Healy, James Augustine (1830-1900), was the first African American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Pius IX appointed him bishop of Portland, Maine, in 1875. Healy’s diocese consisted of the entire state of Maine. It also included New Hampshire until 1884, when that state became a separate diocese. In Maine, Healy served as religious leader of thousands of people, almost all of whom were white.
Healy was born on April 6, 1830, near Macon, Georgia. His father was a white plantation owner, and his mother was a slave. Healy graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1849 and then studied for the priesthood in Montreal and Paris. In 1854, he became the first black American to be ordained a Catholic priest. He served in Boston until 1875, first as the bishop’s secretary, then as a parish priest. Healy died on Aug. 5, 1900.
