Laying the Cornerstone, 1825–1846

Benedict Fenwick, the second Roman Catholic bishop of Boston, had a rocky relationship both with the continued influx of Irish peasants and the Boston establishment. His priority was to lay the groundwork for Catholic higher education in Boston rather than establishing a parochial school system. Given that the Boston public schools presented a clear challenge to the faith of the Roman Catholic newcomers, one might expect that there would be a concerted counter-effort to provide a Catholic school alternative. However, the overall parochial school effort in Boston was much less than would have been expected. The major reasons for this “failure” were (1) the nature of the Catholic newcomers, who were overwhelmingly destitute Irish immigrants with no tradition of schooling in their homeland; (2) Bishop Fenwick’s background and personal characteristics; and (3) the policies adopted by the Boston establishment that controlled the public schools.