Marian Library

Parades, cookouts, fireworks and festivities are all wonderful ways to celebrate America250. Add a Catholic lens by learning about the patron saint of the United States — Mary, as the Immaculate Conception. The Marian Library at the University of Dayton has developed these resources to share information around the designation.

• The digital exhibit American Patroness can be viewed from wherever you are. It contains materials found in the Marian Library and the U.S. Catholic Special Collection and connects historical information with devotional items.

• The essay “Why Mary, as the Immaculate Conception, Became the Patron Saint of the US in the 1840s,” by Bridget Retzloff and Stephanie Shreffler, was recently published on The Conversation. 

• Librarians in the Marian Library compiled a list of books on American Catholicism and Marian devotion; eligible borrowers can check them out.

Will You Be on Campus This Summer?

Stop by our American Patroness display case in the Roesch Library lobby to see materials from our collections. Pick up one or more pamphlets designed to spread knowledge of Mary to the UD community and beyond. 

Help us extend our reach! Share go.udayton.edu/american-patroness with your family and friends. The Marian Library wishes all a happy Independence Day and 250th anniversary!

– Ann Zlotnik is the special collections engagement strategies manager.