From the Archives – Election Stories From 1928

In 1994, an elderly Saint Mary parishioner recalled that his mother, who had a very Irish name, went to cast her ballot in 1928 at the Armory on Royal Street. When she gave her name to the poll worker, she was told that she had already voted! There was no way she could prove this was voter fraud, or to know how many other Catholics in Alexandria – with Irish surnames or otherwise – were victims of similar voter discrimination.

In 1994, an elderly Saint Mary parishioner recalled that his mother, who had a very Irish name, went to cast her ballot in 1928 at the Armory on Royal Street. When she gave her name to the poll worker, she was told that she had already voted! There was no way she could prove this was voter fraud, or to know how many other Catholics in Alexandria – with Irish surnames or otherwise – were victims of similar voter discrimination.

— Kitty Guy, Parish Historian

In 2020, to commemorate the 225th anniversary of our parish, we started “From the Archives” as a weekly feature online and in our bulletin to spotlight the history of Saint Mary’s. Due to its popularity, we are continuing the series. An archive of the features is located here.