St. Augustine Church forms — 1928

Throughout the month of February, The Tribune is publishing daily facts about South Bend's Black history. Follow the series at www.southbendtribune.com.

In 1928, the Rev. George O'Connor organized a parish specifically for Black Catholics. Among the thousands of African American people moving to South Bend from the U.S. South were eight families who were practicing Catholics. Local Catholic churches denied them their right to worship alongside white Catholics.

O'Connor — himself raised by an African American family after he was orphaned — broke strict racial barriers to organize and provide services for these first families. As more families joined, the parish of St. Augustine established a church on the 1200 block of West Washington Street. St. Augustine continues as a multiracial congregation practicing at the same location for nearly a century.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Black history facts