Tuesday, December 12, 2023

It is the 12th of December 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

“He’s not heavy; he’s my brother.” It’s a curious phrase. It was the name of a popular song by the Hollies (Post Graham Nash and with a young Elton John on piano). It was a hit record for both Neil Diamond and Olivia Newton-John.

But what on earth does “he’s not heavy, he’s my brother” mean? Its origins in the popular lexicon go back to the 1938 movie Boy’s Town starring Spencer Tracy. For his role, Tracy would be the first actor to win back-to-back Best Actor Oscars- a feat not repeated until Tom Hanks in the 90s.

Tracy, playing Father Edward Flanagan, has opened his home for wayward boys and, according to a true story, sees one of the boys carrying his friend, who has polio and leg braces, upstairs. Flanagan asked the boy if it was a difficult task, to which he responded, “he isn’t heavy, he’s my brother”. This moment memorialized in the film was the slogan for one of the more famous charities of last century: Father Edward Flanagan’s “Boy’s Town” in Omaha, Nebraska, which first opened with a 90-dollar loan, two boys from juvenile detention and three homeless boys on this, the 12th of December in 1917.

Edward Flanagan, the 8th of 11 children born to farming parents in Ireland, had moved to America in 1904. He was a sickly boy, and so while his siblings labored not to farm, Edward was in charge of looking after the smaller animals- a pastoral job that gave him time to read and encouraged his later, well, pastoral job.

He attended Mt. St. Mary’s in Maryland and St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York and then studied in Italy and Austria before his ordination in 1912. His first job was as an assistant at St. Patrick’s Parish in Omaha.

He was troubled by a few things- the number of homeless children in his parish, the reform school model, which he believed relied too much on punishment, and the juvenile detention system, which he believed set up young offenders for a life of butting up against authorities.

And so he asked his Bishop if he could divert his attention away from the church to set up a home for boys. Borrowing 90 dollars for the rent, Flanagan was able to set up his first home in a run-down Victorian mansion in downtown Omaha.

The initial home was successful; not only did Flanagan claim that none of the boys he took in were ever arrested again, but it was a model ahead of its time in admitting boys of any race. In 1921, the Boy’s Home moved to a farm a few miles outside of Omaha. Here, Flanagan set up a literal “town” complete with schools, a post office, and a band, and with the boys serving as elected officials.  

The success of the town led to the film starring Spencer Tracy and a young Mickey Rooney. When Tracy won the Oscar, he praised Flanagan, but the press misreported that he was going to give his Oscar to the Priest. The Academy created a second trophy sent to Flanagan.

In the aftermath of World War II, Flanagan was sent with the U.S. Armed Forces into the war-torn areas to assist in setting up similar homes for those children made homeless by the war. It was on one of these trips that Flanagan suffered a heart attack and died.

Since his death, the Town has spread out into multiple locations around the United States and has focused beyond strictly residential resources into home and family resources. Since 1978, girls have been included.  

In the 1990s, the home was part of a scandal with lurid accusations. They were exposed as a “carefully crafted hoax”- you’d do well to mark and avoid the YouTube channels claiming that these allegations were simply “covered up”. X In full disclosure, there have been charges against the home recently reported in the Des Moines Register. Boys Town has responded with, “We are proud of our work protecting children and our track record of helping turn around the lives of tens of thousands of kids.”. With cases pending I’ll simply make note of this and that this story got complicated quickly. BUT, we remember the initial work of Father Edward Flanagan in opening the home on this day 106 years ago in 1917.

The last word for today comes from the daily lectionary- another word from the book of Acts- after Peter is called into a home of Gentiles.

15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 12th of December 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who knows the answer to the implied trivia: Philadelphia and Forest Gump. He is Christopher Gillespie

The show is written and read by a man who knows the Hollies were called the Deltas before a show at Christmas time when Graham Nash claimed: “They were renamed after Buddy and Christmas.”  Dan van Voorhis. 

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.