KATHARINE DREXEL: EDUCATIONAL REFORMER AND INSTITUTION BUILDER A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSPHY by Margaret Mary Markmann August 2012 Examining Committee Members: William W. Cutler, III Advisory Chair, History Wilbert L. Jenkins, History Christine Woyshner, Education Margaret M. McGuinness, External Member, La Salle University TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………….ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………….iv PREFACE……………………………………………………………………...vii CHAPTER 1. THE CREATION OF A PHILANTHROPIST……………………………….1 2. EVANGELICAL FERVOR IN NINETEENTH CENTURY CATHOLICISM……………………………………………………..............29 3. THE TRANSFORMATION OF CONVENT LIFE…………………………53 4. WOMEN IN EDUCATION…………………………………………………81 5. LAUNCHING AN EDUCATIONAL MISSION……………………….....109 6. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………….....142 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………….....172 i ABSTRACT This work is a study of Catholic evangelization among African Americans. By examining the efforts of Katharine Drexel in educating African Americans, we acquire a unique vantage into the methods that the institutional Church employed to build Catholicism in America throughout the nineteenth century and the early art of the twentieth century. Often overwhelmed by multitudes of Catholic immigrants surging into the states from Europe, American bishops made evangelization among unchurched African Americans a low priority despite their being chastened by Rome. Catholic African Americans, moreover, became impatient with the Church because their children were denied access to a Catholic education that they considered essential for their full inclusion within the Church. Aware of the interest that Katharine Drexel had in educating the disfranchised, Church leaders encouraged this Philadelphia native to establish a community of religious Sisters that would engage solely in educating black and Native American children. By encouraging Drexel’s ministry in this specific area, the bishops recognized the potential to develop inroads into the African American community. Katharine Drexel’s work became the arm of the institutional Church among the country’s black population. Her ministry demonstrates how the work of Catholic women advanced the growth of American Catholicism throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People that Katharine Drexel founded, sought to address the persistent problem that African Americans faced in their struggle to acquire a well-rounded and strongly academic education. Convinced that education would level the playing field of economic and social opportunities for African Americans, Drexel built a system of Catholic schools throughout the South and urban North to ii demonstrate her belief in the intellectual parity of black and white America. Her strongest allies were the women who joined the community she established and who were motivated by the sense of social justice and idealism that drove Drexel. In addition to her contributions to African American education, Drexel’s ministry is also significant because it demonstrates the way in which American Catholic women developed resources to address the most pressing needs within the larger community. In creating religious congregations, Catholic women reflected the trends occurring among women in larger nineteenth century America: that of pooling resources to address social ills. However, unlike their secular and Protestant counterparts, the work that these particular Catholic women took up was always considered secondary to their primary vocation of a religious Sister. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many individuals that have made possible the completion of this work and to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. For his continued support as well as many insightful readings and recommendations during the process of my writing I am most grateful to William W. Cutler, III Ph.D. who above all is a natural teacher as well as a scholar and a true gentleman. I am most grateful that I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Cutler and to whom I shall always feel indebted. In addition to Dr. Cutler I also would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to Christine Woyshner, Ed. D. who made several crucial suggestions that elicited a more insightful look into the educational aspect of this work as well as Drexel’s position within the context of women educators of the nineteenth century. To my old and dear friend, Wilbert Jenkins, Ph. D. I extend heartfelt thanks for sharing his insights into the obstacles that African Americans frequently encountered in their struggles to share in the rights we take so lightly for granted. In addition I am most grateful to Maggie McGuinness, Ph.D. Maggie, who is a scholar of Catholic women religious, was extremely supportive during the writing of this work. To Maggie I owe heartfelt thanks for her encouragement during the ups and downs of seeing this work through to its completion. Besides these conscientious mentors there are others who made themselves available to assist me during the research for this project. Stephanie Morris, Ph.D. who is the archivist for the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament played an invaluable role during the research process. Not only did Stephanie produce archival material with the alacrity of a magician but was readily available to answer my many questions pertaining to the Drexel family and to order of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. There were many other archivists that were also helpful in iv assisting my research including Brother Joseph Grabenstein of La Salle University, Sr. Patricia Annis of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chestnut Hill, the staff of the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center, the staff of Falvey Library of Villanova University and finally Sister Helen of the Franciscan Sisters of Aston, Pennsylvania. I am also grateful to those who were willing to share with me their personal experiences with Mother Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament including Trudy Brown, Ed. D. and Sister Sandra Smithson of the Franciscan School Sisters. There are also those along the way that have touched my life in very significant ways. I would be most remiss if I did not extend my thanks to two highly esteemed professors. Dr. Herbert Ershkowitz challenged me to continue with my studies. It was he who demonstrated that age can be an advantage rather than an obstacle. And for inspiring in me the love of women’s history, I have Dr. Rita Krueger to thank. My gratitude also extends in a special way to my family and friends who were so supportive and encouraging throughout the course of my research and writing particularly my daughters Denise and Maggie. Both were willing to not only read many editions of this work but to make critical suggestions and assist me with technical difficulties along the way. For that they are blessed many times over. In addition the men in my life played an important role. My sons, Joe, Stephen, and Bill encouraged me to “not throw in the towel” when I was feeling the most discouraged. Not to be forgotten are the spouses of my children who played a special cheer-leading role throughout their respective weddings and the births of their children. My life has been enriched by these wonderful additions to our family. Most significantly my thanks and appreciation are for my husband, Will, who frequently was willing to “put things on hold” while I tended some aspect of my higher education. To him I owe my deepest thanks and v extend my heartfelt love. vi PREFACE In the nineteenth century, the education of Catholic children became a priority of the American Catholic hierarchy. Recent historians have demonstrated that it was the 1 work of Catholic nuns that facilitated the growth of the Catholic educational system. While religious nuns made a concerted effort to educate white Catholic children, Katharine Drexel recognized the value of educating underprivileged Native and African American children. Acclaimed primarily within American Catholic culture as an apostle to Native and African Americans, scant recognition has been paid to the educational contributions that she made to either group by the American society at large. Although her mission was to educate both groups of children, this study will focus on Drexel’s influence in the African American community. This dissertation demonstrates that Mother Katharine Drexel (1858-1955), the founder of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, stood at the forefront of educational reform by insisting that African Americans were the intellectual equals of white society. Despite Katharine Drexel’s contributions to this particular area of education, her influences have been largely overlooked. This study will focus specifically on the role she played in improving African American education. While there are written descriptions in the historical literature of her philanthropy in providing education to African Americans, historians have not considered the quality and type of education Drexel provided. Drexel challenged nineteenth century norms by 1Kathleen Sprows Cummings. New Women of the Old Faith: Gender and American Catholicism in the Progressive Era (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 2009); Carol Coburn and Martha Smith. Spirited Lives: How Nuns Shaped Catholic Culture and American Life, 1836-1920 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 1999). vii demonstrating her belief in the