Passing in Boston: The Story of the Healy Family |
Passing in Boston: The Story of the Healy Family
WGBHForum
2014-03-26
Boston College history professor, James O’Toole discusses his newest book Passing for White: Race, Religion, and the Healy Family, 1820-1920, which documents the extraordinary life of the Healy brothers of Boston.
In the mid-1800’s, the Healy brothers of Boston, James, Patrick, and Sherwood, looked like the picture of Catholic success. James was bishop of Portland, Maine; Patrick, president of Georgetown University; and Sherwood, chief supervisor of the building of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The Healy’s were not typical members of the Boston Catholic elite, but the children of a multiracial slave couple from Georgia.
Tags: Boston, Healy Family, James Healy, James O'Toole, Massachusetts, Patrick Healy, Sherwood Healy, WGBH