175 years
The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History June 15 -21.
Holy Trinity Catholic Church was founded by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1787 along the Potomac River in a village called Georgetown. In 1794, it completed its first church building, St. Ignatius Chapel, and since then, the church has had a robust history for over 200 years, growing up alongside the United States.
Holy Trinity is considered one of the oldest continuous Catholic churches in Washington, DC, and has been visited by three sitting presidents, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Joe Biden, along with the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
Beyond the attendance of well-known political leaders, Holy Trinity has worked to pass down the faith. In 1818, it added a school, which over the years educated different populations, from high school to college-aged women, to eventually what it is today – a little over 335 students from PreK through 8th grade.
By the mid-1830s, the church had outgrown its original chapel and launched a capital campaign in 1839. Proved successful, because on June 15, 1851, the new church opened its doors and has served as the main center of worship ever since.
I began working at Holy Trinity in 2024, overseeing the church’s fundraising efforts. We launched a capital campaign in September of last year – continuing the idea that we need more space and resources for a growing and vibrant church. And this past Saturday, we had our annual parish picnic to celebrate the church’s 175th anniversary.
While parishioners of Holy Trinity in 1839 began their journey to raise money to build a church, they endured a lot of challenges. There was the unexpected death of their president (William Henry Harrison), the continual economic depression from the Panic of 1837 that saw the Treasury dry up and the economy crash, and the rise of the abolitionist movement as the country expanded west and sought to prevent the extension of slavery with it. They experienced the second unexpected death of their president (Zachary Taylor), days after the 4th of July in 1850.
Fast forward to the experiences of the 2026 parishioners – where, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the singing of the Declaration of Independence, the president of the United States held a cage fight on the front lawn of the White House.
Pretty much the same thing, really.
Okay, let’s get to what else happened this week. As a reminder, these events mark anniversaries ending in 5 or 0.
1. The United States and Great Britain signed another treaty on June 15, 1846. When running for president, James Polk campaigned on the idea that he would establish the western boundaries of the United States – our God-given right to do so. “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight” was in reference to the 54th parallel, the border he wanted. Instead, he compromised, and he got the 49th parallel. Just as good a parallel, I would say. It would create Oregon and Washington, the latter a place I will be visiting in about a week for the World Cup.
2. The first Republican National Convention opened on June 17, 1856. Founded just two years earlier in Wisconsin, the party was determined to stop the spread of slavery and give large tax cuts to huge corporations, while cutting our social service programs for the poor. They nominated John C. Fremont and ran on the idea that “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Soil, Free Men. Fremont and Victory” would win. Instead, they lost the election to James Buchanan, and the march to the Civil War quickened.
3. Juneteenth became a national holiday on June 17, 2021. President Joe Biden signed into existence the celebration of the end of slavery. What began in Texas, where federal troops explained to the enslaved people that they were in fact free, and had been for over two and a half years. There’s something perfect about the idea of showing up in Texas and explaining to the good folks there that something major happened two and a half years ago. The holiday has since been an opportunity to embrace our past, recognize it, and commit to making the country better so that we can have a cage fight on the White House front lawn.
After working on Saturday, Sunday afforded me some time to knock out a few personal projects that I haven’t gotten to – which included taking advantage of the nice weather and grilling up some chicken thighs:
I think they turned out pretty good. I’m having them all week for lunch.
Blue, of course, supervised the project:
As a thank you, I gave him a bath, which was like a cage match to get him to cooperate.
Finally, I voted in the DC Democratic primary – we are voting for a new mayor, a few councilmembers, and our representative to the House, which we haven’t replaced in over 30 years.
DC now has Ranked Choice Voting, which I’m so happy about – if you are looking for an effective way to combat one-party rule, Ranked Choice Voting is the way to go. It’s how we landed our first Democratic Congresswoman in Alaska in a long time, and it holds DC Democratic leaders’ coronations accountable. I’m quite confident I screwed it up. I dropped off the ballot anyway and hope for the best.
It was a long week, and I’m grateful for the chance to slow down and recharge yesterday. I hope you did as well. Thanks for the support of Okay History, and I hope the week ahead is a good one.
Okay,
Chris
The in-laws were in town this week and brought us this present – he looks so much like our boy!