© 2013 Shannen Dee Williams ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
© 2013 Shannen Dee Williams ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BLACK NUNS AND THE STRUGGLE TO DESEGREGATE CATHOLIC AMERICA AFTER WORLD WAR I By SHANNEN DEE WILLIAMS A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in History written under the direction of Deborah Gray White and approved by New Brunswick, New Jersey May 2013 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Black Nuns and the Struggle to Desegregate Catholic America after World War I by SHANNEN DEE WILLIAMS Dissertation Director: Deborah Gray White Since 1824, hundreds of black women and girls have embraced the religious state in the U.S. Catholic Church. By consecrating their lives to God in a society that deemed all black people immoral, black Catholic sisters provided a powerful refutation to the racist stereotypes used by white supremacists and paternalists to exclude African Americans from the ranks of religious life and full citizenship rights. By dedicating their labors to the educational and social uplift of the largely neglected black community, black sisters challenged the Church and the nation to live up to the full promises of democracy and Catholicism. Yet, their lives and labors remain largely invisible in the annals of American and religious history. This is especially true of their efforts in the twentieth century, when black sisters pried opened the doors of Catholic higher education, desegregated several historically white congregations, and helped to launch the greatest black Catholic revolt in American history. This dissertation unearths the hidden history of black Catholic sisters in the fight for racial and educational justice in the twentieth century. Specifically, it chronicles the diverse and strategic efforts of black nuns in the long fight to secure African-American access to religious life and Catholic education after World War I. Drawing upon ii previously-ignored archival sources, oral history interviews, and a host of secular and religious periodicals, this study argues that black sisters are the forgotten prophets of American Catholicism and democracy. Though practically invisible in the scholarship on the African-American freedom struggle and the Catholic Church, black sisters played critical and leading roles in the fight to dismantle barriers in the white-dominated, male- hierarchal Church. By demanding adherence to canon law and Catholic social teachings, black sisters were instrumental in forcing Church leaders to adopt progressive stances on issues such as black Catholic education, the development of African-American priests and sisters, and briefly black liberation. While resistance campaigns to equity and justice proved strident and largely successful, black sisters nonetheless endowed the Catholic Church with a rich tradition of righteous struggle against racial and gender injustice and faithfulness unparalleled in the United States. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In 2007, I set out to produce the first historical study of African-American Catholic sisters in the twentieth century. With my dissertation now complete, I relish the opportunity to thank everyone who has graciously supported me through this process. I am deeply indebted to a host of colleagues, mentors, family members, friends, and strangers who have at various points offered me encouragement, asked me difficult questions, and challenged me to produce a study worthy of the spirit-filled women whose lives and labors fill these pages. Grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the American Historical Association, the American Catholic Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the Catholic University of America, and the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame enabled me to conduct invaluable research in a host of archives, libraries, convents, and homes across the country. I am especially grateful to the outstanding team of archivists, librarians, and staff members who patiently answered hundreds of my questions and copied countless materials for me. Generous support from Rutgers University-New Brunswick and the Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Fellowship (for Religion and Ethics) provided me with significant stretches of un-interrupted time to complete my dissertation. Special thanks are also due to Janann Sherman, Beverly Bond, and the staff of the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis for hosting me during the final stages of my dissertation writing. Profound gratitude is extended to my esteemed dissertation committee. Deborah Gray White and Nancy Hewitt are extraordinary mentors and models of excellence in the iv academy. Having these two distinguished and pioneer historians guide me through this process was a dream come true. Donna Murch and Rhonda Williams—each distinguished in her own right—also provided critical support and encouragement at every stage of this process. At Rutgers, I was fortunate to be a part of a dynamic community of scholars and friends. I am especially grateful to Marsha Barrett, Melissa Cooper, Laura Ann Twagira, Christopher Hayes, James Livingston, Stephanie Jones-Rogers, Vanessa Holden, Ann Gordon, Mekala Audain, and Jasmin Young for making my tenure as a Scarlet Knight full of laughter and support. At Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, I thank my colleagues in the history department and the Africana studies program for warmly welcoming me into their folds for the 2012-13 academic year. I especially want to thank Kay Carr, Robbie Lieberman, José Najar, and Father Joseph Brown, S.J. for ensuring that my tenure as a lecturer was filled with support, laughter, and friendship. I also thank my wonderful students for reminding me of the great importance of being accessible and making history relevant and exciting. Few dissertations are completed without the great sacrifices of family. I thank my sister and my absolutely amazing nephew for providing the love and support that only they could give while I was over thousand miles away from home pursuing my Ph.D. in history. In those moments of frustration when I thought about abandoning the project to take up knitting, my nephew’s innocence, constant optimism, and unbridled joy reminded me to keep my eyes on the prize if only for the sake of his precious life and freedom. I v thank my fiancé for his untiring friendship, love, and support. That a person like him exists reminds me constantly that love can only be a gift from God. This dissertation is dedicated to my parents. Their unyielding love and encouragement is one of my life’s greatest blessings. At the tender age of seven, my mother (with her parents’ support) converted to Catholicism, and her ongoing journey in the Church remains a powerful testimony to enduring faith of the African-American Catholic community in the face of racial exclusion and bigotry. My father was the first and greatest historian that I knew. Although he did not live to see me receive my Ph.D., his faith in me and my abilities strengthens me every day. This study is also dedicated to the hundreds of courageous black women and girls who dared to profess the sacred vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in a church that often sought to deny them their very humanity. For those who entrusted me with their personal (and often painful) stories, I am forever grateful. For those who could not bear to tell me their stories but still prayed for the project’s success, thank you immensely. I remain a member of the Church of my birth because of the sacrifices, sufferings, and faith of these extraordinary women of God. I have tried to tell their story to the best of my abilities using the sources available to me. Any mistakes are my own. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………....................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………iv TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………..…vii INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………...1 CHAPTER 1: “NOTHING IS TOO GOOD FOR THE YOUTH OF OUR RACE:” THE STRUGGLE FOR BLACK CATHOLIC EDUCATION IN THE JIM CROW SOUTH……………………………………………………………………………..........35 CHAPTER 2: DESEGREGATING THE HABIT: THE FIGHT TO INTEGRATE FEMALE RELIGIOUS LIFE………………………….88 CHAPTER 3: “SERVICE FIRST! SERVICE NOW! SERVICE ALWAYS!:” CIVIL RIGHTS AND THE RESURRECTION OF BLACK CATHOLIC PROTEST AFTER VATICAN II…………………………………………………………………..138 CHAPTER 4: “LIBERATION IS OUR FIRST PRIORITY:” THE FORMATION OF THE NATIONAL BLACK SISTERS’ CONFERENCE….…204 CHAPTER 5: FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL: THE STRUGGLE FOR BLACK SISTERS AND CATHOLIC EDUCATION IN THE POST-CIVIL RIGHTS ERA………………………………………….……....270 EPILOGUE: FORGOTTEN PROPHETS……………..……………………………………………...322 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………338 CURRICULUM VITA…………………………………………………………………357 vii 1 Introduction “Education and religion are the first two subversive forces that an oppressed people can use to liberate themselves. Religion is the guts of all human life; it can be used to silence a people or deliver a nation.”1 -The National Black Sisters’ Conference, 1972 In 1975, the nation’s community of black Catholic sisters was in deep crisis. After seven decades of steady population growth and the dismantling of some key barriers blocking African Americans’ full and equitable participation in the U.S. Catholic Church, the national population of black sisters was in rapid decline. Like their white and male counterparts in the Church, black sisters were departing religious life in record numbers.