By Rev. Donald R. Kiernan

Forty-nine years ago not even the most loyal Chamber of Commerce in the state could deny that Georgia was the most anti-Catholic of any of the United States. There were scores of newspapers in Georgia which did not publish an issue in which there was not some mendacious attack against the Catholic Church or some slur against Catholics. Chances of success in a political campaign seemed to be in proportion to the candidate’s outspoken anti-Catholicism. There was one man, particularly active in political circles, who discovered that he could summon a following by fighting the “Roman Catholic hierarchy,” even though to most of his followers the term held the horror of the unknown because scarcely a one of them had any idea what the Roman Catholic hierarchy was.

Catholics at that time numbered about fifteen thousand in a state that had a population of over two million. Since the vast majority of that population had little knowledge of what the Catholic Church taught, knew little of the true nature of its practices, the anti-Catholic scare worked splendidly. Many weekly newspapers admitted to their columns scurrilous and bigoted propaganda. Some daily papers occasionally printed it. It was effective. People who knew little or nothing about the Catholic Church believed the misrepresentations, for denial did not reach them.

Suddenly a campaign of intolerance began, especially in the remotely populated areas of the state where Catholics were few in number. A Catholic became as dreaded and feared as a potential enemy. Many long-standing friendships were strained and disrupted. Then came the climax -- the enactment by the Legislature of the State of Georgia of the Veasey Bill, or “Convent Inspection Act.”

The campaign became all the more objectionable because it was something new. Catholics had been in Georgia practically without interruption since colonial days. There was hardly a city of consequence in which they had not occupied the highest positions up to and including Mayor Patrick Walsh of Augusta had represented Georgia in the United States Senate. For years no other state could boast of more friendly relations between Catholics and non-Catholics than those prevailing in Georgia.

Catholics in Georgia were dismayed. Something had to be done if they hoped to live in peace and security in their native state, one that they loved as they loved their country, one in whose soil their ancestors had found final resting place, and one to which they were linked by tender memory and strongest human ties, not to mention economic considerations.

Captain P. H. Rice, prominent in the business and civic life of Augusta, was a Catholic who loved his church, and was deeply concerned with the growing intolerance in Georgia. Captain Rice joined with Monsignor Mitchell and with the aid of the Religious Prejudice Commission of the Knights of Columbus pamphlets were circulated all over the state.

Feeling that the work ought to be extended in view of the increasing bitterness of the campaign of bigotry, Captain Rice sponsored a meeting of about a dozen men in Augusta. These men requested Captain Rice to present the situation to the Ordinary of the Diocese, who at that time was the venerable Bishop Keiley.

Captain Rice went to Savannah and found Bishop Keiley heartily in favor of the suggestion to hold a meeting of representative Catholics of the state for the purpose of devising plans to combat the wave of prejudice that had reached its crest with the passage of the “convent inspection” bill. He then appeared before a group of Savannah Knights of Columbus. At this meeting Bishop Keiley issued a call for a meeting in Macon, which town already had a local committee formed for the purpose of offsetting the tide of bigotry in that area.

So, in Macon, Georgia the Catholic Laymen’s Association was formally organized in 1916. A publicity bureau was established in Augusta, with James J. Farrell a former newspaper editor and Chamber of Commerce Secretary in charge. The first important activity was the insertion of non-controversial advertising matters in the newspapers around the state of Georgia. These advertisements asserted positively that Catholics did not believe certain designated things attributed to them and offered to answer questions about what they did believe and practice.

Inquiry after inquiry came into the Association headquarters. Letters of a bitter nature came first but it was not long before they became the rare exception. No matter how absurd or offensive, the answer was never disdainful, sarcastic or touched with ridicule.

In April of 1920 the Laymen’s Association began the publication of the BULLETIN. With Mr. A. J. Long of Macon as the first president of the Association and James Farrell the first executive secretary. The first publication was delivered four times a year. Scrupulously refraining from politics the Association soon became to be accepted by non-Catholics of Georgia with the confidence a disinterested service merits. Every inquiry to the office of the Laymen’s Association was answered by a personal letter, short, courteous and to the point. The Association never was sarcastic, disdainful or funny. It never lost sight of its objective: “To bring about a friendlier feeling among Georgians irrespective of creed.”

With the untimely death of Mr. Farrell in 1920, Mr. Richard Reid became the executive secretary of the Association and editor of THE BULLETIN (1920-39). Bringing to the Laymen’s Association a brilliant mind, a devoted heart, an ardent spirit, a tireless energy, with a disposition of patience and understanding of human nature, he was well equipped for service in the cause in which he labored for nearly twenty years. Under the direction of Mr. Reid the newspaper adopted its newspaper format and increased its subscriptions from 2,000 to over 8,000.

Mr. A. J. Long of Macon was succeeded as president of the Association in 1919 by Mr. J. J. Spalding K.S.G., K.M. Thomas F. Walsh of Savannah was elected to the post in 1919. The most fruitful years of the Association were realized in the years 1919 to 1933 under the presidency of Captain P.H. Rice K.S.G. of Augusta. He in turn was followed by another Augustan, Mr. Alfred Batty (1933-139). Dr. J. Reid Broderick of Savannah held the post during the years 39-40 being succeeded by Mr. Bernard J. Kane of Atlanta in 1941. The Association went to the four corners of the state in selecting its leaders. Atlanta, Bernard Kane was followed by a Rome native, Bernard S. Fahy (1943), and he in turn by: Estes Doremus of Atlanta, 1946-1948; Fred Wiggins of Albany served during the years 1948 to 1950. Hugh Grady of Savannah followed as President and served the years 1950 and 1951. A Rome resident, Marshall Wellborn (1951-1953) followed Mr. Grady and from 1953 to 1955 the Association was headed by Joseph P. Meyer of Columbus. Maconite, Holst Beall headed the state organization during the years 1955 and 56 and once more a Savannah attorney, John Brennan, was elected as president in 1956 and served until the following year. The last president to serve (from 1957 until 1962) was George Gingell of Columbus.

Names associated with the early days of the Association read like a Who’s Who of the civic, political and religious life of their respective communities. At an age when travel was difficult and communication often nonexistent, it is interesting to note that members and leaders for various communities were from all over the state. It is a real tribute to laity who desired to preserve the faith in a “no-priest” land. Some persons whose names are held in high esteem in the annals of the Association include: Louis C. Kunze of Columbus; Thomas J. O’Keefe of Atlanta; C. A. McCarthy and Mrs. Joseph Kelly of Savannah; Evelyn Harris and John M. Harrison of Atlanta, all who rendered invaluable service to the publicity committee of the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia.

Two men, whose fathers were among the founders of the Association, carried on the tradition of Catholicism by their continuing to serve in important positions of the Association. For many years the late Clarance Haverty of Atlanta headed the finance committee and Hughes Spalding, Sr., a vice-president of the Association, was the treasurer of the endowment fund.

The late J. Carroll Payne K.S.G. and the late James J. Haverty K.S.G. both of Atlanta received papal honors from His Holiness, Pope Pius XI for their work in the Laymen’s Association.

Atlanta attorney, the late Estes Doremus along with a Milledgeville native, the late R. W. Hatcher, served in local capacities as presidents in the Association. It would be almost impossible to record the every name, the every action which contributed to the success of the Association. Legion would be the list which adequately recorded the spirit of cooperation and zeal which was personified in the organization known as the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia.

In 1939 Richard Reid left Georgia to become the editor of the Catholic News, official organ for the Archdiocese of New York. Mr. Hugh Kinchley of Augusta piloted the diocesan press which increased its circulation from 8,000 in 1939 to 11,500 in 1953, when death came to the third executive secretary in March of that year.

The influx of Catholics into the region and an increase in the number of parishes are probably the two main reasons for the demise of the Laymen’s Association. A strong state organization was necessary when the Sacred Heart Church on Ivy Street was the only parish between Atlanta and the Tennessee border, and Macon possessed the only church between Savannah and Atlanta, a distance of 300 miles. With the establishment of parish organizations to meet the needs of the local, the state organization became a coordinating office to synchronize the efforts of the parish organization.

In 1956, the Holy See divided the state of Georgia into two ecclesiastical territories. The Diocese of Savannah which had become the Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta in 1937 now in 1956 became the Diocese of Savannah and the Diocese of Atlanta. The late Archbishop Gerald P. O’Hara D.D. J.U.D. who was serving as Apostolic Delegate to Great Britain was named bishop of Savannah and the Most Rev. Francis E. Hyland D.D.J.C.D. was named the first bishop of Atlanta. The newspaper which was now in its 38th year and had a circulation of 12,000 continued to serve the people of both dioceses under the managing editorship of the fourth executive secretary of the Laymen’s Association, John Markwalter. The Rev. Francis Donahue of Savannah was named editor of the Savannah edition and the Rev. R. Donald Kiernan became editor of the Atlanta edition.

Recognizing the key position which Atlanta occupies in the southeast, His Holiness, Pope John XXIII established the diocese of Atlanta as a metropolitan See in 1962 and named the former Bishop of Charleston, S.C., the Most Rev. Paul J. Hallinan as the first archbishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

In January of 1963 a new venture in journalism was begun by the infant archdiocese with the publication of the GEORGIA BULLETIN headed by a nationally known journalist-editor, Mr. Gerard E. Sherry. At the same time the efforts of the Laymen’s organization were incorporated into the newly established National Council of Catholic Men.

The archdiocese is but 3 years old. These 3 years have seen the response of the laymen demonstrated with the same zeal and effort which has characterized the Church in Georgia for over a hundred years. The future is now faced with every confidence.