The church and the country community

Edwin Vincent O'Hara was born in Lanesboro, Minnesota, one of eight children. His parents had immigrated during the Irish potato famine. O'Hara studied at St. Paul's Seminary and in 1905 he was ordained to the priesthood. He served as a chaplain during World War I. After the war, he worked as a pastor in Portland, and worked to establish a minimum wage in Oregon, which became law in 1913. In 1917, he was the defendant when the law was tried (and upheld) before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1913, he was appointed chairman of Oregon's Industrial Welfare Commission. In 1923, he founded and became director of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference. In 1930, he was appointed Bishop of Great Falls, Montana by Pope Pius XI. In 1939 he was appointed Bishop of Kansas City, Missouri. In 1954, he was granted made Archbishop. He died in Milan, Italy, shortly after his 75th birthday. He is buried in Kansas City.