Charles Edward Coughlin (October 25, 1891 – October 27, 1979), commonly known as Father Coughlin or the radio priest, was a Canadian-American Roman Catholic priest who was based in the United States near Detroit. He was the founding priest of the National Shrine of the Little Flower church. He was one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience: during the 1930s, an estimated 30 million listeners tuned to his weekly broadcasts. Coughlin began broadcasting his sermons during a time of increasing anti-Catholic sentiment across the globe. As his broadcasts became more political, he became increasingly popular. Initially, Coughlin was a vocal supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal, but he became a harsh critic of Roosevelt, accusing him of being too friendly to bankers. In 1934, he established a political organization called the National Union for Social Justice.

Social Justice was a topical political periodical published by Father Charles Coughlin from 1936 to 1942. After America's entry into World War II, Coughlin's broadcasts were ended by the National Association of Broadcasters. In 1942, the periodical's second class mailing permit was revoked under the Espionage Act of 1917 as part of Attorney General Francis Biddle's efforts against "vermin" publications. The paper remained available on newsstands in cities such as Boston, where it was distributed by private delivery trucks.

This collection is oddly numbered; two volumes per year. Volumes 1 thru 5 ran from Mar 13, 1936 to Feb 21, 1938. Then Vol 1A-5A began issues on Feb 28, 1938 and ran thru Jun 24, 1940. Vol 6-9 also ran for 6 months each until operation was shutdown by the government. The April 20, 1942 issue is the last known in existence. The entire mailing list of Father Coughlin supporters was confiscated in a raid of his fascility. After the outbreak of World War II in Europe in 1939, the Roosevelt administration forced the cancellation of his radio program and forbade distribution by mail of his newspaper, Social Justice. This Library contains a full collection of his magazine minus 1 issue. Many of his sermons are also available in the audio collection. For sure, Coughlin expressed some fairly radical ideas, not all of which might be considered traditionally American, however, he certainly made enemies with the right people and he was among the original America First activists. His stance on Nationalism and his disdain for Internationalism and the Federal Reserve System were popular among his listeners. Click "list items" to see them...