Episode 7: A Hidden Chapter of the Civil Rights Movement

Listen as a podcast.

Synopsis

Just about 30 miles north of Montgomery. Only 11 years before the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott. Nuns, both black and white, began to live and pray together on our Native Soil—something that had never been done in American history. And things have never been the same since…

Dig In Further

Had you ever heard about the Dominican Monastery of St. Jude in Marbury or the City of St. Jude in Montgomery before watching this episode? How can you help make these stories and the other rich stories from our Archdiocese’s history known and loved on Our Native Soil?

In Marbury, the sisters made history by starting our country’s first ever “interracial cloister.” How can we learn from their example in our lives as Catholics? How can we live, serve, worship and support one another in our parishes and across our Archdiocese in an “interracial” way? 

The City of St. Jude was a collaborator in the wider Civil Rights Movement. How can we as a Church collaborate with the movements in our day to bring about greater peace and justice in our communities? Many of the photos of the famous Selma to Montgomery March featured priests and nuns linking arms with black ministers and leaders. How are we as Catholics called to support civil rights and preach against the evil of racism in our day and age? How are we called to work for a more peaceful and just society?

Consider making a visit to the City of St. Jude, praying in the Church & visiting their Museum

https://www.cityofstjude.org/museum

Consider visiting the lovely Sisters in Marbury. Join them for Mass or Prayer. And pray that God may further the work of healing race relations that he has begun on our Native Soil. 

Also, pray for vocations for this community. And if you are a young woman, please pray about whether God is calling you to become a part of their historic legacy of prayer and peace. 

https://www.marburydominicannuns.org/history/marbury-foundation/

Learn more about the amazing man Fr. Harold Purcell and the rich legacy he left here on our Native Soil

http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1829

A newsletter put out by Fr. Purcell in 1940 raising support for the ministries of the City of St. Jude

https://credo.library.umass.edu/view/pageturn/mums312-b091-i161/#page/1/mode/1up