Recipients
John Gilmary Shea, a historian of the Catholic Church in the United States, was the first person to be awarded the Laetare Medal in 1883. The recipients of the Laetare Medal come from varied fields. Recipients include jazz musicians, Cardinals, philanthropists, ambassadors, authors, opera singers, Senators, doctors, generals, and a U.S. President.
List of Recipients
| Year | Laetare Medalist | Position | Year | Laetare Medalist | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1883 | John Gilmary Shea | Historian | 1948 | Frank C. Walker | Postmaster General and Civic Leader |
| 1884 | Patrick Charles Keely | Architect | 1949 | Irene Dunne Griffin | Actress |
| 1885 | Eliza Allen Starr | Art Critic | 1950 | General Joseph L. Collins | Soldier |
| 1886 | General John Newton | Engineer | 1951 | John Henry Phelan | Philanthropist |
| 1887 | Edward Preuss | Publicist | 1952 | Thomas E. Murray | Member of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission |
| 1888 | Patrick V. Hickey | Founder and Editor of The Catholic Review | 1953 | I.A. O'Shaughnessy | Philanthropist |
| 1889 | Anna Hansen Dorsey | Novelist | 1954 | Jefferson Caffery | Diplomat |
| 1890 | William J. Onahan | Organizer of the American Catholic Congress | 1955 | George Meany | Labor Leader |
| 1891 | Daniel Dougherty | Orator | 1956 | General Alfred M. Gruenther | Soldier |
| 1892 | Henry F. Brownson | Philosopher and Author | 1957 | Clare Boothe Luce | Diplomat |
| 1893 | Patrick Donohue | Founder of the Boston Pilot | 1958 | Frank M. Folsom | Industrialist |
| 1894 | Augustin Daly | Theatrical Producer | 1959 | Robert Daniel Murphy | Diplomat |
| 1895 | Mary Anne Sadlier | Novelist | 1960 | George N. Shuster | Educator |
| 1896 | General William Starke Rosencrans | Soldier | 1961 | John F. Kennedy | President of the United States |
| 1897 | Thomas Addis Emmet | Physician | 1962 | Francis J. Braceland | Psychiatrist |
| 1898 | Timothy Edward Howard | Jurist | 1963 | Admiral George Whelan Anderson, Jr. | Chief of Naval Operations |
| 1899 | Mary Gwendolin Caldwell | Philanthropist | 1964 | Phyllis McGinley | Poet |
| 1900 | John A. Creighton | Philanthropist | 1965 | Frederick D. Rossini | Scientist |
| 1901 | William Bourke Cockran | Orator | 1966 | Patrick F. & Patricia Caron Crowley | Founders of The Christian Movement |
| 1902 | John Benjamin Murphy | Surgeon | 1967 | J. Peter Grace | Industrialist |
| 1903 | Charles Jerome Bonaparte | Lawyer | 1968 | Robert Sargent Shriver | Diplomat |
| 1904 | Richard C. Kerens | Diplomat | 1969 | William J. Brennan Jr. | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court |
| 1905 | Thomas B. Fitzpatrick | Philanthropist | 1970 | Dr. William B. Walsh | Physician |
| 1906 | Francis J. Quinlan | Physician | 1971 | Walter Kerr & Jean Kerr | Drama Critic and Author |
| 1907 | Katherine Eleanor Conway | Journalist and Author | 1972 | Dorothy Day | Founder of the Catholic Worker Movement |
| 1908 | James C. Monaghan | Economist | 1973 | Rev. John A. O'Brien | Author |
| 1909 | Frances Tieran (Christian Reid) | Novelist | 1974 | James A. Farley | Business Executive and Former Postmaster General |
| 1910 | Maurice Francis Egan | Author and Diplomat | 1975 | Sr. Ann Ida Gannon, BMV | President of Mundelein College |
| 1911 | Agnes Repplier | Author | 1976 | Paul Horgan | Author |
| 1912 | Thomas M. Mulry | Philanthropist | 1977 | Mike Mansfield | Former Senate Majority Leader |
| 1913 | Charles George Herbermann | Editor of the Catholic Encyclopedia | 1978 | Msgr. John Tracy Ellis | Church Historian |
| 1914 | Edward Douglass White | Chief Justice of the United States | 1979 | Helen Hayes | Actress |
| 1915 | Mary V. Merrick | Philanthropist | 1980 | Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill Jr. | Speaker of the House |
| 1916 | James Joseph Walsh | Physician and Author | 1981 | Edmund Sixtus Muskie | Secretary of State |
| 1917 | Admiral William Shepherd Benson | Chief of Naval Operations | 1982 | John Francis Cardinal Dearden | Archbishop Emeritus of Detroit |
| 1918 | Joseph Scott | Lawyer | 1983 | Edmund & Evelyn Stephan | Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees and his wife |
| 1919 | George L. Duval | Philanthropist | 1984 | John T. Noonan, Jr. | Lawyer |
| 1920 | Lawrence Francis Flick | Physician | 1985 | Guido Calabresi | Dean of the Yale Law School |
| 1921 | Elizabeth Nourse | Artist | 1986 | Thomas & Mary Elizabeth Carney | Chairman of the Board of Trustees and his wife |
| 1922 | Charles Patrick Neill | Economist | 1987 | Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, CSC | President of the University of Notre Dame |
| 1923 | Walter George Smith | Lawyer | 1988 | Eunice Kennedy Shriver | Founder & Chairwoman of the Special Olympics |
| 1924 | Charles Donagh Maginnis | Architect | 1989 | Walker Percy | Novelist |
| 1925 | Albert Francis Zahm | Scientist | 1990 | Sister Thea Bowman (posthumously) | Educator |
| 1926 | Edward Nash Hurley | Businessman | 1991 | Corrine Lindy Boggs | Former Louisiana Congresswoman |
| 1927 | Margaret Anglin | Actress | 1992 | Daniel Patrick Moynihan | U.S. Senator from New York |
| 1928 | John Johnson Spaulding | Lawyer | 1993 | Donald R. Keough | Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees |
| 1929 | Alfred Emmanuel Smith | Statesman | 1994 | Sidney Callahan | Educator and Journalist |
| 1930 | Frederick Philip Kenkel | Publicist | 1995 | Joseph Cardinal Bernardin | Archbishop of Chicago |
| 1931 | James J. Phelan | Businessman | 1996 | Sister Helen Prejean | Death Penalty Abolitionist |
| 1932 | Stephen J. Maher | Physician | 1997 | Rev. Virgilio Elizondo | Theologian and Activist |
| 1933 | John McCormack | Artist | 1998 | Dr. Edmund D. Pellegrino | Medical Ethicist and Educator |
| 1934 | Genevieve Garvan Brady | Philanthropist | 1999 | Philip Gleason | Professor Emeritus of History, Notre Dame |
| 1935 | Francis Hamilton Spearman | Novelist | 2000 | Andrew McKenna | Chairman of the Board of Trustees |
| 1936 | Richard Reid | Journalist and Lawyer | 2001 | Msgr. George G. Higgins | Priest and Labor Activist |
| 1937 | Jeremiah D. M. Ford | Scholar | 2002 | Father John Smyth | Executive Director of Maryville Academy |
| 1938 | Irvin William Abell | Surgeon | 2003 | Peter and Margaret O'Brien Steinfels | Editors of Commonweal |
| 1939 | Josephine Van Dyke Brownson | Catechist | 2004 | Father J. Bryan Hehir | President of Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of Boston |
| 1940 | General Hugh Aloysius Drum | Soldier | 2005 | Dr. Joseph E. Murray | Surgeon & Nobel Prize Winner |
| 1941 | William Thomas Walsh | Journalist and Author | 2006 | Dave Brubeck | Jazz Pianist |
| 1942 | Helen Constance White | Author and Teacher | 2007 | Patrick McCartan | Chairman of the Board of Trustees |
| 1943 | Thomas Francis Woodlock | Editor | 2008 | Martin Sheen | Actor |
| 1944 | Anne O'Hare McCormick | Journalist | 2009 | NOT AWARDED (SEE BELOW) | |
| 1945 | Gardiner Howland Shaw | Diplomat | 2010 | Dana Gioia | Former Chairman of National Endowment for the Arts |
| 1946 | Carlton J. H. Hayes | Historian and Diplomat | 2011 | Sister Mary Scullion, R.S.M., & Joan McConnon | Social Advocates |
| 1947 | William G. Bruce | Publisher and Civic Leader | 2012 | Ken Hackett | Former President of Catholic Relief Services |
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