State of New Jersey about to honor a dishonorable, bigoted and hateful man

The following text is excerpted from letters sent by Sean Pender, New Jersey AOH State Board President and J. Michael Finn, Ohio State Board Historian.

" As most of you know the New Jersey Hall of Fame has nominated an Irish Catholic Bigot, Thomas Nast as a potential 2012 inductee to the Hall. We have voiced our displeasure regarding this issue and have received a tremendous amount of press coverage. Unfortunately the NJ Hall of Fame has told us again today that they will NOT remove Nast from the list of nominees so we need to continue our protest. No other nationality or religion would stand for this type of prejudice and bigotry and we as Irish Catholics cannot either. Background information at

http://www.njaoh.com/472/taking-a-stand-against-honoring-antiirish-cartoonist/

 The actual book by Nast (its a small booklet, actually) in available for download from the Library of Congress. The link is below. Instead of reading McAffee's description you and read the actual book and view Nast's pictures of ape-like Irishmen. Even a Hibernian meeting. Its called "Miss Columbia's Public Schools." On the far left side of the page is the choice of download options.

http://www.archive.org/details/misscolumbiaspub02pull

 Attached is a Nast picture with an Ohio connection. Nast drew this after the Ohio legislature passed a bill called the Geghan Bill. The bill was simply to allow religious freedom in state institutions (prisons, asylums, poor houses). These institutions were run by Protestant chaplains who would deny the access of priests to Catholic inmates. The law called for equal access and equal facilities. It also stopped Catholics and members of other religions from being forced to attend Protestant worship services. Sounds pretty harmless. Nast was  convinced that the Catholic Church was running the Ohio legislature and that this was a subversive plot to take over the public schools. The Ohio Catholic bishops supported the bill. It was passed but later revoked by the incoming legislature and governor (Rutherford B. Hayes).

Here a bishop (a strong resemblance to Archbishop Purcell of Cincinnati) sits on the throne with his feet on the constitution. In back of the bishop is a picture of a priestly looking St. Geghan, labeled “The Representative of Rome, not of Cincinnati.” A picture of the Pope is also displayed with the caption “A Foreign Prince Reigning in the United States.” Also in the picture are priests standing under a doorway with a sign above which reads, “Ohio Roman Legislature.” The entire cartoon bears the caption “The Established (Foreign) Church in Ohio – What are you going to do about it?”

It’s now 2011 and we ask, what are YOU going to do about it? We ask that all concerned Catholics call, email and/or write Don Smith, Executive director of the NJ Hall of Fame to express your disappointment in this horrible nomination and ask for it to be immediately withdrawn:

Don Smith Executive Director, NJ Hall of Fame Cell: 908-832-1020

Email: djsmith@njhalloffame.org


New Jersey Hall of Fame

c/o Charles Edison Fund

1037 Raymond Boulevard, Suite 340


Newark, NJ 071020"