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Final Vows: Organizational Dilemmas and Emergent Status-Reconstruction of the Contemporary American Nun Mary Anne Wichroski University of New Hampshire, Durham

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Final Vows: Organizational Dilemmas and Emergent Status-Reconstruction of the Contemporary American Nun Mary Anne Wichroski University of New Hampshire, Durham University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Spring 1994 Final vows: Organizational dilemmas and emergent status-reconstruction of the contemporary American nun Mary Anne Wichroski University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Wichroski, Mary Anne, "Final vows: Organizational dilemmas and emergent status-reconstruction of the contemporary American nun" (1994). Doctoral Dissertations. 1799. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1799 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 3 00 North Z eeb Road. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9506434 Final vows: Organizational dilemmas and emergent status-reconstruction of the contemporary American nun Wichroski, Mary Anne, Ph.D. University of New Hampshire, 1994 Copyright ©1994 by Wichroski, Mary Anne. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. Zeeb R& Ann Arbor, MI 48106 FINAL VOWS: ORGANIZATIONAL DILEMMAS AND EMERGENT STATUS-RECONSTRUCTION OF THE CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN NUN BY MARY ANNE WICHROSKI Bachelor of Science, University of the State of New York, 1988 Master of Arts, University of New Hampshire, 1990 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of } Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology May, 1994 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED c 1994 Mary Anne Wichroski This dissertation has been examined and approved. Dissertation Professor of Sociology Melvin T. BobicJ Professor of Sociology Frederick Samuels Professor of Sociology Emeritus uJ-kJ&\ iOs w \ fc. ■ J y O ' m William R. Joh6s Professor of Histo: DEDICATION For JOHN, and for our children, MERILEE, ALISON, and MICHAEL, who together represent our greatest achievement. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee, each of whom had a contribution to make to this project: Professor Stephen Reyna for his ideas on constructivist theory and his knowledge of ethnography; Professor William Jones for his suggestions on the historical component of the dissertation; Professor Melvin Bobick for his expertise in social theory and his enthusiasm for this project; Professor Frederick Samuels for his suggestions regarding social psychological aspects of the research questions; and finally, my advisor and dissertation director, Professor Bud B. Khleif, for his thoroughness in reading the manuscript, his careful editing, suggestions for readings, intuitive and challenging criticisms always tinged with encouragement -- and his on-going support throughout the fieldwork, as well as the doctoral program itself. In addition, I would like to thank Fathers Philip Nielsen and Lawrence Burke for their input on demographics of religious orders and Father George Ham for answering some of my questions and providing me with diocesan documents. It is unfortunate that the many nuns who helped me with this project must remain anonymous. I would especially like to thank the Mother Superior of the v Solemnites (a pseudonym) for her openness, for supplying me with documents and extending herself within the very real constraints of her way of life, and for the support and prayers of her community. I would also like to thank the Director of Archives of the Sisters of Compassion (also a pseudonym) who gave me immeasurable assistance, provided me with documents, and showed much patience with my constant questions and sometimes relentless search for information over the course of many months. In addition, I would like to thank all of the sisters who have shared with me their time, memories, experience, and advice throughout this fieldwork. I would also like to thank my sister, Emily, for her suggestions and support, and Dolores Wilkie, Cynthia Smith, and Judy Eimicke for their friendship. I very much value the interchange of ideas, support, and friendship of two very special people: Linda Olson and Marcia Ghidina, my "comrades in arms" over the years. I would also like to thank Betty Crepeau for her support. A very special note of thanks to Deena Peschke for her encouragement, assistance, and sense of humor, not only during the final stages of this dissertation, but over the past six years. Finally, I would like to thank my family; in particular, my parents, Mildred and John Freeland, and my sisters Susie and Nancy for always being there (Em, I thank you twice for that and for so much more). My children deserve more than special mention: Merilee, for her understanding when pressures mounted and she bore some of the brunt; Alison, -whose sense of humor always sustains me; and my son, Michael (who has become somewhat of a theological expert himself) for our many discussions about this subject. Lastly, but most importantly, I would like to acknowledge the support and stamina of my husband, John, who has always supported me in my endeavors despite the sacrifices imposed upon him. His intellect and experience have always left me in awe of my good fortune to have had this partner in life for 25 years. His knowledge of psychology, history, and Catholic theology provided a necessary sounding-board; his input was vital to this project and to my success in completing the dissertation and in maintaining relative sanity throughout. PREFACE The story of Roman Catholic nuns is an often overlooked chapter in the history of the Catholic Church, as well as a fascinating account of the experience of a unique group of women in American history. I preface this dissertation with a brief account of my first impressions of two very different religious communities because they capture the essence of what was to become the twofold theme of this dissertation: continuity and change. The idea for a comparative study of female religious orders was barely taking shape on my first visit to the Motherhouse of one of the orders I was to become most interested in. On arrival there on a beautiful Spring day, I was met at the door by an elderly nun whose greetings were muted for me by the strains of an old Irish ballad called "On Galway Bay." As we stepped through the interior doors, I saw a nun in full habit being wheeled down the hall in her casket. I was to learn later that the ballad was being sung at her request and that funerals had become a way of life, an ordinary event in this once thriving community. This was to be a day of sadness for a way of life becoming obsolete. A mixture of impressions assailed me: the beautiful grounds still well kept, the lovely school now used by an affiliated college, the medieval-style, castle, once a training school for novices, now in need of repair and used in fundraising efforts, and the funeral of one of their sisters. There was a sense of warmth and happiness in this place but an air of sadness as well, a tragic optimism which was to stay with me over the course of this fieldwork - - a fatalism mixed with joy and purpose. The contrast between this experience and my first visit to the monastery of a different order was profound. Equally beautiful grounds on an early summer day added to my sense of anticipation as I followed the walkway up to the entrance. The brightness of the day was cut off abruptly by the cool interior of a dark foyer with heavy wooden doors locked on all sides. A voice greeted me from behind the front wall and soon I heard the clicking sound of the door to my left being unlocked. I sat in the small parlor facing a wooden grate and awaited the arrival of the Mother Superior, a woman I would meet several times in the future and someone I would come to know and respect. Here it was as though time stood still -- the silence and sacredness of this way of life were upheld and on later visits the presence of young faces would attest to the continuation of a long tradition. This dissertation is my attempt to explain this contrast. It is written for a sociological audience but it is a story as well - - a narrative about long-term historical, structural transformation and the consciousness of members of changing organizations.
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