Overview

Full Product Details

9781439922941

Table of Contents

Reviews

The Spires Still Point to Heaven is an important story about the hard-fought battle between evangelical Protestants and Catholics to save souls in Cincinnati, where revivalism became respectable and made the city a religious hub for the nation. Sectarian identity also became inseparable from sectional politics, and religious identification gave women access to the public sphere. Here, the debate about the place of religion in public education has relevance today. Matthew Smith's study of religious competition in Cincinnati, often expressed as evangelical fervor, helps us better understand the evolution of pluralism, toleration, and liberty in American history. -R. Douglas Hurt, Professor of History at Purdue University Matthew Smith has immersed himself in primary and secondary sources, including often overlooked contemporaneous secondary materials, and has synthesized these into a very well-written and compelling narrative. What he demonstrates, among other things, is the relentless push toward toleration and accommodation, even though that push episodically crashed against the shoals of race, ethnicity, religion, and privilege. What is especially impressive about The Spires Still Point to Heaven is its discursive character, covering everything from geography and natural history to William Holmes McGuffey, the female seminary movement, and the (in)famous Cincinnati Bible War. This is an impressive achievement born of prodigious research. -Randall Balmer, John Phillips Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College, and author of Passion Plays: How Religion Shaped Sports in North America

“The Spires Still Point to Heaven is an important story about the hard-fought battle between evangelical Protestants and Catholics to save souls in Cincinnati, where revivalism became respectable and made the city a religious hub for the nation. Sectarian identity also became inseparable from sectional politics, and religious identification gave women access to the public sphere. Here, the debate about the place of religion in public education has relevance today. Matthew Smith’s study of religious competition in Cincinnati, often expressed as evangelical fervor, helps us better understand the evolution of pluralism, toleration, and liberty in American history.”—R. Douglas Hurt, Professor of History at Purdue University “Matthew Smith has immersed himself in primary and secondary sources, including often overlooked contemporaneous secondary materials, and has synthesized these into a very well-written and compelling narrative. What he demonstrates, among other things, is the relentless push toward toleration and accommodation, even though that push episodically crashed against the shoals of race, ethnicity, religion, and privilege. What is especially impressive about The Spires Still Point to Heaven is its discursive character, covering everything from geography and natural history to William Holmes McGuffey, the female seminary movement, and the (in)famous Cincinnati Bible War. This is an impressive achievement born of prodigious research.”—Randall Balmer, John Phillips Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College, and author of Passion Plays: How Religion Shaped Sports in North America

"“The Spires Still Point to Heaven is an important story about the hard-fought battle between evangelical Protestants and Catholics to save souls in Cincinnati, where revivalism became respectable and made the city a religious hub for the nation. Sectarian identity also became inseparable from sectional politics, and religious identification gave women access to the public sphere. Here, the debate about the place of religion in public education has relevance today. Matthew Smith’s study of religious competition in Cincinnati, often expressed as evangelical fervor, helps us better understand the evolution of pluralism, toleration, and liberty in American history.”—R. Douglas Hurt, Professor of History at Purdue University “Matthew Smith has immersed himself in primary and secondary sources, including often overlooked contemporaneous secondary materials, and has synthesized these into a very well-written and compelling narrative. What he demonstrates, among other things, is the relentless push toward toleration and accommodation, even though that push episodically crashed against the shoals of race, ethnicity, religion, and privilege. What is especially impressive about The Spires Still Point to Heaven is its discursive character, covering everything from geography and natural history to William Holmes McGuffey, the female seminary movement, and the (in)famous Cincinnati Bible War. This is an impressive achievement born of prodigious research.”—Randall Balmer, John Phillips Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College, and author of Passion Plays: How Religion Shaped Sports in North America ""In this extensively researched volume, Smith focuses on the city of Cincinnati to explore early U.S. tensions between Christian sects, concepts of religion’s role in public education, religious tolerance, nativism, and the temperance movement, to name only the most prominent topics.... This book is very well researched and would be of vital interest to scholars of both early religion and education in the Ohio Valley.... Smith’s book is an excellent example of the type of locally focused resource to which educators and transplants can turn to understand their new homes and neighbors.""—Journal of Urban Affairs"

Author Information

Matthew Smith is a Visiting Professor of History at Miami University.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available