An Analysis of Labor, Gender, and the Sisters of Charity in Kentucky and Ohio
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“By the Labors of our Hands”: An Analysis of Labor, Gender, and the Sisters of Charity in Kentucky and Ohio, 1812-1852 by Jacqueline Romero A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Approved March 2019 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Catherine O'Donnell, Chair Susan Gray Julian Lim Mary Beth Fraser Connolly ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY May 2019 ABSTRACT This dissertation focuses on the development of two communities of women religious beginning in the early nineteenth century: the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, founded in 1812, and the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, who arrived in Ohio in 1829 and became a diocesan community in 1852. Although administratively separate, these two apostolic communities shared a charism of service to the poor in the tradition of St. Vincent de Paul. The history of these two communities demonstrates the overlapping worlds women religious inhabited: their personal faith, their community life, their place in the Catholic Church, and their place in the regions they inhabited. These women were often met with admiration as they formed necessary social institutions such as schools, hospitals, and orphanages that provided services to all religious denominations. Sisters’ active engagement with their local communities defied anti-Catholic stereotypes at the time and created significant public roles for women. The skills needed to create and maintain successful social institutions demonstrate that these women were well-educated, largely self-sufficient, competent fundraisers, and well-liked by the Catholics and Protestants alike that they served. This dissertation argues for the importance of acknowledging and analyzing this tension: as celibate, educated women who used their skills for lifelong public service, the Sisters of Charity were clearly exceptional figures among nineteenth century women, though they did not challenge the gendered hierarchies of their church or American society. To further understand this tension, this dissertation utilizes several cases studies of conflicts between sisters and their superiors in each community to examine the extent of their influence in deciding their community’s current priorities and planning for the i future. These case studies demonstrate that obedience did not have a fixed definition but is better understood instead as dynamic and situational between multiple locations and circumstances. These findings concerning gender, labor, institution and community building, and the growth of American Catholicism highlight the integral role that women and religion played in the antebellum era. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not be possible without my brilliant committee. My chair, Catherine O’Donnell, has been steadfast and unwavering in her support, guidance, and excellent humor; I must, of course, especially thank her for generous supply of chocolate. I could not ask for a better mentor or editor. Mary Beth Fraser Connolly enthusiastically agreed to be on my committee and write my letters after only one email from a stranger; I deeply appreciate her selfless generosity with her time and comments. I credit Susan Gray with not only with being an excellent reader and letter writer, but also with truly teaching me how to write in my first semester of graduate school. I am very grateful to Julian Lim, who agreed to join my committee very early on in my program and has supported my research ever since. I am thankful to other faculty and staff at Arizona State who have taught seminars and given me important advice over the years, especially: Hannah Barker, Chris Jones, Lindsey Plait Jones, Laurie Manchester, Aaron Moore, Calvin Schermerhorn, and Pete Van Cleave. Special thanks to my graduate colleagues, especially James Dupey and Alexandria Griffin. Your friendship means far more to me than this space allows. My greatest thanks are to the two communities I researched for this project, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. I would especially like to thank Veronica Buchanan and Sister Judith Metz of the Mount St. Joseph Motherhouse Archives in Ohio. Sister Judy’s research guide made my archival research for Cincinnati far easier than it ever could have been otherwise. Sarah Patterson, archivist of the Cincinnati Archdiocese, also provided important assistance and her knowledge of Cincinnati’s Catholic history. iii The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth truly welcomed me as a community. During my research, they both housed me and fed me while graciously sharing their experiences and history. Kathy Hertel-Baker went above and beyond any archivist responsibilities by giving me rides to and from the airport, taking me out to dinner, and even letting me borrow her car. Kelly McDaniels patiently pulled letter book after letter book and checked dozens of index cards for me. Their knowledge of and generosity in sharing Nazareth’s archives are the foundation of this project. Thank you also to the patient archivists at the University of Notre Dame Archives for their insight and assistance. I received institutional funding for this project from the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies in the form of multiple graduate research fellowships for travel and research, as well as from ASU’s Graduate College in the form of conference travel awards and their Dissertation Completion award, which allowed me the ability to complete my last year of writing without teaching responsibilities. I also received funding from the Emma Goldman travel award at ASU in support of women’s history. Thank you to both the Cushwa Center for American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame and the American Catholic Historical Association, who provided me with essential travel funds to complete this project. I would like to thank all those in attendance at the American Catholic Historical Association spring meeting in 2018 and annual meeting in 2019, where I received valuable feedback on parts of this project. Some material from chapter six of this dissertation has previously been published in American Catholic Studies, and I thank their editors for their patience and assistance with my article manuscript. iv It was only possible for me to pursue a doctorate program because of the excellent education and personal support I received from Sacred Heart University. I remain greatly influenced by their faculty in history and religious studies with whom I took classes: Thomas Curran, Charlotte Gradie, June-Ann Greeley, Richard Grigg, Christopher Kelly, James Lundberg (now at Notre Dame), Amanda Moras (the lone sociologist), John Roney, and Gregory Viggiano. Thanks especially to my two advisors, Jennifer McLaughlin and Brian Stiltner, who each offered independent studies with me and wrote letters of recommendation. Most importantly, they made me a better person. I would not have made it to graduate school without Mary Jo Mason, and I would not have finished it without Jamie Bludworth. My work with each of them goes far beyond my scholarship; I hope that I honor that work not just with this dissertation, but with how I live the rest of my life. My greatest joy in graduate school was meeting and marrying my husband, John Romero. He has been there for me every step of this long journey with unconditional love and support: sharing countless conversations, tirelessly reading my work, and restoring faith in myself when I had lost it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. My parents, David and Kathy Willy, and my brother James, have enthusiastically, not reluctantly, supported my pursuit of this untraditional and fickle career. I could not have done this without their love, patience, and support. This dissertation is for my mother, who is all that I could ever hope to be in life. Thank you for everything. In the words of Robert Orsi and the many women he spoke with whose experiences often described my own: “Thank you, St. Jude!” And finally: any honor or glory is not mine but Yours alone. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 2 THE GROWTH OF CATHOLICISM AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS IN EARLY KENTUCKY AND OHIO................................................................................ 32 3 THE IMPACT OF THE SISTERS OF CHARITY IN EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, AND CATHOLIC-PROTESTANT RELATIONS IN BARDSTOWN AND CINCINNATI ............................................................... 67 4 SISTERS AND SUPERIORS: AN ANALYSIS OF AUTHORITATIVE AND COLLABORATIVE APPROACHES ............................................................ 105 5 THE POLITICS OF AUTHORITY, UNIONS, AND SLAVERY: UNDERSTANDING SISTERS’ POWER AND CONSTRAINTS................ 135 6 DISOBEDIENCE AND THE FOUNDING OF THE SISTERS OF CHARITY OF CINCINNATI........................................................................................... 173 7 CONCLUSION: WOMEN RELIGIOUS AND THE METHODOLOGY OF WOMEN’S HISTORY................................................................................... 200 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...........................................................................................................219 vi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In February of 1846, Sister Mary Leake of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Kentucky wrote a letter to a fellow sister at the community’s Nashville mission. Sister Claudia Elliott corresponded frequently with sisters at the Nazareth Motherhouse during her time in Nashville from 1844 until