Linda Lysakowski recounts a recent trip to the birthplace of and commemorative sites honoring the nation’s first openly Black Catholic priest.

In mid-September, 13 pilgrims from St. Bernadette Catholic Church in Kansas City, Missouri, and Nativity of Mary Church in Independence traveled on a pilgrimage to honor Venerable Augustus Tolton and pray for his canonization. Tolton was the first openly African-American priest in the United States. For those who are unaware of Fr Tolton, a little background is in order.

In the 19th century, Missouri was a slave-holding state that encouraged Southern enslavers to migrate there with the African Americans they held in bondage. In the Monroe County census of 1860, there were 11,722 whites and 3,063 slaves. White owners who were Catholic often baptized those they enslaved into the Catholic faith. John Augustus Tolton was baptized “Augustine” in St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Brush Creek, Ralls County.