By the dawn of the 20th century Reading was undergoing notable industrial expansion. The lure of jobs brought significant population growth to the area. Among the newcomers were many Catholics. Monsignor George Bornemann of St. Paul’s Parish recommend to Edmund F. Prendergast, Archbishop of [...]
Count Berthold von Imhoff was a famous painter of religious art works. He was born Jan. 14, 1868, in Karlsruhe, Germany. At age 12, he started studying at various European art schools including Oberwinter, Halle-an-der-Halle, and the art institute at Karlsruhe, Baden. In [...]
George Bornemann was born October 5, 1838, at Lingen, Province of Hanover, Germany. His father was a rope-maker; his mother, Louisa (born, Rolfs) died when he was six years old. The schools of his native town provided his elementary education, and he early [...]
Around beginning of the twentieth century, the first Ukrainian immigrants came to Reading from Western Ukraine and from the Southwestern part of the Carpathian mountain region, mainly from Lemko region. Deeply religious and closely attached to their Church, the Ukrainian immigrants were reluctant [...]
In 1920, St. Joseph's Church, 8th and Spring Streets, was the only Catholic Church in Reading north of Walnut Street. To accommodate the growing population in the northwest section of the city, Archbishop (later Cardinal) Dennis Dougherty, established St. Margaret's Parish on February [...]
In the early 1900’s only a few Italian families were to be found scattered throughout the City of Reading. But their number increased so rapidly that it soon became necessary to look after their spiritual needs and organize them into a congregation. In [...]
Around 1880, the first Slovaks came to Reading from Saris, Spis and Zemplin, areas in Czechoslovakia, and later from Trencin, Orava and Nitra, also in Czechoslovakia. During their first years in Reading, they attended Mass at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, and then [...]
The first Catholic congregation to be established in Pennsylvania was in 1734 when Father Greaton, S. J., a missionary from Maryland, built the Church of St. Joseph in Willing’s Alley in Philadelphia. In 1741 Father Theodore Schneider was sent by the German Province [...]
