I was cruising the threads here at vocation station and I came across a couple of mentions of black communities. I know that there is one in IL, and another in I think Baltimore. I'm just curious about the history of this. Also, were these communities founded specifically for black women or did they just evolve that way. And what about segregated cloisters in the US? Did they exist and how/when were they integrated. I know that we have all the statures and relics from the black catholic church that was in town but when they merged the parishes many of those families started attending other (protestant) predominately black churches. Or did religious communities manage to rise above racial prejudices?
The dorky history major in me is all itchy and curious.
Gosh, I want to go to the library right now.
Peace and Blessings,
Amanda

My friend, why don't just write the orders and ask them??? Some of the members have some interesting stories to tell.

It really would be interesting to hear!

The monastery I'm discerning with, the Dominican Monastery of St. Jude, was founded specifically because the two foundresses saw the need for an order that would accept girls of any race. I know one of the nuns there, actually the first postulant they received, wasn't allowed to enter the sisters who had taught her in highschool because of her race. From the monastery website:

The Dominican Monastery of Saint Jude was founded on August 18, 1944 by Mother Mary Dominic, O.P., and Mother Mary of the Child Jesus, O.P.

The purpose of this foundation was to provide a place where those who aspired to the Contemplative Life could enter regardless of race. Many bishops were contacted and asked if such a community would be welcome, however the replies were not too encouraging. Many thought it a noble idea, but unsuitable to their area or the time or to the people of their diocese. In 1943 our founders were finally welcomed by Archbishop Thomas Toolen of Mobile, Alabama. With the cooperation of Father Harold Purcell, founder of the City of Saint Jude, a place was found in the (then) Diocese of Mobile. . . .

The Canonization of Saint Katharine Drexel has special significance for the nuns in Marbury. Many of them attended schools operated by her Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. Some even met Mother Katharine when she made her annual visitations to the classes. The Josephite Fathers also had a notable part of the early history of Saint Jude's monastery. One Sister remembers reading about the new monastery in their magazine Colored Harvest, as it was known then. The article inspired her to write and seek admission.

Now I don't know of any community that discriminates based on race, but I don't know the story of how that changed.

How did I miss that one!?! Lol

I don't know a whole lot on this subject,but maybe this will help.
The Sisters of the Holy Family of New Orleans ,the Oblate Sisters of Providence,and the Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Virgin Mary were founded as black communities.
Especially in the early 1800s it was very hard for a black woman to join a community,though there may have been a few who managed to.
Even the founders of the first two religious communities had their problems due to the racial issue.

And while a black or other candiate to the sisterhood was encouraged to join whatever community that would accept them, even in the 1960s and 70s they had problems.There is an orginazation for black sisters,but i can't recall the name right now.

I don't know how asian or mexican sisters have faired in that regards.
At various times Mexico has had several revolutions,and priests and nuns came toSan Antonio.There are several communities here in town who are Mexican and have been here for many years.In this area since the majority of hispanics are Catholic,and that there are many prominent hispanic families here since the founding of the city,there may not have been the racial problems that black sisters experienced,or to a very minor degree.

The Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate were founded by Mother Margaret Healy-Murphy.She was a widow ,her husband had been mayor of either San Antonio or Corpus Christi.
She founded the sisters to teach blacks and hispanics,and opened St.Peter Claver School for blacks.She had her problems in regards to what she was trying to do,but evently won out.
Their motherhouse is on Yucca Street.

There was even an attempt to found an order of native american sisters,but the community did not last for various reasons. I can't recall the link for info on this.But just google it and something may come up.
By the way I love the kitty nun.Looks like my old cat Blackie.

Handmaids of the Divine Redeemer in Oshkosh WI have more black sisters than white sisters.

The oblate Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in Marty,South Dakota was founded as a community of native americans in the 1930s.

But before them,Father Francis Craft who was a missionary to the Sioux Indians and at the battle of Wounded Knee, founded a community called the Congregation of American Sisters.They never had more than 12 sisters.
With money problems,accusations of imroprieties and Father Craft's increasingly irrational behaviour
some of the sisters left.
After stories of abuse by Father Craft reported by two of the sisters,he was forbidden to live and work on the reservations.
In 1898 with just 4 sisters under his influence,he renounced his affilation to the Catholic Church and offered the War Department the sisters services as nurses.
The sisters served in Cuba during the Spanish American War,and for a while ran an orphange. Later they came back to America,and these four left the community and two or three of them got married.www.indiancountry.com has info on them.
There is also a biography of Father Craft for sale at Amazon.com.

Donna,
That is an awesome suggestion. I really think I'm going end up doing some hardcore research on this!

In his biography of Mother Angelica, Raymond Arroyo talks about how one of the early intentions of her Poor Clares moving to Alabama was to pray and do penance for sins against black Americans. It's a little hazy though; I think he interviewed some of the original sisters, and they don't remember it much.

She_who_is_not, if you do write different orders, please share your findings with us!

If I remember correctly, that was a major calling for establishment of the Alabama community. In fact, I specifically remember Arroyo writing of Mother's dissapointment that they never really attracted any African-American postulants.
How cool though, because they did move in the midst of change in Alabama. I'm sure their prayers did and hopefully continue to make a big difference! Praise God!
Amanda




I certainly will, and if I do end up writing an article or such I'll send you a copy!

Nice discussion.

According to a recent Guide to Religious Ministries, avail thru www.religiousministries.com, btw, only $10.00 and good companion to the free yearly Vision (Relig ministries also updates yearly), the two black orders I checked are holding their own in numbers--Oblates of Providence and Srs. of the Holy Family.

Katharine Drexel's Srs of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People--the original name--now Srs. of the BS, is now small, about 100 members. I am sure it is interracial, but it didn't start out that way. Originally black women couldn't join.

Much interesting history here and a lot of potential oral history, as someone has pointed out.

Orders used to be very racist and polarized, Irish orders, Italian and Polish orders and a lot segregated by class as well.

Pardon for this interlude

I would have say from personal experience, people think that being black and catholic is an oxymoron. Growing up, I felt as if I was an outsider in this church as if I was some exception. As I was asked in catholic school point blank if I was a Baptist!!

What help me overcome my isolation was reading church history and the finding out about the black saints.The saints taught me that God didn't view me as "less" and with this foundation, I could move along the road with Him.

It is difficult to draw vocations from this isolation not to mention the isolation the during the formation. Yet I believe the time is helping to heal these old wounds and open the foundations.

I guess in the old days women tended to join communities founded by people from their own culture and such.My great aunt Eva joined the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Milwaukee.
I'm not sure why she picked them.It might have been since Milwaukee in the old days was primarely German,with also Poles,Czechs,and other such groups.The sisters came to America from Germany and had undoubtly a majority of Germans in the convent,so maybe that's why she felt comfortable there. My great aunts once said that those relatives we had in the convent were mainly Sisters of Charity and School Sisters of Notre Dame.I don't recall any other communities mentioned.Though I'm sure back in Medieval Bavaria ,where my dad's family is from,there may have been some Benedictines or other groups in the family.
It would be fasinating to find out through family history research what communities your ancestors belonged to. My mom was hungarian,and haven't even tried her side yet.Just sticking with my dad's for now.

I've always been fascinated by this. I mean, St. Augustine was an African bishop! My family is from New Orleans and they are many black Catholics there so it never seemed weird. Honestly, in the rural south just to be Catholic is kind of weird. And when I heard all the history about the integration of our local basilica and the "black" Catholic church in town I was kind of astonished. But it was really cool to me that the Church was multi-racial. The Episcopal parishes in my diocese have never really gotten along to integrating so attending the Catholic mass was really exciting in the many races and nationalities represented. I guess it is a very uniquely American experience as I have never experienced racial divisions in Anglican or Catholic churches in Europe. However, I'm sure in other former colonies the experience is similar. But ?
God's Peace,
Amanda

The Episcopal Church in the USA has traditionally been the church of white money. Just check out the 1928 Prayer Book, the one that the dissident Anglican groups want to keep using.

It's still Archbishop Cranmer (ie King James Bible vintage) English, wonderful in its day, but pretty highfalutin'/ and obsolete-sounding now.

Example: Congregation: " It is meet and right so to do."

Celebrant: "It is very meet, right and our bounden duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to thee, Almighty God..."

The Episcopalians didn't mean it this way, but that's the way it turned out. And the episc. ch was especially powerful in the south.

It doesn't surprise me that African-American Catholics will preferentially worship in a Protestant A-A church than a white Catholic one. In my experiences livingin Atlanta for 18 years, I learned that for African-Americans, race trumps almost everything else.