Daniel Rudd (August 7, 1854–1933) was founder of the Colored Catholic Congress, now known as the National Black Catholic Congress. He was born one of 12 children. Born to parents who were both Catholic, his father was a slave on the Rudd estate near Bardstown, Kentucky and his mother was a slave of the Hayden family in Bardstown. In 1889, Rudd convened the first meeting of the Colored Catholic Congress, with Fr. Augustine Tolton, the first recognized black priest in America celebrating Mass.