Ellis, John Tracy

Ellis, John Tracy

(1905–  ) Catholic church historian; born in Seneca, Ill. A priest with a doctorate in history from Catholic University (Washington, D.C.), he spent most of his career on its faculty. A longtime executive secretary of the American Catholic Historical Association and editor of the Catholic Historical Review (1941–62), he wrote widely on church history and won particular notice for his 1955 essay deploring an anti-intellectual "ghetto mentality" among American Catholics. He was named a monsignor in 1955.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.