African American experiences in Maine


James A. Healy, Portland, ca. 1890

James A. Healy, Portland, ca. 1890
Item 29289   info
Maine Historical Society

James Augustine Healy (1830-1900) was the first African-American to serve as a Roman Catholic bishop in the United States. He was Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maine from 1875 to 1900.

The eldest of 11 children born to an Irish father and mixed-race mother in Georgia, Healy attended Holy Cross College, seminaries in Montreal and France, then served in Boston before become bishop in Maine.

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