What was it like to live as a woman of faith in early republic America? What was it like to live as a Catholic in the early United States?
Catherine O’Donnell, an Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University and author of Elizabeth Seton: American Saint, helps us investigate answers to these questions by taking us through the life of the United States’ first saint: Elizabeth Ann Seton.
About the Show
Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.
It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.
Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.
Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.
Episode Summary
Catherine O’Donnell, an Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University and author of Elizabeth Seton: American Saint, takes us through the life of the United States’ first saint: Elizabeth Ann Seton.
During our conversation, Catherine reveals details about Elizabeth Seton’s life and accomplishments; Information about Seton’s search for faith and her decision to convert to Catholicism; And, what Elizabeth Seton’s life can show us about what it was like to live as a Catholic and a life of faith in the early United States.
What You’ll Discover
- Elizabeth Seton’s life and accomplishments
- The archive about Elizabeth Seton’s life
- How sainthood is a process of memory making
- Why Seton wanted to destroy some of her letters and papers
- Elizabeth Bailey Seton’s early life and childhood
- Seton’s interest in religion and Catholicism
- Catholicism in the early United States
- Elizabeth Seton’s voyage to Italy and her return to the United States
- Seton’s journey to Baltimore
- The establishment of a Catholic community in Emmitsburg, Maryland
- The Sisters of Charity
- The St. Joseph’s Academy and the Sisters of Charity orphanage in Philadelphia
- Elizabeth Seton’s death at age 46
- The canonization of Elizabeth Seton
Links to People, Places, and Publications
- Catherine O’Donnell
- Catherine O’Donnell on Twitter
- Elizabeth Seton: American Saint
- Men of Letters in the Early Republic: Cultivating Citizenship
- New-York Historical Society
- Maryland Historical Society
Sponsor Links
Complementary Episodes
- Episode 108: Ann Little, The Many Captivities of Esther Wheelright
- Episode 116: Erica Charters, Disease & the Seven Years’ War
- Episode 174: Thomas Apel, Yellow Fever in the Early American Republic
- Episode 209: Considering Biography
- Episode 212: Researching Biography
- Episode 214: Christopher Grasso, Skepticism & American Faith
Time Warp Question
In your opinion, what might have happened if Seton had never visited Italy? Do you think she would have converted to Catholicism?
Questions, Comments, Suggestions
Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion?
Get in Touch! Send me an e-mail, tweet, or leave a comment.
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