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No Cross, No Crown: Black Nuns in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans
Among New Orleans' most compelling stories is that of the Sisters of the Holy Family, which was founded in the 19th century and still thrives today. The community's difficult early years are portrayed in a remarkable account by one of the sisters, Mary Bernard Deggs. While Deggs did not officially join the community until 1873, as a student at the sisters' early school she would have known Henriette Delille and the other founders. It was not until 1852 that the sisters were able to take their first official vows and exchange their blue percale gowns for black ones, and it was 1873 before they were permitted to wear a formal religious habit. This community of mixed race faced almost insurmountable obstacles, but the women remained unflagging in their dedication to the poor, to education, and to the care of the elderly and the orphaned―to the needs of "their people."
264 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 19, 2021
I attended a virtual class to learn about the founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans, Henriette Delille. Two of the guest speakers were sisters of the Holy Family, and they discussed their modern community works in New Orleans as well as those of the first sisters in the order.
They recommended that we read No Cross, No Crown to learn more about the founder and the first 54 years of their order.
Sister Mary Bernard Deggs recorded their history in a journal as ordered by her mother superior. The editors remark, "it did not appear to us that Deggs was an obvious choice to chronicle the history of her religious community...[S]he had an eloquent way of expressing herself, [but] she had only a rudimentary education...." The editors had a great deal of work in deciphering Deggs' writing. Her first language was French, yet she wrote her account in English. When she did not know how to spell a word, which was often, she would spell it phonetically but in the way that a French speaker would spell phonetically. English words spelled using French phonemes! She may also have had dyslexia, and she used run-on sentences that ran for pages with many pronouns that did not have antecedents. I am very grateful that I was not tasked with editing this manuscript!
Despite the difficulty in preparing Deggs' writing for publication, the editors do a remarkable job of making the manuscript accessible for readers.
Deggs' not only details the historical events of her order, she also chronicles the many daily challenges that women of color faced, especially those who work outside of the scripted boundaries set forth by the dominant white culture.
The time and place of the account is also an extraordinary moment in history. The sisters founded their order in the antebellum South, during which many black and white Catholic Creoles lived, worked, and worshiped together, integrated, and connected through religious, cultural, and blood ties. The sisters survived the Civil War, faced mounting racism during Reconstruction, and then continued their work during the rise of Jim Crow and segregation.
Deggs account can still be a challenging read due to the very detailed accounts of the order's daily struggles with finances, teaching, and living and working together in tight quarters. Despite these challenges, No Cross, No Crown is an extraordinary and rare work of writing from a woman of African descent in the 19th century.
They recommended that we read No Cross, No Crown to learn more about the founder and the first 54 years of their order.
Sister Mary Bernard Deggs recorded their history in a journal as ordered by her mother superior. The editors remark, "it did not appear to us that Deggs was an obvious choice to chronicle the history of her religious community...[S]he had an eloquent way of expressing herself, [but] she had only a rudimentary education...." The editors had a great deal of work in deciphering Deggs' writing. Her first language was French, yet she wrote her account in English. When she did not know how to spell a word, which was often, she would spell it phonetically but in the way that a French speaker would spell phonetically. English words spelled using French phonemes! She may also have had dyslexia, and she used run-on sentences that ran for pages with many pronouns that did not have antecedents. I am very grateful that I was not tasked with editing this manuscript!
Despite the difficulty in preparing Deggs' writing for publication, the editors do a remarkable job of making the manuscript accessible for readers.
Deggs' not only details the historical events of her order, she also chronicles the many daily challenges that women of color faced, especially those who work outside of the scripted boundaries set forth by the dominant white culture.
The time and place of the account is also an extraordinary moment in history. The sisters founded their order in the antebellum South, during which many black and white Catholic Creoles lived, worked, and worshiped together, integrated, and connected through religious, cultural, and blood ties. The sisters survived the Civil War, faced mounting racism during Reconstruction, and then continued their work during the rise of Jim Crow and segregation.
Deggs account can still be a challenging read due to the very detailed accounts of the order's daily struggles with finances, teaching, and living and working together in tight quarters. Despite these challenges, No Cross, No Crown is an extraordinary and rare work of writing from a woman of African descent in the 19th century.
August 17, 2015
I only recommend for those with an interest in black nuns, religion, New Orleans, 19th century Louisiana and the Holy Family order.
It's a dense read but if you enjoy ethnographic writings and reading journals you may dig!
It's a dense read but if you enjoy ethnographic writings and reading journals you may dig!
January 18, 2022
I read No Cross No Crown as a fact checker after reading 2 other books on Henriette Delille that were classified as historical fiction. Mary Bernard Deggs was most likely chosen to write the history because in 1894 there were only 2 nuns in the order that knew Henriette personally. The book comes to an end when Deggs dies in 1896.
An example of fact checking is a story in Henriette Delille: A Rebellious Saint which seems too preposterous to be true but is verified in Degg’ book. When Marie Jeanne Aliquot, a future benefactor, arrived in New Orleans from France she fell from the gangplank and was drowning in the Mississippi River when a black slave jumped into the river and saved her.
Apparently, there are limited facts on Henriette’s life. The first chapter covers Henriette and the second superior of the order, Juliette Gaudin. Each of the following 4 chapters are dedicated a chapter each to the next four superiors. Unfortunately, the book does not have a great deal to say about Henriette.
Deggs provides a frank outlook on the superiors and members of the order. She recognizes the leaders’ strengths and sometimes points out their weaknesses and she does not hide the human weaknesses of the orders’ members including jealousy, ambition, and back-biting.
Deggs works with the handicap of writing in English while preferring French as a first language and thinking in French. Still the book has great value in giving an outline of the early years of the order as well as an insight to the inner thoughts of a member’s relationship with God. Without Degg’s book this part of history for the Sisters of the Holy Family would most likely be lost.
An example of fact checking is a story in Henriette Delille: A Rebellious Saint which seems too preposterous to be true but is verified in Degg’ book. When Marie Jeanne Aliquot, a future benefactor, arrived in New Orleans from France she fell from the gangplank and was drowning in the Mississippi River when a black slave jumped into the river and saved her.
Apparently, there are limited facts on Henriette’s life. The first chapter covers Henriette and the second superior of the order, Juliette Gaudin. Each of the following 4 chapters are dedicated a chapter each to the next four superiors. Unfortunately, the book does not have a great deal to say about Henriette.
Deggs provides a frank outlook on the superiors and members of the order. She recognizes the leaders’ strengths and sometimes points out their weaknesses and she does not hide the human weaknesses of the orders’ members including jealousy, ambition, and back-biting.
Deggs works with the handicap of writing in English while preferring French as a first language and thinking in French. Still the book has great value in giving an outline of the early years of the order as well as an insight to the inner thoughts of a member’s relationship with God. Without Degg’s book this part of history for the Sisters of the Holy Family would most likely be lost.
March 2, 2014
Amazing. I wish there was an abundance of literature written by Henriette Delille and Julie D!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews