Material History of American Religion Project

Picturing Faith: Religious America in Government Photography, 1935 - 1943

Polish Easter
Marjory Collins
April 1943
Buffalo, New York

During the 1940s, Catholics and Jews were frequently photographed because of the need to produce images of ethnic harmony. Such pictures were designed to reassure Americans that they were fighting overseas not only to eradicate fascist intolerance but also to secure the rights of all people to practice whatever religion they chose. In this photograph a priest blesses the Easter foods made by a Polish-American family.

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