Ballots and Bibles

By the mid-nineteenth century, Providence, Rhode Island, an early industrial center, became a magnet for Catholic immigrants seeking jobs. The city created as a haven for Protestant dissenters was transformed by the arrival of Italian, Irish, and...

Evelyn Savidge Sterne is Associate Professor of History at the University of Rhode Island.

Sterne opens to us the rich political world made by Catholic immigrants. Her crisply written and well-organized book should be of interest to students of urban, Catholic, political, and labor history. Tocqueville was shrewd to intuit the democratic leanings of American Catholicism. Now Sterne has given us the historical evidence to bolster that hunch.

Contesting a historiography in which labor and religion are often pitted against one another, Sterne ably demonstrates that in Providence, the Roman Catholic Church, from roughly 1840 to 1940, played a crucial role in 'politicizing' immigrant and ethic Americans of the working classes.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, Brooklyn College:

After crafting a trans-denominational interpretation of political reform as the trajectory for the book, the author enters into a well-written narrative that offers solid historical context for the sporadic movements with their leaders that chipped away at the establishment's hold on power until the first third of the 20th century.... I would recommend this book both as a model for how to write the history of religion and also as an informed narrative about Providence from the middle of the 19th century until the New Deal.... I highly recommend this volume for reading lists where the history and development of urban ethnic groups is studied.

Robert A. Orsi, Warren Professor of American Religious History, Harvard Divinity School:

Evelyn Sterne's book about immigration, labor, religion, and politics in modern Rhode Island is one of the finest examples of the new history of American Catholicism being written today by a talented generation of younger scholars. Sterne presents ethnic parishes—her reach includes all Providence's immigrant Catholic communities—as lively centers of civic education and engagement, where lay men and women worked together with their priests and nuns to create community, to define and defend their interests, and to enjoy each other's company. This is a rich and exciting study.

Nick Salvatore, Maurice and Hinda Neufeld Founders Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations, Professor of American Studies, Cornell University:

Ballots and Bibles offers us a portrait of Providence's working people that is grounded in the lived complexity of their lives. By taking seriously their religious faith, Evelyn Sterne restores the rich context through which they in fact joined unions, created families, and engaged in political action. This insightful and sensitive book will appeal to readers with a wide range of historical interests.

Colleen McDannell, University of Utah:

Ballots and Bibles is part of an exciting new trend among social historians to bring religion from the margins to the center of the story of working-class America. It is a fascinating look at how crucial Catholic parish life was to the shaping of politics and culture in a multicultural city. Succinctly written, it rightly pays special attention to how Catholic women negotiated what it meant to have an American identity without losing one's faith or ethnic loyalty. I highly recommend Evelyn Savidge Sterne's book to those looking for a fuller perspective on the dynamics of urban America.

Robert W. Hayman, The Catholic Historical Review, October 2004:

Ballots and Bibles is a substantial contribution to the historical studies of Rhode Island. It is also an important study of ethnic communities, particularly of the Irish, that will serve to help enrich the understanding of Catholic ethnic communities in the United States as a whole.