Religion Through History
Churches and the people who led and attended them. See more...
Originally a colony of Great Britain and under the rule of King George III, the Founding Fathers of the United Sates were opposed to a state religion (King George III was the head of the Church of England as is Queen Elizabeth today). In fact, they even wrote it into the Constitution:
And yet, many today say that the U.S. is "a Christian nation". Indeed, Christianity is the most populous religion - followed by Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. Worldwide, Christianity is also the most followed (2.4 billion), closely followed by Islam (1.8 billion). Then comes Agnostic/Atheistic (1.2 billion), Hinduism (1.15 billion) and Buddhism (521 million). Fifteen other religions (for instance, Judaism - 14 million and Chinese traditional religions - 394 million) round out the rest of us. So religion is a way of life for billions of the people around the world.
Some facts about religion in the United States:
- Hindus have the highest rates of education among religious communities - 48% of all Hindus have a post-graduate degree.
- The number of Mormons in the U.S. today are equal to the number of Anglicans/Episcopalians - 1.7% .
- Six of the Supreme Court justices are Catholic and three are Jewish - about half of the population identifies as Protestant.
- Only 10 U.S. states have weekly church attendance above 50% - they’re all in the South. 11 states have weekly church attendance below 33% - and no, one of them is not California or New York!
- The Southern Baptist Convention has twice as many churches as the Catholic Church, despite having 1/4th the membership.
- The first Muslims in the U.S. were African slaves - about 10% of slaves were Muslim.
- 40% of the U.S.’s 1.2 million Buddhists live in Southern California.
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the fifth largest religious organization - the Catholic Church (66 million), the Southern Baptism Convention (16.5 million), the United Methodist Church (8.4 million), and the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc. (8.2 million) are larger.
These are the photos of people practicing their religion in the past - the buildings, leaders, and congregants of the past two centuries. From weddings to baptisms to confirmations to funerals, most people have participated in at least one religious activity in their lives.
A photo of Blanche Laravie posing for her Solemn First Communion at St. Peter's Church
People in this photo:
Jun 2, 1907 - Feb 20, 1988
1907 - 1988
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May 27, 2015 by: Susan Pombrio
Susan Pombrio
85 favorites
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A photo of Valdimar Eylands
People in this photo:
Mar 3, 1901 - Apr 12, 1983
1901 - 1983
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Apr 14, 2015 by: Ragnar Ægisson
Ragnar Ægisson
4 favorites
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A photo of Priscilla Allen Scroggins and family. The lady to the right is Priscilla Allen Scroggins. The oldest Methodist in the world. She was born on March 9, 1777 in South Carolina to William Allen.This photo was taken in 1893 when she was 116 years old. The newspaper article attests to this fact. Effectively making her (at the time) the oldest Methodist in the world! Born before the methodist church was officially established. She has been a Methodist since age 14 in 1791.
Her father William Allen died in Ga at age 112. He was born in 1726 and died in 1838.
People in this photo:
Mar 9, 1777 - Nov 17, 1893
1777 - 1893
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Mar 27, 2015 by: Austin Mannheim
Austin Mannheim
3 favorites
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A photo of a portrait of Really A. Rabbi Jacobs. This is one of our ancient ancestors who practiced Judaism with fervor, enthusiasm, delight, tenderness, and the urge to fry up some latkes for the entire family.
People in this photo:
Unknown - Unknown
? - ?
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Mar 18, 2015 by: Itcha Madeevie
Itcha Madeevie
4 favorites
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A photo of Martha J Smigielski at Holy Communion
People in this photo:
Nov 11, 1912 - Feb 20, 2009
1912 - 2009
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Feb 13, 2015 by: A.l. Smigielski
A.l. Smigielski
38 favorites
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A photo of Hilary Andrew Leister at his Confirmation
People in this photo:
Jun 16, 1913 - Aug 16, 1994
1913 - 1994
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Feb 10, 2015 by: Dev Fosbrink
Dev Fosbrink
54 favorites
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A photo of Kate (Cunningham) Pilcher
People in this photo:
1876 - June 1948
1876 - 1948
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Jan 24, 2015 by: Cathie Allen
Cathie Allen
108 favorites
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Rev. John Walker's Church 2nd Creek Baptist, Hazard, Ky
People in this photo:
1867 - 1940
1867 - 1940
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Jan 20, 2015 by: Cynthia Long
Cynthia Long
275 favorites
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A photo of Maurilio Ponce and Lucia Reyes
baptizing a baby.
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Jan 2, 2015 by: Lorenzo Mata
Lorenzo Mata
11 favorites
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A photo of Joseph H Myers Sr
People in this photo:
Unknown - Unknown
? - ?
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Dec 6, 2014 by: Debbie Sieczkowski
Debbie Sieczkowski
11 favorites
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A photo of my fourth great grand-father, rabbi Dow Ber Meisels, born in 1798. He was Chief Rabbi in Krakow, Poland. He supported Polish Independence for which he was persecuted by the Russian government.
People in this photo:
1798 - Unknown
1798 - ?
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Oct 22, 2015 by: Johnathan Starzyński
Johnathan Starzyński
7 favorites
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A photo of Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France circa 1901
Believed to be built on the site of a Temple to Jupiter and then an early Christian basilica, building began on the cathedral in 1160 and took a century to (mostly) complete. Many of the materials from the previous churches were used in the construction of the new cathedral. Over the centuries, there were additions and modifications in the building but the basic structure has remained mainly the same. The most famous stained glass windows date from the 1200s.
- A cathedral school opened in Notre Dame in 1170, decades later becoming the University of Paris.
- A Third Crusade was announced from the cathedral.
- Henry VI of England was crowned King of France in Notre Dame.
- James V of Scotland was married there, as were Mary Queen of Scots and Henry IV of France.
- Victor Hugo set his novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" in the cathedral.
- Napoleon had his coronation in Notre Dame, presided over by Pope Pius VII.
The cathedral has been the home of innumerable pieces of valuable art and religious artifacts and a center of Paris for over 850 years.
Added
Jan 9, 2012 by: Ancient Faces
Ancient Faces
450 favorites
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A photo, done in the early 1900's, of a woman dressed as a Puritan, holding a book.
Is there a difference between Pilgrims and Puritans? Yes - many. The Pilgrims - who first came to North America on the Mayflower in 1620, after having spent some time in the Netherlands - had separated from the Church of England and were called "Separatists" because of it. They were establishing their own "pure" religion, following the tenets of John Calvin.
The Puritans remained within the Church of England but were trying to rid the Church of any Roman Catholic remnants within it. They were Calvinists, as were the Pilgrims, but after conceding that changes weren't possible, many left England in 1630 and migrated to the Massachusetts area - many others followed and a decade later there were almost 20,000 Puritans in the area.
The original Pilgrims were more tolerant of others - including Native Americans - but the overwhelming numbers of Puritans held sway. They "believed in their God-given superiority". So when we celebrate Thanksgiving, we are celebrating the Pilgrims, not the Puritans.
Added
Jan 9, 2012 by: Ancient Faces
Ancient Faces
450 favorites
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A photo of Leszek Maśliński (1962 - 2010) of Poland
People in this photo:
1962 - 2010
1962 - 2010
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Jan 12, 2012 by: Karol Maslinski
Karol Maslinski
113 favorites
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Memere Lavallee, Anastasia Schneider Lavallee with her daughter, Nellie. She was from the order of The Presentation of Mary sisters. Her religious name was Soeur Marie Magdelaine du Calvert.
People in this photo:
Feb 19, 1867 - January 1957
1867 - 1957
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Sep 21, 2013 by: Jane Lavallee-Smiley
Jane Lavallee-Smiley
151 favorites
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When Upton was about 17, he was told by his father to go to town and sell a certain wagon of corn. However, on his way, he encountered an Indian family at Fort Necessity, and fell in love with "Little Moonbeam." He bargained with her father and got to take her home for that wagon load of corn. Imagine his father's shock! Upton's family did not allow the couple to marry until they were of age, so she was taken in by John F. and Julia A. Inks until they were allowed to marry. The marriage took place 22 July 1860 in Fayette Springs, Fayette County, PA. Upton & Louisa had 11 children, of whom Mary Belle Savage was the eldest, and whose pictures and story follow. Upton and Louisa died ca 1923 or 1924 and are buried at the Samson Methodist chapel Cemetery in Farmington, PA.
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Jul 20, 2003 by: BettyJane Carl
BettyJane Carl
1.03k+ favorites
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William Draper,Jr. was b. 1807
and d. in 1886 in Freedom, Utah. He was my gggrandfather. He was a Mormon polygamist. I believe he had 8 wives.
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Jan 1, 2001 by: Terry Casto
Terry Casto
15 favorites
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Striking photo of a group of 2,000 people holding a service to celebrate Easter Sunday on Mt. Rubidoux in Riverside California. Date of this photo is believed to be between 1909 and 1925.
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Apr 6, 2012 by: Daniel Pinna
Daniel Pinna
6.44k+ favorites
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Plains Cheif - they didn't use metal until early 1900's. guessing date. found in old family bible. with only writing of great great grandfather. not to be seen again until 45 years later in same old bible.
People in this photo:
Unknown - Unknown
? - ?
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Feb 21, 2009 by: Adkison Larva
Adkison Larva
20 favorites
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Sebastian Frantz (my 5th great-grandfather)was born 1732 in Wurtemburg, Germany. When he immigrated to the USA in 1752 he brought with him his German Bible. This was the first Bible in the Schoharie area, and he read it to the congregation until they could get a permanent minister. The family donated the Bible to the Old Stone Fort Museum, and it is in a glass display case there.
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Nov 9, 2003 by: Maudie Mathys
Maudie Mathys
24 favorites
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Confirmation of Thomas Tiletsky, circa 1940s
This is my grandfather as a boy at his Confirmation, one of the Catholic Sacraments. My grandfather Thomas was raised in the Slavic neighborhoods of Fells Point and Patternson Park in Baltimore, MD. He was ethnically Polish and Lithuanian. His younger sister told me that he was quite the jokester as a child, and teachers couldn't get him out of their classrooms fast enough. The teachers would often give him money to go to the moviehouse instead.
People in this photo:
Oct 15, 1932 - May 17, 1996
1932 - 1996
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Feb 25, 2020 by: Sarah Ashley
Sarah Ashley
11 favorites
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A 1966 photo of the Reverend Billy Graham. An evangelical Christian and Southern Baptist minister, he spent over 6 decades on television preaching and counseled every U.S. President from Harry Truman through Barack Obama.
People in this photo:
Nov 7, 1918 - Feb 21, 2018
1918 - 2018
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Jan 9, 2012 by: Ancient Faces
Ancient Faces
450 favorites
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James Marion Cotton was the son of Samuel
Bird Cotton and Arminta "Alimente" Moore,
born 24May1844 in Cove Twp., Searcy County, Arkansas.
He is a veteran of the Civil War, Co. E, 2nd Arkansas Cavalry. He married Elizabeth Jane Treadwell on 16Mar1866 in Searcy County, Arkansas. He is my Great-grandfather. He died 14Feb1929 at
Nogo, Pope County, Arkansas and is buried at the Zion Hill Cemetery, Pope County, Arkansas.
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Nov 9, 2003 by: Sylvia Watts
Sylvia Watts
5 favorites
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Daniel Thomas O'Quinn, born 1854-1948; Martha Louisa Dowie O'Quinn, born 1860-1941. He was the son of Erastus O'Quinn and Harriet Thompson O'Quinn. Daniel was a Baptist Minister.
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Jan 1, 2001 by: Unknown User
Unknown User
40 favorites
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Taken in the backyard of the Kroetch home in San Jose, CA. Margaret Kroetch was the sister of John Baptist Henry Kroetch.
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Jan 1, 2001 by: Kathy Pinna
Kathy Pinna
3.01k+ favorites
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Anna C Ihli left and her sister Marie A Ihli right
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Nov 9, 2020 by: Margaret Goodlin - Casey
Margaret Goodlin - Casey
42 favorites
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This is a photo of J. Arthur Patenaude, Mildred M Roberts Patenaude, Virginia L Patnaude Jensen, Children Theresa Patenaude Smith , Robert A Patenaude, and Mary Patnaude Urban (Virginia's confirmation May 1936), added by Brigette Meeker on June 18, 2020.
Added
Jun 18, 2020 by: Brigette Meeker
Brigette Meeker
3.82k+ favorites
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Fr. Jerry Wade (tennis coach?!) found in the 1985 Bellarmine College Preparatory yearbook. Fr. Wade has been President of the San Jose, California high school numerous times.
People in this photo:
Dec 12, 1937 - Unknown
1937 - ?
Added
Dec 28, 2019 by: Daniel Pinna
Daniel Pinna
6.44k+ favorites
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This photo is of sister Marie Estelle (Barbara Kosick)
People in this photo:
May 28, 1898 - Dec 26, 1992
1898 - 1992
Added
Nov 9, 2019 by: Colton LaLonde
Colton LaLonde
110 favorites
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