Fr. Charles R. Uncles

A few weeks ago, in response to a column about downtown Baltimore’s Seton Hill, Jerilyn Manning gave me a call. She told me that I had missed a good story. She was so right.

She is the event coordinator for the Charles R. Uncles Senior Plaza at 607 Pennsylvania Ave. I caught up with Manning and Uncles Plaza this week. It was a revelation — how an 1893 Roman Catholic seminary, St. Joseph’s, had been transformed into a residence for senior citizens.

The Rev. Charles R. Uncles was the first African-American to be ordained a Roman Catholic priest. The son of a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad mechanic, he and his story made national news. The New York Times covered his ordination in 1891.  Read on….