This exhibit explores the history of Catholic schools at the elementary and secondary levels between the 1890s and the 1990s. Intended as an introductory overview, it picks up four threads that run throughout the history of America’s second-largest school system: the construction of Catholic school identity, the rulings of the Supreme Court, the pivotal role of sister-teachers, and the pattern of service to the disadvantaged.

The exhibit recounts the history of Catholic schools through primary source material held by Special Collections at The Catholic University of America, chiefly the American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives.