Haas, Francis J. (Francis Joseph), 1889-1953

Francis Joseph Haas devoted his life to the Catholic Church and the welfare of workers. Born in Racine, Wisconsin on March 18, 1889, he entered St. Francis Seminary in 1904. Ordained as a priest in 1913, Haas was assigned to Holy Rosary Parish in Milwaukee. In 1919 he left Milwaukee and pursued graduate studies at The Catholic University of America. Haas received his Ph. D. from CUA in 1922. For the next ten years (1922-1931) Haas was assigned to St Francis Seminary and taught at both St. Francis and Marquette University. He moved back to Washington, DC, in 1931 when he was appointed director of the National Catholic School of Social Service. Haas briefly returned to Wisconsin as the Rector of St. Francis Seminary in 1935. Two years later, in 1937, CUA appointed Haas the Dean of the School of Social Science. He continued as the Dean of the School of Social Science until elevated to the Episcopacy of the Diocese of Grand Rapids in 1943. Haas remained the Bishop of Grand Rapids until he died in 1953. Although best known as a public servant, Haas was also a noted scholar. His dissertation investigated wages, hours, and working conditions in the men's clothing industry. It was published as "Shop floor collective bargaining: a study of wage determination in the men's garment industry" in 1922. He published articles, commentaries, reviews, and pamphlets, many on the labor movement and social justice, throughout his life. His major work, Man and society, was a well regarded sociological text published in 1930 (updated and reprinted in 1952). Haas also published the Vatican approved English translations of Rerum novarum (1891) and Quadregisimo anno (1931), the two major papal encyclicals that guided his activism and encouraged other priests and Catholics to be active in labor and social justice issues.

From the description of The Francis J. Haas papers. 1904-1953. (Catholic University of America). WorldCat record id: 71259858