Anti-Catholic Cartoon of the Week, 1928

This poster was issued during the 1928 presidential campaign, when New York Governor Alfred E. Smith ran on the Democratic ticket. Seen here in support of him are the corrupt urban political machines (represented by the Tammany Tiger), the Roman Catholic Church, and those wanting to repeal Prohibition (called the “Wet Crowd”). Historians agree that anti-Catholicism played a significant role in the election, which Republican Herbert Hoover won. Smith’s defeat was called by the Jesuit poet Leonard Feeney ” the night of sixteen million tragedies.”