First Church Named for Joan of Arc: Queens, 1920

Today marks the day the first Mass was celebrated in St. Joan of Arc Church, located in the Jackson Heights section of Queens. It is believed to have been the first church in the world named in her honor after she was canonized in 1920. The man behind the erection of the church was Father Ward Meehan (seen above), a Brooklyn priest who served as a chaplain with the U.S. Army in France during World War I. Father Meehan became fascinated with the story of Joan while he was in France, as he saw firsthand the areas where she lived and worked. He promised himself that if she ever got canonized, he would start a church in her honor. Almost immediately after her canonization, he got to work on the church in Jackson Heights, a part of Queens that was still sparsely settled, but whose population would grow rapidly during the 1920’s and thereafter. Today the parish and school continue to flourish in one of New York’s most diverse communities.