Spirited Lives: How Nuns Shaped Catholic Culture and American Life, 1836-1920

by Carol K. Coburn, Martha Smith

Made doubly marginal by their gender and by their religion, American nuns have rarely been granted serious scholarly attention. Instead, their lives and achievements have been obscured by myths or distorted by stereotypes. Placing nuns into the mainstream of American religious and women's history for the first time, "Spirited Lives" reveals their critical impact on the development of Catholic culture and, ultimately, the building of American society.Focusing on the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, one of the largest and most diverse American sisterhoods, Carol Coburn and Martha Smith explore how nuns directly influenced the lives of millions of Americans, both Catholic and non-Catholic, through their work in schools, hospitals, orphanages, and other social service institutions. Far from functioning as passive handmaidens for Catholic clergy and parishes, nuns created, financed, and administered these institutions, struggling with, and at times resisting, male secular and clerical authority.A rich and multifaceted narrative, "Spirited Lives" illuminates the intersection of gender, religion, and power in nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century America.

342 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 26, 1999

Reviews

[Mommymac10 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having gone to school under the expert tutelage of the CSJs (College of St. Catherine in the late '50s -- the only Catholic women's college with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter), I looked forward to reading the history of this order, and it didn't at all disappoint. Extremely readable, here you have European history in the 1500-1700s, American history from the mid 1800's to 1920, and mostly that of women (not just sisters). The CSJs were a big order, and taught(ran schools and colleges), nursed (ran hospitals), and ran orphanages back in the day. I liken them to the Jesuits for intellectual vigor. Their strength was forged in the trenches of early America, where women were lesser beings, and they had to make their way anyhow. Sisters were instrumental in starting hospitals in many cities and towns where none existed; they started schools, ditto. They fought with bishops. They traveled all over the west. They did it all, under primitive conditions. And it all began with 6 sisters who were sent here from France. What a glorious history, and how neglected...