Religious News Service Photographs

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About this Collection

Conceived by journalist Louis Minsky (1909-1957), Religious News Service (RNS) was established in 1934 as an affiliated but independently managed agency of the National Conference of Jews and Christians (later the National Conference of Christians and Jews), and was dedicated to providing authoritative and bias-free news about religion and ethics to both the secular and religious press. This collection contains photographs documenting Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish groups. Coverage of Protestants (especially mainline Protestants) and Catholics constitutes the bulk of the images. View the collection guide to learn more. Digitization of some of the images in this collection made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Featured image: Father James Groppi, the civil rights activist priest from Milwaukee, and militant leader Rennie Davis are taken into custody during an anti war demonstration a block from the White House.

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Title:
United Church sends large delegation to Washington.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: UCC-29809 UNITED CHURCH SENDS LARGE DELEGATION TO WASHINGTON WASHINGTON, D.C. -- One of the largest contingents among religious group sin the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was that of the United Church of Christ. The denominational banner was prominent among the thousands carried from the Washington Monument, in background, to the Lincoln Memorial during the March. Religious participation in the demonstration was vividly evident, with more than half of the banners identifying marching groups as those of churches, synagogues and related agencies and organizations. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (1-NY-8E-63-NBM)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358334
Title:
Serbian royalists oppose new Orthodox bishop.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PO-29714 SERBIAN ROYALISTS OPPOSE NEW ORTHODOX BISHOP MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- Consecration ceremonies for Archimandrite Firmilijan of Pittsburgh, Pa., recently named as Midwest bishop in the Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese in the U.S. and Canada, were protested in Milwaukee, Wis., as about 100 Serbian Royalist pickets demonstrated outside St. Sava Cathedral. Signs they carried charged the new bishop with being a “pawn of the Yugoslavian Communists.” At one point during the picketing, minor scuffling broke out and police intervened to prevent more serious altercations. The incident was part of a continuing controversy over the division of the Diocese into three sections and the suspension of Bishop Dionisije, who has headed the entire Diocese, by the Church’s Council of Bishops in Belgrade. Bishop Dionisije refused to recognize the suspension; he said charges against him alleging canonical offense were lodged by a “handful of Communists among the American Serbs” and that the Council was under pressure from “Tito’s Communist regime in Yugoslavia.” Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (RCW-Milw-8B-63-NBM)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358333
Title:
Orthodox cross retrieved in annual festival.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PEO-29895 ORTHODOX CROSS RETRIEVED IN ANNUAL FESTIVAL BURLINGTON, Ont. -- An Orthodox youth holds up a cross triumphantly after retrieving it from the chilly waters of Lake Ontario prior to returning it to Metropolitan Athenagoras, head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Canada (center). Ten swimmers dived into the lake to recover the religious article during the annual Festival of the Holy Cross. First to find it was Nicholas Apostolopoulos, 24, of Toronto. More than 5,000 persons, some from New York, were present at the traditional Greek ceremony which commemorates the Baptism of Christ. In Greece, the rite is usually held in January, but in North America the festival takes place during warmer months. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (RL-TOR-9C-63-NAB)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358332
Title:
Historic Orthodox conference.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29945 HISTORIC ORTHODOX CONFERENCE RHODES, Greece -- Principals of the historic Pan-Orthodox Conference on the island of Rhodes, where Orthodox Churches agreed to ender into dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church on “equal” terms. Fifth from left, first row, is Metropolitan Meliton of Eliupolis and Thera, representing Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras of Istanbul, supreme leader of Eastern Orthodoxy. The conference also agreed that each of the Orthodox Churches may unilaterally decide whether it will send delegate-observers to the second session of the Second Vatican Council. The Orthodox Church in Greece did not attend the meeting, having followed the lead of Archbishop Chrysostomos of Athens and All-Greece who held that unity with the Roman Catholic Church was “unattainable.” The word “reconciliation,” not “reunion,” was stressed by delegates at Rhodes. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (GC-ATH-9E-63-W)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358331
Title:
1963 Damien Dutton Award winner.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29943 1963 DAMIEN DUTTON AWARD WINNER NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- Mrs. Eunice Weaver, who has devoted most of her adult life to aiding leprosy victims in Brazil, was named winner of the 1963 Damien Dutton Award, given annually by the Damien Dutton Society. Headquartered in New Brunswick, N.J., the Roman Catholic-sponsored organization maintains a large program of assistance, research and rehabilitation for leprosy victims. Mrs. Weaver, the widow of a Methodist missionary, is the founder of the Federation of Societies for the Assistance to Leprosy Patients in Brazil and personally has led numerous financial campaigns to support medical, social and educational efforts for sufferers of the disease. The award was presented in Brazil at the 8th International Congress of Leprologists. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (JAL-NJ-9E-63-NBM)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358330
Title:
Parade rest at chapel dedication.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29927 PARADE REST AT CHAPEL DEDICATION COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Some 2,400 cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs stand at parade rest for the dedication of the new ultra-modern, $3.4 million Chapel whose 17 spires stand high above the ground. Held outdoors, the dedication was also attended by some 10,000 persons, including religious, military, government and civic leaders. The chapel has separate sections for Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish services, and another room for other religious rites. In connection with the chapel’s inauguration, introductory worship services were held in several sections. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (DES-CS-9D-63-NAB)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358329
Title:
In memoriam: red vestments for martyrs.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29923 IN MEMORIAM: RED VESTMENTS FOR MARTYRS SAN FRANCISCO -- Typical of hundreds of churches across the United States was this scene in San Francisco. On Sunday, Sept. 22, the nation’s churchgoers joined in memorial services for four Negro girls who died when a bomb blasted a Negro Baptist church in Birmingham. Here, at St. Dominic’s Roman Catholic church, the more than 2,500 attending services overflowed the building. They fell to their knees on the sidewalk during a Mass offered for the dead children. The priest wore vestments in the “red of martyrdom” instead of the black of mourning. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (W-NY-9D-63-W)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358328
Title:
Services held for church-bombing victim.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29902 SERVICES HELD FOR CHURCH-BOMBING VICTIM BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A moment of quiet at the edge of a grave followed minutes of terror earlier when a racist’s bomb shattered 16th Street Baptist church in Birmingham, Ala. Friends and relatives gather around Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Robertson, Sr., seated at right, and a sister, at left, of 14-year-old Carole Robertson. Carole and three other young girls, attending Sunday school in the church basement, died in the explosion. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (WIDE WORLD-NY-9C-63-NBM)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358327
Title:
Boy prays outside bombed church.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29888 BOY PRAYS OUTSIDE BOMBED CHURCH BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A Negro boy fell to his knees in prayer amid shattered glass from windows of the 16th Street Baptist church and surrounding buildings in Birmingham, Ala. Four young girls died as a racist's bomb exploded at 10:22 a.m. on Sept. 15 during worship services and Sunday school sessions. In the following outbreak of violence throughout the area, two young Negroes were shot to death. Pleas for effort to stop further bloodshed were issued from government, civil rights and religious leaders across the nation. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (W-NY-9C-63-NBM)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358326
Title:
Body removed from bombed Birmingham church.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29887 BODY REMOVED FROM BOMBED BIRMINGHAM CHURCH BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The body of one of four young Negro girls killed in the bombing of 16th Street Baptist church in Birmingham, Ala., is removed from the shattered basement. The youngsters, one 11 and three 14 years old, were studying their Sunday school lesson on the subject, “The Love That Forgives,” when explosions ripped through the church. A rope-barricade and armed troopers held a gathering crowd away from the blast area. Outraged Negroes ultimately heeded pleas by the pastor of the church, the Rev. John Cross, to disperse. From across the nation, religious leaders urged action to prevent further violence in racially-tense Birmingham. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (W-NY-9C-63-NBM)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358325
Title:
South Vietnamese archbishop visits New York.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29882 SOUTH VIETNAMESE ARCHBISHOP VISITS NEW YORK NEW YORK -- Archbishop Pierre Martin Ngo Dinh Thuc of Hue, brother of the president of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, arrives in New York for a one-day visit with Auxiliary Bishop Fulton J. Sheen of New York and discussion with the press on the crisis in his country. The 66-year-old archbishop firmly denied the Roman Catholic Church is involved in alleged persecution of Buddhists, maintaining that Communists and other agitators are using the situation to their advantage. He disclaimed reports that his visit had political implications or that he was seeking U.S. Catholic hierarchy intervention with U.S. governmental authorities to ease relations with the Diem regime. His talk with Bishop Sheen, he said, was confined to missionary matters. The South Vietnamese archbishop was unable to meet with Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York, who was out of the city. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (PA-NY-9B-63-NBM)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358324
Title:
School Bible reading (pro tem).
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29878 SCHOOL BIBLE READING (PRO TEM) CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Bible reading continues, at least temporarily, in this public school classroom. Edward J. Murphy, eighth-grade teacher in the Russell School at Cambridge, Mass., reads from the Scriptures as students listen. The status of Bible reading was much confused at Cambridge. The School Committee voted 5-2 to substitute a moment of silent meditation, but a parliamentary maneuver caused the decision to be held up for a week. During the week Bible reading was permissible, the board ruled; however, the superintendent of schools left the practice to the discretion of teachers. Mr. Murphy was the only teacher at Russell School to authorize Bible readings in his class. Atty. Gen. Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts has held that public schools in the state must obey the Supreme Court decision barring devotional exercises. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (EM-BOS-9B-63-W)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358323
Title:
Catholic layman addresses Methodist congregation.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358322
Title:
Methodists honor cardinal, rabbi, five others.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29820 METHODISTS HONOR CARDINAL, RABBI, FIVE OTHERS CHICAGO -- The Methodist Conference on Human Relations in Chicago presented award for national leadership in civil rights to a Catholic cardinal, a rabbi and five Methodists, including two bishops. Presentation was made by Bishop Charles Brashares of Chicago (center) and Bishop Matthew W. Clair, Jr., of St. Louis, Mo. (second from right). With them, holding their citations, are, left to right: Aaron Henry of Clarksdale, Miss., head of the NAACP Mississippi chapter; Bishop A. Raymond Grant of Portland, Ore.; Mrs. Marion Downs, Los Angeles concert singer; Albert Cardinal Meyer, Catholic Archbishop of Chicago; Rabbi Julius Mark of New York; Miss Thelma Stevens of New York, an executive secretary of the Methodist Woman’s Division of Christian Service; and Bishop Charles F. Golden of Nashville, Tenn. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (RNS-9A-63-NAB)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358321
Title:
March leaders confer with president.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29807 MARCH LEADERS CONFER WITH PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Strong bi-partisan support will be necessary to push civil rights legislation through Congress, President Kennedy told leaders of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The March chairmen spent an hour with the Chief Executive following the demonstration which drw over 200,000 people to the capital. Shown here, for left, are: Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Floyd B. McKissick, national chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality; Mathew Ahmann, executive director of the National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice; Whitney M. Young Jr., executive director of the National Urban League; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., founder and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; John Lewis (in rear), chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; Rabbi Joachim Prinz, president of the American Jewish Congress; ; Dr. Eugene Carson Blake (in rear), chief executive officer of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and acting chairman of the National Council of Churches’ Commission on Religion and Race; A. Philip Randolph, founder and president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, director of the March; President Kennedy, and Walter P. Reuther, president of the United Automobile Workers Union. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (SM-DC-8E-63-NBM)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358320
Title:
School ignores court prayer ban.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29799 SCHOOL IGNORES COURT PRAYER BAN SOMERSET, Pa. -- Despite the Supreme Court ruling, this class begins its day with religious exercises. Mrs. Eleanor Engle reads the Bible to second-grade pupils, at top, and leads them in prayer as the fall semester opened at the new Berlin Brothers Valley Elementary School, near Somerset, Pa. The school district was one of five in Somerset County that voted to continue devotional exercises despite the ban imposed by the Supreme Court. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (W-8E-63-W)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358319
Title:
Anglican, Catholic prelates meet.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29774 ANGLICAN, CATHOLIC PRELATES MEET TORONTO -- Meeting of the Anglican Primate and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto. Dr. Arthur Michael Ramsey, left, and James Cardinal McGuigan are shown at the entrance of a Toronto hotel as they prepared for a quiet talk in the Anglican leader’s apartment. Cardinal McGuigan had suggested that he pay a courtesy call upon Dr. Ramsey during the course of the Third World Anglican Congress. Dr. Ramsey replied that he would be “delighted” at such a meeting. The two prelates met informally, accompanied by Mrs. Ramsey; Canon John Satterthwaite, Dr. Ramsey’s secretary; and Msgr. John O’Mara, secretary to Cardinal McGuigan. During the course of the Congress, the Anglican leaders said he would not be “surprised” if he paid a call soon upon Pope Paul VI at Vatican City. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (RL-TOR-8E-63-W)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358318
Title:
Saigon crisis: Buddhist monks in protest.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29766 SAIGON CRISIS: BUDDHIST MONKS IN PROTEST SAIGON, South Vietnam -- The policies of the Diem government are assailed by Buddhist monks before a huge crowd attending memorial services outside the Xa Loi Pagoda in Saigon. Services were held for a monk who had burned himself to death as a sign of protest against alleged religious persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnam regime headed by President Ngo Dinh Diem. Rioting, police raids on pagoda followed demonstrations in main centers. The U.S. Sate Department charged that the Diem government had violated assurances that it would pressure a policy of reconciliation with the Buddhists. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (U-NY-8D-63-W)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358317
Title:
World's Fair Christian exhibits.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-29721 WORLD’S FAIR CHRISTIAN EXHIBITS NEW YORK -- Spires, towers, crosses, famous religious art objects, and light beams reaching skyward will project the Christian message to the 70 million people expected to visit the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. Religious pavilions offering a wide variety of features will cover more than seven acres in the heart of the fair’s International and Industrial areas, space which has been provided rent-free. Architect’s rendering of the various pavilions are shown above. The Vatican Pavilion (top left) will be on an oval plot, surmounted by a lantern and cross and housing a 350-seat chapel. Also in the Roman Catholic pavilion will be the famed sculpture, “Pieta,” (center) created by Michelangelo in 1499, which the late Pope John XXIII agreed to send to the fair for display. The Protestant Center (top right) will be a united Christian display proclaiming the theme, “Jesus Christ, the Light of the World,” with an exhibit pavilion behind a Court of Protestant Pioneers, pillars dedicated to Christian leaders surrounding an elevated, illuminated cross. The center is sponsored by the Protestant Council of the City of New York, with several denominations participating. The main spire of the pavilion of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) (center left) will reach upward 127 feet and be crowned by a statue of the Angel Moroni. The structure is a replica of the famed Salt Lake City Temple. The Billy Graham Pavilion (center right) will be octagonal in shape and will incorporate a 500-seat theater, 150-seat chapel, counseling rooms, a lounge and offices. The Christian Science Pavilion (bottom left) will rise 35 feet in the shape of a seven-pointed star and will be topped by a diamond-shaped “sky dome” which will throw a shaft of light into the sky. The building will be surrounded by 14 illuminated fountains and an aluminum and glass reading room will be nearby. Films produced by the Moody Institute of Science, showing the harmony between science and religion, will be shown in the Sermons from Science Pavilion (bottom right), an exhibit sponsored by the Christian Life Convention of New York City. In the pavilion’s 500-seat circular theater, film narration and demonstrations will be in six languages, with translations available through earphones. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (RNS-NY-8C-63-NBM)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358316
Title:
Quake hits Yugoslav city.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: C-29716 ‘QUAKE HITS YUGOSLAV CITY SKOPJE, Yugoslavia -- A city was destroyed in fifteen seconds when an earthquake rocked the city of Skopje in Yugoslavia. Upwards of 3,000 met death an 80 per cent of all structures were leveled. Clocks in one building, left photo, stopped at 5:17 a.m., the instant of the first powerful tremor. Rescue teams moved in immediately, right photo, and performed the grim task of searching for survivors and removing bodies. Vatican Radio announced, in a special broadcast, that all nuns in the area were working “non-stop” in assisting survivors. Every structure, including a cathedral and a bishop’s residence, maintained by the Catholic Church, was destroyed. The city’s 28 priests escaped death in the tremor. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (RNS-NY-8B-63-W)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:358315

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