Order to desegregate St. Louis Catholic schools in 1947

E853348

The "Order to desegregate St. Louis Catholic schools in 1947" was a landmark directive by Archbishop (later Cardinal) Joseph Ritter that ended racial segregation in the Archdiocese of St. Louis’s parochial schools, making them among the first in the United States to integrate.

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf civil rights milestone
desegregation order
educational policy decision
aimedAt ending racial segregation in parochial schools
appliesTo Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of St. Louis
archbishopAtTime Joseph Ritter
broaderMovement American civil rights movement
controversy threats by some opponents to withdraw financial support from Catholic schools
country United States
date 1947
educationLevel primary education
secondary education
educationSystem Catholic parochial school system
effect desegregation of St. Louis Catholic schools
integration of Black and white students in Catholic schools
follows earlier limited integration efforts in some Catholic institutions
governingBody Archdiocese of St. Louis chancery
historicalImpact strengthened reputation of Joseph Ritter as a progressive church leader on race issues
historicalRegion Midwestern United States
implementedBy administrators of St. Louis Catholic schools
implementedDespite organized resistance from segregationist groups
implementedIn Archdiocese of St. Louis parochial school system
inspired later Catholic school desegregation efforts in other U.S. dioceses
issuedBy Archdiocese of St. Louis
Joseph Ritter
justifiedBy Catholic teaching on the equality of all people
laterTitleOfIssuer Cardinal Joseph Ritter
legalStatus internal ecclesiastical directive
location St. Louis, Missouri
moralBasis Christian doctrine of human dignity
notableFor making St. Louis Catholic schools among the first integrated Catholic school systems in the United States
opposedBy some white Catholic parents in St. Louis
policyChange abolition of race-based admissions policies in St. Louis Catholic schools
policyDomain racial equality in education
policyInstrument archiepiscopal directive
preceded Brown v. Board of Education
precededBy racial segregation in St. Louis Catholic schools
prefigured later church involvement in civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s
relatedTo Catholic Church and civil rights movement
school desegregation in the United States
religiousContext Roman Catholic Church
linked to: Roman Catholicism
sector parochial education
significance early example of Catholic Church leadership in civil rights in the Midwest
one of the earliest large-scale integrations of Catholic schools in the United States
supportedBy Joseph Ritter
civil rights advocates in St. Louis
timePeriod post–World War II era
typeOfSegregationAddressed racial segregation in education

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Joseph Cardinal Ritter notableWork Order to desegregate St. Louis Catholic schools in 1947