After outlining the preliminary background of the CCICA's
founding in 1946, Hayes examines its impact through two of its
early projects: war relief for displaced scholars and participation
in United Nations affairs. From 1948 to 1959, questions of the
relationship between church and state especially occupied the
Commission. Hayes looks at the impact of the famous lecture in 1955
by Monsignor John Tracy Ellis, "American Catholics and the
Intellectual Life," which, more than any single event, served to
rally CCICA members, as well as the larger academic community and
the American Catholic Church as a whole, around the question of
Catholic intellectual identity. Hayes analyzes the CCICA's
influence on campus culture in the United States, touching on
topics such as academic freedom and projects such as the Kirby
seminars for younger scholars, a Catholic registry of academics
working in the United States, and the "New Catholic Encyclopedia."
An epilogue treats the Commission's last years of operation.
In "A Catholic Brain Trust: The History of the Catholic
Commission on Intellectual and Cultural Affairs, 1945-1965, "
Patrick J. Hayes chronicles the founding, development, and
accomplishments of the CCICA from its beginnings immediately
following the Second World War to 1965. This extensively documented
study contributes to the history of American Catholicism by
investigating a little-known effort on the part of Catholic
intellectuals in the postwar period to shape Catholic identity in
the United States, by bringing their individual and collective
resources to bear on contemporary society and culture. Hayes
demonstrates how a group of leading Catholic professors, college
presidents, writers, government officials, scientists, and artists
influenced Catholic culture through various media, through
educational institutions, and through their participation in
ecclesial- or government-sanctioned activities.
"This is a work of original archival research, on a subject of
great interest to those interested in American intellectual and
cultural history and those with an interest in the life and work of
the Catholic Church in the United States. The book will add depth
and context for contemporary discussion of Catholic higher
education, Catholic intellectual life, and American Catholic
identity and self-understanding." --David J. O'Brien, University of
Dayton
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