An Invitation

It is inevitable, with the comings and goings in a city the size of Chicago, that Agnes Tully Stevens would eventually have connections in far-flung regions of the country.

This invitation bears witness to that process.

When I first glanced at the designation, “North Carolina,” my mind flew back to the set of photographs from the waterfront resort at Wrightsville Beach, thinking I had made a connection. However, buried deep within the flowery text of this formal invitation was the date: 1937, too late to match with those Wrightsville Beach pictures.

Whoever the Most Reverend Eugene Joseph McGuinness of Raleigh, North Carolina, was—or how he connected to my Tully and Stevens family—I will have to set aside for another day’s musings. For now, he becomes a token of how widespread the circle of friends and acquaintances were for one humble homemaker in 1900s Chicago.

The Most Reverend Eugene Joseph McGuinness

Bishop-elect of Raleigh, North Carolina

Vice President of The Catholic Church Extension Society

requests the honor of your presence at the

Ceremony of his Consecration

His Eminence Dennis Cardinal Dougherty

Archbishop of Philadelphia

officiating

The Most Reverend William David O’Brien, D. D.

Titular Bishop of Calinda and Auxiliary of Chicago

The Most Reverend Hugh L. Lamb, D. D., V. G.

Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia

Co-Consecrators

Sts. Peter + Paul Cathedral, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

nine-thirty, Tuesday morning, December twenty-first

One thousand nine hundred and thirty-seven

The Most Reverend Francis Clement Kelley, D. D.

Bishop of Oklahoma City and Tulsa

will deliver the sermon