Nineteenth-century New Orleans was a diverse city. The French-speaking
Catholic Creoles, whether black, white, or racially mixed -- so different from the
city's English-speaking residents -- inspired intense curiosity and speculation. But
none of the city's inhabitants evoked as much wonder as did the Sisters of the Holy
Family, whose mission was to evangelize slaves and free people of color and to care
for the poor, sick, and elderly.
These women, whose community
still thrives, are portrayed in an account written between 1896 and 1898 by one of
their sisters, Mary Bernard Deggs, who shortly before her death made it her mission
to record the remarkable historical journey the women had taken to serve those of
their race. Although Deggs did not officially join the Sisters of the Holy Family
until 1873, she was a student at the sisters' early school on Bayou Road and thus
would have known, as a child, Henriette Delille, the founder and first mother
superior of the Sisters of the Holy Family, and the other
women who joined
her.
This account captures, in a most graphic way, the founding of
the
Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans in 1842 and the difficult
years that followed. It was not until 1852 that the foundresses 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). Shortly before Delille's death in 1862, Union
forces
seized the city, and Delille's successor, Juliette Gaudin, faced
dire
economic circumstances. The war and postwar years economically
devastated
New Orleans and its population. Freed slaves poured into the
city,
unintentionally adding themselves to the already overwhelming mission
of
the sisters. Those were the poorest and most uncertain years the
sisters
were to face.
We know very little about Sister
Mary Bernard Deggs herself, but her history of the early years of the Sisters of the
Holy Family, written more than a century ago and reproduced here in edited form,
makes it clear that today's community of women -- their dedication to the poor, to
education, to the care of the elderly and orphaned -- comes from a long and
complex tradition that grew in response to the social needs of
"their
people."
Nineteenth-century New Orleans was a diverse city. The French-speaking
Catholic Creoles, whether black, white, or racially mixed -- so different from the
city's English-speaking residents -- inspired intense curiosity and speculation. But
none of the city's inhabitants evoked as much wonder as did the Sisters of the Holy
Family, whose mission was to evangelize slaves and free people of color and to care
for the poor, sick, and elderly.
These women, whose community
still thrives, are portrayed in an account written between 1896 and 1898 by one of
their sisters, Mary Bernard Deggs, who shortly before her death made it her mission
to record the remarkable historical journey the women had taken to serve those of
their race. Although Deggs did not officially join the Sisters of the Holy Family
until 1873, she was a student at the sisters' early school on Bayou Road and thus
would have known, as a child, Henriette Delille, the founder and first mother
superior of the Sisters of the Holy Family, and the other
women who joined
her.
This account captures, in a most graphic way, the founding of
the
Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans in 1842 and the difficult
years that followed. It was not until 1852 that the foundresses 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). Shortly before Delille's death in 1862, Union
forces
seized the city, and Delille's successor, Juliette Gaudin, faced
dire
economic circumstances. The war and postwar years economically
devastated
New Orleans and its population. Freed slaves poured into the
city,
unintentionally adding themselves to the already overwhelming mission
of
the sisters. Those were the poorest and most uncertain years the
sisters
were to face.
We know very little about Sister
Mary Bernard Deggs herself, but her history of the early years of the Sisters of the
Holy Family, written more than a century ago and reproduced here in edited form,
makes it clear that today's community of women -- their dedication to the poor, to
education, to the care of the elderly and orphaned -- comes from a long and
complex tradition that grew in response to the social needs of
"their
people."
No Cross, No Crown: Black Nuns in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans
264
No Cross, No Crown: Black Nuns in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans
264
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780253108593 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Indiana University Press |
| Publication date: | 10/03/2001 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 264 |
| File size: | 764 KB |