Charles Uncles

Father Charles Randolph Uncles (November 8, 1859 — July 20, 1933), was an African-American Roman Catholic priest, who in 1891 became the first African-American priest ordained in the United States. (The first black priest to work in the United States was Augustus Tolton, who was ordained in Rome.[1])

Charles Randolph Uncles
Born
Charles Randolph Uncles

(1859-11-08)November 8, 1859
Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
DiedJuly 20, 1933(1933-07-20) (aged 73)
New Windsor, New York, United States of America
Resting placeCalvary Cemetery, New Windsor, New York
NationalityAmerican
EducationSt. Hyacinthe College-Seminary, Quebec and St. Joseph Seminary, Baltimore

The son of Lorenzo and Anna Marie (Buchanan) Uncles, of East Baltimore, he was one of the founders of St. Joseph's Society of the Sacred Heart ("The Josephites"), formed to minister to the African American community.[2]

The Mill Hill Missionary Society (whose American branch would later become the Josephites) recruited a number of candidates to become priests for their North American mission. Uncles was the only one of these candidates, and studied at St. Peter's Apostolic School in Liverpool, England for the task. On returning to the US, he studied at St. Joseph Seminary in Baltimore. He was ordained in December 1891 at the Cathedral of the Assumption by Cardinal James Gibbons and celebrated his first Mass on Christmas Day.

From 1891-1925 Father Uncles taught mainly in Epiphany College in Baltimore and New Windsor, New York. While residing at Epiphany College, Uncles fell ill and died July 20, 1933, considering himself to be an outcast from the Society to the racism he experienced therein. He was buried in the college's cemetery, but was exhumed in the 1970's and reburied at Calvary Cemetery in the Josephite Plot.[1]

References
  1. Agnes Kane, "Meeting the Pioneers of Black Catholicism" Archived 2008-06-21 at the Wayback Machine, National Black Catholic Congress
  2. Josephite Fathers Website Archived 2008-12-01 at the Wayback Machine
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