Manhattan University Archivist Hopes to Share Hidden Collection of Holy Relics With All

The legacy of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a lay order dedicated to education since the 17th century, is enshrined at the archives of an institution they founded in the Bronx in the 1850s. As a result, Manhattan University — formerly known as Manhattan College — has accrued a vast archive of historical documents and artifacts from the order’s districts throughout the United States.

The Unsung Hero Behind Brooklyn’s First Black Catholic Community

In 1915, a group of black Catholics met at a home on Pacific Street in Prospect Heights, across from what is today the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph. The Spanish Colonial-style church with two bell towers was completed just three years earlier to replace the previous parish church, which was built in 1861, the same year the American Civil War began.