Edward LaSalle - Catholic Writer, Interracial Leader

Edward LaSalle, Catholic Writer, Kansas City, Kansas

 

Edward LaSalle was born in Opelousas in 1900 to Pierre and Laurentine LaSalle. He was reared by his grandmother, Mrs. Julia Thompson. He migrated as a young man to Galveston and Beaumont where he furthered his education and eventually married Miss Estelle Baker. He later moved to Denver, where for a time he attended Denver University. Brother LaSalle and his young wife made their home in Kansas City, Kansas where he worked for the government many years as head of the railway post office. He was very active in the National Alliance of Postal Employees, the union organization for black postal workers.

 

As a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, he joined He became active with the Catholic Interracial movement and befriended Fathers William Markoe and John LaFarge, champions of Social Justice. He served on the editorial staffs of the Atlantean Magazine, The Chronicle, and The Interracial Review, the latter two being Catholic publications. He was a frequent contributor to The Claverite as well. He served as the first District Deputy of the Northern States from 1930 to 1932 and 1934-1944. He also served as Deputy of the Northern District – South from 1944 to 1946. His was a life spent writing and for that endeavor he had a true God-given gift. He was honored as one of the first two annual recipients of the James J. Hoey Award for Interracial Justice. Edward LaSalle spent his life advancing the cause of interracial justice through his writings which were inspired by his faith. He is a living exemplar of the maxim “The pen is mightier than the sword!”

Source: Scally, M. Anthony. Negro Catholic Writers, 1900-1943: A Bio-Bibliography (Detroit: W. Romig, 1945), 65-67.