“SO MANY FOOLISH VIRGINS”: NUNS AND ANTI-CATHOLICISM FROM MARIA MONK TO THE KNOW-NOTHINGS _______________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________________ by CASSANDRA L. YACOVAZZI Dr. John Wigger, Dissertation Supervisor MAY 2015 © Copyright by Cassandra Yacovazzi 2015 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled “SO MANY FOOLISH VIRGINS”: NUNS AND ANTI-CATHOLICISM FROM MARIA MONK TO THE KNOW-NOTHINGS presented by Cassandra Yacovazzi, a candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. Professor John Wigger Professor Jeffrey Pasley Professor Catherine Rymph Professor Steven Watts Professor John Evelev Professor Kathleen Cummings ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply grateful to many people for helping me as I worked on this dissertation. Several of my colleagues read multiple chapter drafts and provided helpful comments, suggestions, and friendship. In this regard, I would especially like to thank my advisor Professor John Wigger who coordinated meetings with his advisees to review drafts. Discussing chapters over good food, often at Dr. Wigger’s home or at Shakespeare’s pizza, made the process of writing and editing both more productive and enjoyable. It is my pleasure to thank John Wigger, Jonathan Root, Joshua Rice, Darin Tuck, Jennifer Wiard, Hunter Hampton, Brandon Flint, Luke Schleif, and Meaghan Collier for carefully reading chapters—despite their own busy schedules—and providing helpful feedback. Their voices come through this dissertation every step of the way. I am indebted to the Department of History at the University of Missouri for granting me a dissertation fellowship for the 2013-2014 academic year. Without that time to focus on my research and writing uninterrupted by teaching responsibilities, I would not have been able to finish this project. The History Department also generously awarded me a summer research grant which enabled me to visit three separate archives and libraries in Massachusetts, New York, and Indiana, the sources from which provide the bulk of my research. The department staff, including Nancy Taube, Patty Eggleston, Melinda Lockwood, and Lynn Summers, provided various kinds of encouragement and support, answering my many logistical questions and helping to make this an overall smooth process, for which I am truly grateful. It is my pleasure to thank the faculty and staff with the Kinder Forum on Constitutional Democracy, especially Professors Jeffrey Pasley and Justin Dyer, for ii generously awarding me a Kinder Dissertation Fellowship for the 2014 Fall semester. Through this fellowship I have had the opportunity not only to attend and participate in various seminars, talks, and events sponsored by the Forum on Constitutional Democracy, but also to focus primarily on finishing my dissertation. At the University of Missouri Libraries, I would like to thank Delores Fisher, Senior Library Specialist, who helped track down numerous items for me through Inter-library Loan. Marie Concannon, Data Archivist, helped me locate Massachusetts government documents. The University of Missouri Special Collections and Rare Books and the Missouri Historical Society staff both offered a number of valuable resources for this project. I would also like to thank Nancy Barthelemy, Boston Provincial Archivist for the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur for scanning and sending me archival material. William Kevin Cawley, Senior Archivist and Curator of Manuscripts at the Archives of the University of Notre Dame, helped me find a number of crucial sources for this project. At the American Antiquarian Society, Elizabeth Watts Pope and Paul Erickson guided me through the archives and helped me find additional sources. The staff at the New York Public Library offered gracious hospitality and suggested I look at the Order of the United Americans records. I am thankful to Mike Whalen for sending me a private online screener of his excellent documentary, “A Question of Habit,” which provided much inspiration for the epilogue. Jane Behlmann, archivist at the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet provided assistance during my visit and graciously scanned materials and even gave me a book about the order’s history. Finally, Denise P. Gallo, Provincial Archivist of the Daughters of Charity in Emmitsburg, Maryland, promptly answered email questions helping me to piece together parts of this project. iii A number of professors in the Department of History at the University of Missouri have provided useful advice and encouragement. Dr. Catherine Rymph and Dr. Steven Watts offered their time and expertise in reading over my dissertation proposal. They have read multiple dissertation abstracts in preparation for writing me letters of recommendation. They have both been a source of inspiration and encouragement to me. Dr. John Frymire extended helpful suggestions after reading my dissertation proposal, helping me to consider the influence of the Reformation for my topic. Dr. Jeffrey Pasley, of the History Department, Dr. John Evelev of the English Department, and Dr. Kathleen Sprows Cummings, Director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism and Associate Professor in the Department of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame, have graciously agreed to serve on my dissertation committee. Without the moral support of friends and family, this would have been a much more grueling process. I am thankful for my friends, especially Jonathan Root, Sarah Lirley McCune, Claire McGraw, Naomi Kaloudis, Kate Livingston, Dan Murphy, Tim Gibbons, Dave Dittmer, and Jenna Rice, who have provided nights out on the town, kayaking trips, movie nights, evening walks, and Sunday dinners. I would especially like to thank Dr. Thomas and Carolyn Lowe—my “Missouri parents”—for befriending me and inviting me to their home for so many occasions. Without these times, my stay in Columbia would have been a lot lonelier. My best friend, Ann Marie Romans, provided moral support and laughter even from a distance. I am deeply thankful for the encouragement and support provided by my mom and dad and two sisters. Just knowing you cared and were proud of me was a constant comfort. iv My gratitude goes above all to my advisor, Dr. John Wigger. Dr. Wigger has expertly guided this project to its final form, closely reading multiple drafts and providing advice and counsel along the way. He has also given of his time in hosting academic and social gatherings with his students, something that has allowed for a comradery so essential for an enjoyable experience in a doctoral program. His encouragement in talking about my dissertation as my future “book” has given me a confidence I did not used to have. Thank you. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ ii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................1 The American Campaign Against Convents 2. CHAPTER ONE .....................................................................................................28 An Escaped Nun: Maria Monk and Her Awful Disclosures of the Hotel Dieu 3. CHAPTER TWO....................................................................................................69 Downfall of Babylon: The Burning of the Charlestown Convent and the Birth of the Convent Narrative 4. CHAPTER THREE...............................................................................................114 Textbook Popery: Convent Schools, Bible Wars, and the Nation’s Children 5. CHAPTER FOUR.................................................................................................150 Beneath the Façade: Convent Tales, City Mysteries, and the Rise of Dark Lantern Politics 6. CHAPTER FIVE...................................................................................................186 The Nunnery Sleuths: Convent Investigations and the Downfall of the Know- Nothing Party 7. EPILOGUE...........................................................................................................222 Solving a Problem Like Maria Monk: Imagining Sisters from Maria Monk to Late Night Catechism BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………261 VITA……………………………………………………………………………………284 vi INTRODUCTION MARIA MONK AND THE AMERICAN CAMPAIGN AGAINST CONVENTS Women are ashamed to admit this, but Scripture and experience show that only one woman in thousands has the God-given gift to maintain pure chastity. Rather, a woman is not the master of herself. God fashioned her body so that she should be with a man, to have and to rear children. –Martin Luther It remains to be seen…whether the pollutions which have defiled the convents of the old world, can exist amid the purity of our own moral atmosphere…on the soil consecrated as the home of freedom and the refuge of the oppressed. To us Americans, the inquiry is a deeply interesting one. –William McGavin, The Protestant (1833) On March 5, 1836 six women boarded the steamer George Collier in New Orleans and set off for St. Louis, Missouri. After traveling for three months across the Atlantic, during which the