About Dr. Paul Lubienecki
Biography
Dr. Paul Lubienecki is an American historian based in Hamburg, New York whose scholarly work focuses on Catholic labor history, American religious history, and public history. His research has been shaped by a sustained interest in how ordinary working people navigated the intersection of their religious commitments and their lives as workers in an industrial economy.
He earned his Ph.D. in History from Case Western Reserve University in 2013, where he completed a dissertation examining the diocesan labor schools of Buffalo and Cleveland under the supervision of Professor John Grabowski. That dissertation has been downloaded more than 2,500 times through the OhioLINK open access repository. His earlier graduate work includes a Master of Arts in History and Museum Studies from Buffalo State College, where he focused on the architectural and spiritual history of Frank Lloyd Wright's Graycliff estate, and a Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry from Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, New York. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Temple University.
Academic Career
Dr. Lubienecki has taught at several institutions. He served as a lecturer at SUNY Fredonia, where he taught labor history, immigration studies, and United States history. He taught graduate-level courses at Christ the King Seminary covering European and American history, industrialization, and social services, with attention to figures such as Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. His teaching at Trocaire College and Canisius High School extended his reach to additional student populations.
Institutional Roles
He is the founder and executive director of the Boland Center for the Study of Labor and Religion, named for Fr. John Boland of the Diocesan Labor College of Buffalo. He has served as archivist at both Christ the King Seminary and the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Buffalo, where he discovered a nineteenth-century reliquary gifted by Pope Pius IX to Bishop John Timon. That reliquary is now on permanent display at the cathedral.
He serves as Associate Editor of the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History at Case Western Reserve University and authored the entry on "Catholic Labor Education." He was vice president and staff historian at the Steel Plant Museum of Western New York, where he developed educational initiatives and digital preservation projects. He is also the founder of PHM Consulting, which assists museums and cultural institutions with collections management, preservation, and educational outreach.
Publications
Dr. Lubienecki has published two books with Edwin Mellen Press. His 2023 monograph, The Americanization of Lay Catholics on Organized Labor: The American Catholic Labor Schools, was announced by the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame. His 2017 book, Frank Lloyd Wright's Graycliff: Architecture as Sacred Space, commemorates the 150th anniversary of Wright's birth.
He has published five peer-reviewed articles in the Journal of Catholic Education, U.S. Catholic Historian, and Ohio History, and has written popular history for the New York History Review and Western New York Heritage Magazine since 2013.
Professional Memberships
- American Historical Association
- American Catholic Historical Association
- Working Class Studies Association
- American Academy of Religion
- National Council on Public History
Education
- Ph.D., History, Case Western Reserve University, 2013
- M.A., History and Museum Studies, Buffalo State College
- M.A., Pastoral Ministry, Christ the King Seminary, East Aurora, NY
- B.A., History, Temple University