COMMON THREADS This Page Intentionally Left Blank COMMON THREADS a CULTURAL HISTORY of CLOTHING in AMERICAN CATHOLICISM SALLY DWYER- MCNULTY
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COMMON THREADS This page intentionally left blank COMMON THREADS A CULTURAL HISTORY OF CLOTHING IN AMERICAN CATHOLICISM SALLY DWYER- MCNULTY THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS Chapel Hill © 2014 Th e University of North Carolina Press All rights reserved Set in Quadraat Pro by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. Manufactured in the United States of America Th e paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. Th e University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003. Portions of Chapter 3 appeared in somewhat diff erent form in Sara Dwyer- McNulty, “Hems to Hairdos: Cultural Discourse and Philadelphia Catholic High Schools in the 1920s, a Case Study,” Journal of American Studies 37, no. 2 (2003): 179–200. © Cambridge University Press, reproduced with permission. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Dwyer-McNulty, Sally. Common threads : a cultural history of clothing in American Catholicism / Sally Dwyer-McNulty. — 1 [edition]. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4696-1409-0 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4696-1410-6 (ebook) 1. Catholic Church—United States. 2. Catholics—Religious identity— United States. 3. Catholics—United States—Clothing. 4. Clothing and dress— Religious aspects—Catholic Church. I. Title. BX1406.3.D89 2014 391.0088′28273—dc23 2013041245 18 17 16 15 14 5 4 3 2 1 In loving memory of Mary Patricia and James Dwyer and Anna and James McNulty This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Acknowledgments, xi INTRODUCTION. Th e Origins and Signifi cance of Catholic Clothing in America, 1 1 } Th e Clothes Make the Man: Clerical and Liturgical Garmenture, 1830s–1930s, 16 2 } Women Religious on American Soil: Adaptation or Authority in Nineteenth- Century America, 55 3 } School Uniforms: A New Look for Catholic Girls, 85 4 } Outfi tting the Mystical Body of Christ: Apparel and Activism, 129 5 } Tearing at the Seams: Th e Clothes No Longer Fit, 169 EPILOGUE. Beyond the 1970s, 200 Notes, 205 References, 233 Index, 249 This page intentionally left blank ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Father John E. Fitzmaurice, 1865, 27 Figure 2. Cardinal Dougherty at the 1926 International Eucharistic Congress, 47 Figure 3. Cardinal Bonzano saying mass in ornate vestments, 1926 International Eucharistic Congress, 49 Figure 4. Cardinal Dougherty in watered silk cappa magna, 1926 International Eucharistic Congress, 51 Figure 5. Mother Th eodore Guerin in habit, 1855, 64 Figure 6. Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, 1885–95, 68 Figure 7. Father James Nilan, ca. 1877, 70 Figure 8. Pastor, teachers, and students, St. Charles Borromeo School, 1920, 88 Figure 9. Mount St. Joseph’s uniform, 1899, 98 Figure 10. Children entering parochial school, 1944, 106 Figure 11. John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School, Section 3 B. C., 1922, 110 Figure 12. John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School, Section 7, B- C, 1926, 110 Figure 13. St. Mary’s Academy Primary Department, 1929, 119 Figure 14. St. Mary’s Academy Class Offi cers, 1931, 119 Figure 15. C.G.H.S. Fashions, 1930, 123 Figure 16. Little Flower High School girls in uniforms and rebel shoes, 1937, 124 Figure 17. Student illustration in the “Silver Suds,” 1929, 125 Figure 18. Yearbook illustration, 1929, 126 Figure 19. Yearbook illustration, 1930, 127 Figure 20. First day of school, Little Flower, 1939, 131 Figure 21. May Procession, Notre Dame Academy, 1942, 140 Figure 22. May queen and her brother, Cecilian Academy, 1951, 140 Figure 23. Student photographer, Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, Cecilian Academy, 1951, 143 Figure 24. Cecilian girls dedicate yearbooks to an apparition of Mary, 1951, 146 Figure 25. Cecilian girls read Our Lady of Fatima, 1951, 146 Figure 26. Th ird and fourth grades with boys in uniform, Cecilian Academy, 1950, 148 Figure 27. Girls walking with blazers, uniforms, book bags, and saddle shoes, Cecilian Academy, 1966, 148 Figure 28. Freshman girls must learn to wear hats to school, 1942, 151 Figure 29. Mrs. Quimp and Father O’Malley, Going My Way, 157 Figure 30. Father O’Malley golfi ng, Going My Way, 157 Figure 31. Father Barry with collar and fedora, On the Waterfront, 159 Figure 32. Father Barry and Edie in pew, On the Waterfront, 161 Figure 33. Edie and Terry, On the Waterfront, 161 Figure 34. Alejandro Rey and Sally Field in Th e Flying Nun, 189 Figure 35. Sister Michelle and Elvis, Change of Habit, 191 Figure 36. Th ree sisters in lay clothes, Change of Habit, 191 Figure 37. John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School students frolicking in the fountain at John F. Kennedy Plaza, 1970, 202 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Over the last decade I have enjoyed the support and encouragement of a num- ber of wonderful people, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to thank them here. When I attended Temple University, both Margaret Marsh and David H. Watt hired me as a research assistant for their respective projects and modeled the tenacity required to fi nish writing a book. I will always be grateful for their mentoring. When my interest in Catholic clothing was just a seed, the faculty and stu- dents at Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia encouraged my curiosity. My students, all artists, would tell me, “Catholicism is so visual”— they’re right. Friends at Moore lent me photography equipment and taught me the rudiments of photography as I began to pay more attention to Catholi- cism through the lens of a camera. I thank the community at Moore for turn- ing on my visual thinking. Support for my interests continues at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where I benefi t from an academic community that supports creative thinking and scholarship. Members of the Marist faculty and administration have sustained me in various ways over the years. Funds from the Offi ce of the Vice President for Academic Aff airs and the School of Liberal Arts as well as sabbatical release time enabled me to travel and devote months to research. Marist’s formal and informal research gatherings off ered me several oppor- tunities over the years to present my work. I gained useful feedback on my research at the School of Liberal Arts Research Forum, Catholic Studies Lec- tures, and the Women in Society Conference. My colleagues at Marist College have helped my thinking process all along the way as well. Lynn Eckert, Eileen Curley, Rose DeAngelis, Don Anderson, Nick Marshall, Robyn Rosen, Moira Fitzgibbons, Kristin Bayer, John Knight, Henry Pratt, Cathleen Muller, Michael O’Sullivan, Th omas Wermuth, Radley Cramer, Martin Shaff er, Janine Peterson, and Louis Zuccarello read or lis- tened to diff erent segments of this project and posed helpful questions as well as off ering moral support. Th e assistance provided by James Duryea, man- ager of production and operations at Marist College, was invaluable. James turned my old slides into jpegs, helped me assemble visual presentations, { xi } provided photography instruction, cropped pictures, and much more. I can’t thank James enough. I received guidance outside Marist College as well. James O’Toole and Karen Kennelly both graciously read early drafts of individual chapters and pointed out errors and off ered valuable recommendations. Kathleen Sprows Cummings invited me to present at the Cushwa Center for the Study of Ameri- can Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame, where I was able to discuss my research with an exceptional group of scholars. Likewise, attendees at the Conference on the History of Women Religious provided a vibrant forum to present and test my research. My good friends Joan Saverino and Leonard Primiano were always willing to discuss the writing and research process, a topic unto itself. Joan and Leonard are both cherished friends and impressive scholars. Th is project would not have been possible without the encouragement and commitment of Elaine Maisner, my editor at the University of North Carolina Press. Elaine saw this project through from proposal to complete manuscript. I couldn’t have asked for a better editor. As one might expect from a terrifi c editor, Elaine assembled a highly professional staff , and I benefi ted from the attentiveness of her assistants, Caitlin Bell- Butterfi eld and Alison Shay, and my project editor, Stephanie Ladniak Wenzel. I thank them as well. I owe an enormous debt to my readers; one was Colleen McDannell, and the other remains anonymous. Th eir detailed comments and recommenda- tions directed me to new sources and helped me sharpen my argument. Th ey greatly improved my manuscript, and I hope they will see and be pleased with their contributions to my work. Any errors or shortcomings that remain in this book are my own. Th roughout the process of research and writing, I enlisted the assistance of Laura Costello and Elizabeth Baldetti from the College of St. Rose and Marist College, respectively. Laura met me at the College of St. Rose library, where I searched clerical journals for sartorial material, and she tirelessly copied and organized relevant articles. Elizabeth assembled the fi rst draft of the bibliography and, as a knowledgeable fi lm enthusiast, directed me to the fi lm I Confess, which I included in my analysis. I am deeply grateful for their good humor, interest, and attention to detail. Anne Roller, Carolyn Miller, and Kelsea Burch each read the fi rst full draft of the manuscript and lent their fi ne editing skills to my work. To all of these readers, listeners, and friends I am truly grateful. Th is project would have been impossible without the help of several dedi- cated archivists: Sister Patricia Annas, SSJ, of the Sisters of St.