boston proper was three-fourths Roman Catholic. A Tale of Ten Cities, ed. Eugene J. Lipman and Albert Vorspan, 11.
73. Philip Perlmutter credited Cushing as the beginning of change in Boston Catholic-Jewish relations. Perlmutter was a founding member of the Catholic-Jewish Committee, established under the Boston archdiocese in 1969. Interview with Phil Perlmutter. 17 November 2000.
74. John H. Fenton, "Boston’s Prince of the Church" in The Many Voices of Boston, ed. Howard Mumford Jones and Bessie Zahn Jones, 434.
75. Interview with Isadore Zack on 19 February 2001
76. "Rabbi Shubow ‘Open Letter’ To the Pilot", reprinted in the Jewish Advocate, 28 November 1954. Box 73, folder 2, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, Waltham, Mass.
77. Aaron J. Bronstein, President of the Jewish Community Council, to Cardinal Cushing, 20 October 1959, Box 73, folder: Cushing, 1959-60, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
78. Cushing explained he had actually not written some of the articles. "I regret to say that a priest whom I thought was an authority wrote a few of the chapters. These pertain to your letter. I had such confidence in him that I didn’t see his material until it was in print for I was in the hospital with a bad case of asthma and the shingles. The entire copy has now been destroyed. I contacted the collaborator and told him very definitely never again to use such material as he inserted in the brief articles that I asked him to prepare...Confidentially, although your letter made me feel very bad, nevertheless I am glad you wrote it because it has taught me a great lesson. I will never again place confidence of this kind in anyone. I am truly very sorry." Cardinal Cushing to Aaron J. Bronstein, 21 October 1959, Box 73, folder: Cushing, 1959-60, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
79. "Christmas in Chelsea," The Pilot, 10 December 1949, Box 73, folder 1, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, Waltham, Mass.
80. The Letters of Evelyn Waugh, ed. Mark Amory, (New Haven: Ticknor and Fields, 1980), 291-292.
81. Extra ecclesiam nulla salus is directly translated as "outside the Church there is no salvation" but more commonly referred to as "no salvation outside the Church." The phrase Extra ecclesiam nulla salus was written in the second-century. While it was an important Church formulation, Feeney interpreted it more strictly than the Church did. This narrow interpretation would later be addressed at the Second Vatican Council, 1962-65. It is generally accepted that the Feeneyites (followers of Feeney) did not radicalize their views until the late 1940s and only began receiving negative attention in the 1950s. Until Father Feeney turned more extreme, the Boston Catholic community widely accepted him. For example, Archbishop Cushing’s well-known secretary Bishop John Wright was even a friend of Feeney in the early 1940s.82. The Feeney Affair has been investigated from numerous angles. His followers included 72 Slaves, who cut off communication with their families. They lived together with Father Feeney as their spiritual leader and some students dropped out of Harvard. In their obsessive personal devotion, they regarded Father Feeney almost as their Messiah. Described in the Boston City Reporter, June-July 1951 edition. The Slaves often traveled around America together, spreading Feeney publications. The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith spent a lot of time investigating where their money came from in order to better understand Feeney’s sources. From various sources in the Feeney files in the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
83. Mr. Isadore Zack knew Mrs. Grace Uberti well and described what motivated her to faithfully attend Feeney’s rallies every week. Interview with Mr. Zack, 19 February 2001.
84. Report by Grace Uberti from 14 September 1952, Feeney collection, Archives, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass.
85. Report by Grace Uberti from 19 October 1952, Feeney collection, Archives, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass.
86. Report by Grace Uberti from 9 August 1953, Feeney collection, Archives, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass.
87. Report by Grace Uberti from 31 July 1955, Feeney collection, Archives, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass.
88. Report by Grace Uberti from 28 September 1952, Feeney collection, Archives, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass.
89. Report by Grace Uberti from 12 October 1952, Feeney collection, Archives, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass.
90. Report by Grace Uberti from 16 November 1952, Feeney collection, Archives, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass.
91. Report by Grace Uberti from 8 March 1953, Feeney collection, Archives, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass.
92. I am grateful to Father David Michael for his explanation about Feeney’s anti-Jewish stance and this complicated story in the Boston Church.
93. Jewish Advocate, 23 August 1951. Box 51, folder: anti-Semitism, Feeney-newspaper clippings, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.94. From a fact sheet about Feeneyism, issued 13 September 1955 by the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston. The Fact Sheet was based on Council interviews with people in key positions; on articles appearing in the archdiocesan newspaper, The Pilot and on material supplied to the Jewish Community Council from the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and the Frances Sweeney Committee. Box 51, folder: antisemitism – Feeney (general files), 1955, The Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
95. Interview with James M. O’Toole, Associate Professor of History at Boston College, 20 March 2000.
96. The silencing of Feeney was a complex story. As a Jesuit priest, he was not immediately under the auspices of Archbishop Cushing. According to Monsignor Conley, editor of The Pilot since 1991, Archbishop Cushing had no immediate authority over Feeney because Cushing did not have jurisdiction over Feeney. Feeney’s ecclesiastical faculties granted by the Archdiocese expired on 31 December 1948. Despite this fact, Feeney continued to hear sacramental confessions, incurring the penalty of suspension of his priestly powers under Canon 2366 of the Code of Canon Law. In addition, the Catholic Church tried to transfer Feeney to the Worcester Diocese, but Feeney refused the transfer and incurred the penalty of excommunication under Canon 238 of the Code of Canon Law (from a letter written by Chancellor Rt. Rev. Walter J. Furlong to William Foustoukos of the Frances Sweeney Committee on 16 October 1951). Isabel Currier, executive director of the Frances Sweeney Committee also wrote an important editorial to The Pilot on 13 October 1952 to clarify the complicated Feeney matter. When Cushing silenced Feeney, "he did NOT suspend Father Feeney from priestly functions; he automatically suspended himself by his refusal to obey orders. Having refused his transfer (in another diocese) Feeney’s priestly faculties in the Archdiocese of Boston were not renewed on January 1, 1949 because, in defying the orders of his religious superiors, he no longer had any official status as a priest in the Archdiocese." Feeney was expelled from the Society of Jesus on 8 August 1949 and the Holy Office in Rome issued a warning to Feeney on 30 August 1949. This was the first step in a four-year ongoing battle Feeney had with the Roman Catholic authorities. It is important to distinguish that Feeney was expelled from the Jesuit order, but all the other penalties were automatically incurred by Father Feeney for refusing to obey the order and not inflicted by any ecclesiastical authority. Information from an interview with Monsignor Conley on 15 February 2001 and a Pilot editorial written by Isabel Currier, Archdiocese, general Feeney files. Boston Herald. 4 November 1949. Box 51, folder: antisemitism – Feeney (subject files) newspaper clippings, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
97. Letter from The Frances Sweeney Committee; the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston; the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith; the Cambridge Community Relations Council; the Department of Social Relations at Harvard University and the Civil Improvement Committee to Better Race Relations among Boston Citizens united to send a 30 January 1952 letter to the Most Reverend Amleto G. Cicognani, D.D., Apostolic Delegate to the United States, Box 51, folder: Antisemitism, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
98. Letter from The Frances Sweeney Committee; the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston; the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith; the Cambridge Community Relations Council; the Department of Social Relations at Harvard University and the Civil Improvement Committee to Better Race Relations among Boston Citizens united to send a 30 January 1952 letter to the Most Reverend Amleto G. Cicognani, D.D., Apostolic Delegate to the United States, Box 51, folder: Antisemitism, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
99. From the N.C.W.C. (National Council Welfare Conference) News Service issued by the Press Department in Washington D.C. Feeney collection, Archives, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass and the decree "The Priest Leonard Feeney is Declared Excommunicated." Archives, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass. The Pilot as quoted in From a Fact Sheet issued by the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston on 13 September 1955, box 51, folder: antisemitism – Feeney (general files), 1955, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
100. Prior to this, Feeney received letters to report to Rome in October and November 1952, but he refused to go. The Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office in Rome issued a third warning on 3 January 1953 that if Father Feeney did not appear in Rome before 31 January 1953, he would be automatically excommunicated. Once again, he refused to appear and made up excuses why he could not leave Boston. He claimed the letters were not authentic because they were written in English and if the Church had issued them, they would have been in Latin. In a Plenary Session held on 4 February 1953, the Church in Rome declared Feeney excommunicate. The Boston archdiocesan newspaper The Pilot wrote "This action of the Holy See is the climax and concluding act of a controversy that has done considerable harm to souls and disturbed the peace of mind in Catholic circles."
101. The official Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston policy on Feeney was defined as "a policy of quarantine wherein Feeneyite activities are concerned. The Feeney quarrel is essentially based on interpretation of dogma. Calumnies expressed against Jews are judged by the Jewish community and, increasingly by the general community, on the basis of their jaundiced source." From a Fact Sheet issued by the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston on 13 September 1955. Box 51, folder: antisemitism – Feeney (general files), 1955, AJHS, Waltham, Mass. Quarantine was a standard policy for dealing with antisemitism in the 1950s.
102. Interview with Isadore Zack. 19 February 2001.
103. A memo from Isadore Zack, of the ADL to Sol Kolack, of the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston from 18 August 1953. Box 51, folder: Antisemitism – Feeney (general files) 1948-53. Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
104. A memo from Isadore Zack, of the ADL to Sol Kolack, of the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston from 18 August 1953, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
105. Isabel Currier took over as Executive Director when founder Frances Sweeney died. Currier came from an actively Catholic family and was known for her factual, fair and accurate coverage of persons or groups attempting to stir up trouble in the Boston community. The Chancellor of the Boston Archdiocese wrote in a letter regarding the validity and integrity of the Committee that "he has no reason to doubt either the integrity or information of the Boston Frances Sweeney group." Indeed, the Committee appeared to play an important role in working with both the Archdiocese and Church officials and with the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston. From a letter written by the Boston archdiocese Chancellor to Mr. F.A. Fink, Managing Editor of Our Sunday Visitor, Inc (in Huntington, Indiana) 24 September 1951. Frances Sweeney Committee, Archives, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass.
106. Grace Uberti also sent reports to Catholics and Jews. In this way, the archdiocese and the Jewish Community Council received reports from both Uberti and Currier. From a letter written by Isabel Currier, Executive Director of the Frances Sweeney Committee to the Right Reverend Monsignor Joseph P. Morrison on 25 July 1951. Frances Sweeney Committee, Archives, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass.
107. Report from Grace Uberti, 26 October 1952, Feeney collection, Archives, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass.
108. Report from Grace Uberti, 18 January 1953, Feeney collection, Archives, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass.
109. Anonymous letter signed ‘A Catholic layman’ to Isabel Currier care of The Pilot. The letter was not dated, but received by The Pilot on 23 November 1951. It was later forwarded to the Frances Sweeney Committee and the Archdiocese. Frances Sweeney Committee, Archdiocese of Boston, Brighton, Mass.
110. Isabel Currier, "Hatred Inspires Hatred for Father Feeney and Followers." The Boston City Reporter. June-July 1951. Box 43, folder: Frances Sweeney Committee, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
111. From memos for the background of the Community Council Defamation Committee, 23 May 1956. Box 45, folder: Defamation, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
112. The Point, a Feeneyite publication. May 1955. George Alpert Collection, Folder: 499, Berlin Chapel B4, 1951-56, Robert D. Farber University Archives, Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass.113. George Alpert Collection, Folder: 499, Berlin Chapel, B4, 1951-56, Robert D. Farber University Archives, Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass.
114. Box 51, folder: Antisemitism, general files – 1955, Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston Records, AJHS, Waltham, Mass.
115. Abram Sachar, A Host at Last, 137.