An Interpretive History of the Sister Formation Conference, 1954-1964
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Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1988 An Interpretive History of the Sister Formation Conference, 1954-1964 Patrice M. Noterman Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Noterman, Patrice M., "An Interpretive History of the Sister Formation Conference, 1954-1964" (1988). Dissertations. 2563. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/2563 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1988 Patrice M. Noterman AN INTERPRETIVE HISTORY OF THE SISTER FORMATION CONFERENCE 1954-1964 by Sister M. Patrice Noterman, S.C.C. A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Loyola University of Chicago in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 1988 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author is grateful to many for their support and encouragement. Valuable guidance and helpful criticism were given by F. Michael Perko, S.J., dissertation director, and members of the doctoral committee, Dr. Gerald L. Gutek, F. Walter Krolikowski, S.J., and Dr. William Mccready. Instrumental in the research and writing of this study were Sister Mary Clement Eiden, S.C.C., who edited this work and to Sister Joachim Kaufmann, S.C.C., and Colleen M. Cannon, whose help and support made this work possible. To the archivists at Marquette University, Catholic University of America, Sisters of Providence, Seattle, Washington, and Daughters of Charity, Normandy, Missouri, a special note of gratitude is due for opening their collections to the author. Special acknowledgement is made of the American women religious, leaders in the Sister Formation Conference, who gave the author their time and encouragement and shared their insights about religious life and the changes they experienced during the years covered in this study. Finally, deep appreciation is given to the Sisters of Christian Charity and to my friends whose encouragement, prayer, and support were invaluable to the completion of this work. ii VITA Sister M. Patrice Noterman, S.C.C., (Marjorie Lee). is the daughter of Math and Ann (Boegemann) Noterman. She was born on 3 October 1946, in Adams, Minnesota. Her early education was received at St. Mark School, Shakopee, Minnesota, and Guardian Angels High School, Chaska, Minnesota. After graduating from high school in 1964, she began her novitiate training with the Sisters of Christian Chariy in Wilmette, Illinois, where in 1967 she made her first vows. In that same year she received her A.A in Liberal Arts from Mallinckrodt College and went on to Marillac College, St. Louis, Missouri, where in 1969 she earned her B.A. in history. Sister Patrice began her work as a teacher at St. Alphonsus School. Prospect Heights, Illinois, St. Raphael School, Chicago, Illinois, and as administrator at St. Theresa School, Palatine, Illinois. Later studies earned her an M.Ed. in Educational Administration from the University of Arizona. Concurrent with her doctoral studies at Loyola University, Chicago, in 1984, Sister Patrice held the position of academic vice-president at Mallinckrodt College. November 1986, she became acting president of Mallinckrodt College of the North Shore, assuming the position of president on 1July1987. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. ii VITA . iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv CONTENTS OF APPENDICES vi CHAPTER I. TIME OF CRITICAL SHIFTS 1948-1954 . 1 Introduction . 1 Teacher Education Section of the NCEA 5 The Survey . 16 Sister Education and Professional Standards Commission 25 Sister Formation Conference 34 Conclusion 36 II. OPERATION BOOTSTRAP 1954-1957 39 Introduction . 39 General Schema 41 Organization of the Sister Formation Conference . 43 1954-55 SFC Regional Conferences and NCEA Conventions 46 Publications . 50 Funding for Further Study . 54 1955-56 SFC Regional Conferences and NCEA Convention 56 1956-57 Everett Workshop, Regional Conferences. and NCEA Convention 59 SFC Receives Section Status . 61 Conference of Major Superiors of Women 63 Other Studies. 66 National Commission on Teacher Education and Professional Standards 67 Conclusion 68 III. EVEREIT WORKSHOP 72 Introduction . 72 Exploration and Preparation 74 Mind-Set, Methods, and Consideration 81 The Curriculum Report 87 Regional Conferences. 90 Conclusion 92 iv IV. GROwrH OFTI-IE SISTER FORMATION CONFERENCE 1957-60 94 Introduction . 94 The Juniorate Theme in the Regional Conferences 96 NCEA Conventions 104 Sister Colleges 108 Marquette Workshops . · 112 Instructional Programs in Spirituality . 118 Relationship of the Conference of Major Superiors with the Sister Formation Conference 120 Conclusion 126 V. TIME OF TRANSFORMATION 1960-1964 127 Introduction . 127 Sister Colleges. 132 NCEA Conventions 137 Marquette Workshops 142 Instructional Programs in Spirituality 149 Foundations . 151 Regional Conferences . 156 Sister Formation Conference Overseas Project 157 Restructuring of the Sister Formation Conference 159 Conclusion 168 VI. CONCLUSION 171 The Church in the 1950s 171 The Passing of an Age. 173 Final Thoughts 178 BIBLIOGRAPHY 183 APPENDIX B 193 APPENDIX C 196 APPENDIX D 199 v CONTENTS OF APPENDICES APPENDIX A Abbreviations of Community Titles 190 APPENDIX B Sister Formation Conference Committee Members. 193 APPENDIX C Everett Workshop Participants 196 APPENDIX D Everett Curriculum Demonstration Centers. 199 vi CHAPTER I TIME OF CRITICAL SHIITS 1948-1954 Introduction An Interpretive History of the Sister Formation Conference: 1954-1964 was done in order to bring to light an area of American history that has received little attention; namely, the educational history of the American woman religious ("Sister Lucy") and the place of the Sister Formation Conference in that history. l In order to understand the Sister Formation Conference (SFC) in its entirety, this study of the movement is placed within a broad historical context that encompasses the directions and directives of the Church, the educational trends of the period, and the struggles and developments within American religious life during this time. This is a "new history" that helps to put meaning into the changes that took place among American women religious during the years 1954-1964 by looking at their educationaljourney.2 To locate these women and this movement historically means to deal with "the paradoxes and the ambivalence of contemporary American Catholicism" at a time when dependence, conformity, and institutionalized living were the marks of religious life. By the end of the period, these women were experiencing a new kind of responsibility, community building, and discernment. 3 The story of the Sister Formation Conference tells of the evolution of an idea lstster Madeleva Wolff, C.S.C., My First Seventy Years (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1959), 110-118. Sister Madeleva is the first to speak of the education of Sister Lucy, the hypothetical sister of the new age. Sister Lucy is used in this study to symbolize the new sister experiencing the new formation. 2navid J. O'Brien, "Needed: A 'New' History," America. 3 May 1969, 528-529. 3Joan Chittister, O.S.B., Winds of Change (Kansas City: Sheed and Ward, 1986), 122. 1 2 The story of the Sister Formation Conference tells of the evolution of an idea that reached its own time. That idea conceptualized the American woman religious as an integrated woman, as a prepared professional, and as an embodiment of Church. The idea took shape as clear-sighted, American women religious fought consistently for the right to be professionally prepared for the work they sought to do in and for the Church. These women, not always supported by those they sought to work with and for, found their energy and strength in a cohesiveness among themselves and in a united vision of what was definitely needed to achieve this monumental goal. The Sister Formation Conference was to be the enabling agent for the professional growth of American women religious. With its roots grounded in the workings of the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA), the SFC evolved from the Teacher Education Section of that same association. The evolutionary birth of this women's movement was marked by critical shifts of thinking in the Catholic Church, in religious life, and in the field of education. Church documents, professional requirements, and the position of the women religious in America gave the founders of the SFC the energy needed to do the monumental task of pulling American women religious into the twentieth century and then preparing them for the twenty-first century. Advertently, the SFC spoke always of formation rather than just education. This choice of words indicated the deep and broad concern these women had for the total development of the religious woman in all aspects of her life, spiritual and intellectual. The Church had asked for excellence in teaching and for highly prepared ministers able to meet the needs of the time. The year 1950 was an historical grounding point for women religious as Pius XII for the first time called an international meeting of the heads of religious communities (male and female) in order to urge a renewal in religious life that called for "theological education and professional credentials for those teaching and doing other professional work" and for "the elimination of outdated 3 customs and clothing that estranged them from those they served."4 Another meeting in September 1951 for members of teaching communities was even more specific in its recommendations. Pius XII encouraged changes in the life-style of the active community so that the needs of the apostolate could be better met. More specifically, he asked that the teaching sister have the same professional training as her lay counterpart. There were other meetings, all aimed at calling attention to the need for professionalism in ministry.