The A.P.A. Sermon at the Seattle Theater
A local pastor uses his pulpit to incite against the Catholic Church, claiming a secret war for the nation's soul.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Rev. R. E. Dunlap of the First Christian Church delivered a heated lecture at the Seattle Theater last night, ostensibly about the American Protective Association (A.P.A.), but largely focusing on anti-Catholic rhetoric. Dunlap claimed the Catholic Church was an anti-American institution and that its members were debased and unfit for civilized society. Despite his claims of hiring armed guards to protect against a 'mob' of assassins at the theater doors, the event proceeded without incident. The audience was partially composed of members wearing orange ribbons, though many others attended only out of curiosity. Dunlap railed against Catholic schools, the confessional, and immigrant influence, declaring that 'the Romish church should leave the flag, the school, and the women of our country alone.'
“The Romish church should leave the flag, the school, and the women of our country alone.”
The A.P.A. was a powerful nativist force in the 1890s, echoing the era's broader xenophobic climate. These debates over the 'un-American' nature of religious institutions remain a persistent, dark thread in the American civic narrative.
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