past awards
DISTINGUISHED BOOK AWARD (2010)
Presented to Dr. Emily Clark on the occasion of the Eighth Triennial Conference on the
History of Women Religious held at the University of Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania,
June 27-30, 2010.
Whereas Dr. Emily Clark, in her work Masterless Mistresses: The New Orleans
Ursulines and the Development of the New World, 1727-1834, has made a remarkable
contribution in presenting the work of the early Ursulines in the United States and their
profound influence on colonial society ...
Whereas Dr. Clark discusses these masterless women as their work intersected gender,
class, and race and has shown how these women served effectively in their relationships
with other entities in city, church and government ...
Whereas Dr. Clark shows how even as the Ursuline sisters adhered to the "custom ofthe
country" in possessing enslaved people, they also cared for them in a manner which
fostered strong family life among them and a vibrant Afro-Catholic community which
affected the lives of the enslaved socially as well as spiritually ...
Whereas Dr. Clark has demonstrated how the sisters included in their schools girls from
different ethic groups and classes and found ways to blur the lines of separation expected
by the established social order of the time. .
Whereas Dr. Clark has demonstrated her scholarly abilities in this comprehensive study
of the Ursuline sisters in their origins in France, their ability in dealing with the Spanish
and French cultures of New France and ultimately with the new American nation. Dr.
Clark shows very well the sisters' ability to negotiate the expectations of Catholic church
practice regarding women religious ...
Whereas Dr. Clark has shown how these "masterless" women knew the intricacies of
the economic and financial world which enabled them to be effective participants in the
secular society ...
BE IT RESOLVED that the Conference on the History of Women Religious here assembled confers on Dr. Emily Clark the Distinguished Book Award. Given the twentyninth of June in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, at the conference "Confronting
Challenges: Women Religious Respond to Change," gathered at the University of
Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (2010)
Presented to Dr. Elizabeth M Smyth on the occasion of the Eighth Triennial Coriference on the History of Women Religious held at the University of Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania, June 27-30, 2010.
Whereas Dr. Elizabeth Smyth has promoted research on Catholic female religious orders in Canada at a time when little scholarly attention was given to the subject, and personally engaged' in such research beginning with preliminary studies for her doctorate; and
Whereas she has been responsible for editing and contributing essays to collections on the
history of women religious in Canada that have featured interdisciplinary approaches and related sisters' history to the overarching themes of gender and ethnicity, most recently Changing Habits: Women's Religious Orders in Canada (Ottawa: Novalis Press, 2007), and
Whereas she has inspired and encouraged scholars throughout the English-speaking world to collaborate and compare their studies on women religious and to present their fmdings publically by herself delivering papers at conferences in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as by publishing articles in highly accredited academic
Whereas Dr. Smyth has made use of diverse methodologies within her specialized field of the history of education, particularly in her use of memoirs, and has secured grants during her tenure at the Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, that have advanced the documentation of primary sources in the archives of women religious;
BE IT RESOLVED that the Conference on the History of Women Religious here assembled
confers on Dr. Elizabeth M. Smyth the Lifetime Achievement Award. Given the twenty-ninth of June in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, at the conference "Confronting Challenges:
Women Religious Respond to Change," gathered at the University of Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania.
DISTINGUISHED HISTORIAN AWARD (2007)
Presented to Elizabeth Kolmer, A.S.C., at the occasion of the Seventh Triennial Conference on the History of Women Religious, held at the University of Notre Dame, June 24-27, 2007.
Whereas Sister Elizabeth helped bring the history of women religious into the mainstream of historical research through her pioneer bibliographic survey, “Catholic Women Religious and Women’s History,” first published in the American Quarterly (1978) and later anthologized in American Catholic Religious Life: Selected Historical Essays (ed. White, 1988) and in the 20-volume set, History of Women in America (ed. Cott, vol. 13, 1993); and
Whereas her bibliographic research was recognized for its importance in securing a place for religious in the field of women’s history through these works and the chapter she contributed to Women in American Religion (ed. James, 1980); and
Whereas her monograph, Religious Women in the United States Since 1950 (1984) stood for several decades as the most systematic and comprehensive review of the literature available to researchers; and
Whereas her distinguished achievements at St. Louis University as professor and director of American Studies over a forty-year period, as well as her volunteer work-- nationally, with the African Faith and Justice Network, and locally, in Social Justice Ministry to the Homeless, have afforded her opportunities to model the highest ideals of scholarship and service that typify women religious; and
Whereas her research and publications relative to her congregation have illuminated the meaning of witness and martyrdom in contemporary times; and
Whereas her contributions to the History of Women Religious Network in various capacities since its inception have fostered its growth as a service to the scholarly community worldwide; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that the Conference on the History of Women Religious here assembled confers on Elizabeth Kolmer, A.S.C., the Lifetime Achievement Award. Given the twenty-sixth of June in the year of our Lord two thousand and seven, at the conference, “Local Cultures/Global Church: Challenge and Mission in the History of Women Religious,” gathered at the Center for Continuing Education, McKenna Hall, the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (2007)
Presented to Irene Mahoney, O.S.U., at the Occasion of the Seventh Triennial Conference of the History of Women Religious, held at the University of Notre Dame, June 24-27, 2007.
Whereas Sister Irene has been a dedicated member of the Ursuline Nuns for many years and has demonstrated her care to stimulate research relating to her Order by establishing archives for her province in the 1990s and promoting the preservation of historical collections at many Ursuline sites in the United States; and
Whereas Sister Irene’s scholarly work throughout her career has exhibited a rare mastery of skills ranging from the creative and dramatic to the literary and erudite, thus rendering history accessible to general and specialized readers alike; and
Whereas her novel, An Accidental Grace (1982) and performance pieces: “Portraits of Angela Merici” (1985), “All That I Am: Forgotten Church Women” (1987), “Not by Half: Mother Clare Cusack” (1990), “Off With Their Heads! An Exaltation of Nuns” (1995), along with her exploration of women’s spirituality in A Company of Women, Journeys through the Feminine Experience of Faith (1996) have enabled new audiences to learn about and draw inspiration from the history of women religious; and
Whereas Sister Irene’s publications on Ursuline origins and spirituality, particularly her biography of the seventeenth-century founder, Marie of the Incarnation: Mystic and Missionary (1964) and her edition of the founder’s writings, translated from the French, Marie of the Incarnation: Selected Writings (1989) have set a high standard for others in the field; and
Whereas Sister Irene’s research and publications on Ursuline missionary endeavors, Swatow: Ursulines in China (1996; French translation, Avec Toi jusqu’au bout du Monde, 1997); A Far Country: Ursuline Mission in Thailand (1999, translated into French as Un Pays si Lointain,1999, and Thai, 2005); and most recently, Lady Blackrobes: Missionaries in the Heart of Indian Country (2006), resonate with the theme of this Triennial Conference; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that the Conference on the History of Women Religious here assembled confers on Irene Mahoney, O.S.U., the Lifetime Achievement Award. Given the twenty-sixth of June in the year of our Lord two thousand and seven, at the conference, “Local Cultures/Global Church: Challenge and Mission in the History of Women Religious,” gathered at Center for Continuing Education, McKenna Hall, the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Presented to Suellen Hoy, Ph.D., on the Occasion of the Seventh Triennial Conference on the History of Women Religious, held at the University of Notre Dame, June 24-27, 2007.
Whereas Suellen Hoy, a distinguished scholar in the fields of public and urban history, turned her interests toward the scholarship of women’s religious history, and, in particular, to the experiences of Roman Catholic religious women in a number of venues; and
Whereas Suellen Hoy has applied her exceptional analytical skills to produce ground-breaking histories of women religious that have effectively challenged deep-rooted stereotypes about sisters and broadened public awareness of the historic significance of their lives and works; and
Whereas Suellen Hoy’s meticulously researched and elegantly written books and articles have powerfully countered the long-neglected history of women religious to reveal how sisters, through their individual and collective agency, energized the sense of spiritual and secular justice associated with American Catholicism; and
Whereas Suellen Hoy’s numerous publications are admirably represented by her recent book, Good Hearts: Catholic Sisters in Chicago’s Past (2006), which examines growth and change across congregations as sisters in different areas of work assumed leadership roles in promoting equality for Chicago’s most denied and at-risk citizens, and by her 2004 article, “Stunned with Sorrow,” which reconstructs the events surrounding a devastating 1958 Chicago parochial school fire and reclaims from the margins of American Catholic history the personal histories of the three sisters who perished in the blaze; and
Whereas Suellen Hoy has splendidly enriched American historical scholarship by devoting many years of her professional life to writing the history of women religious, to promoting this field within the historical canon, and to advancing its practitioners; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that the Conference on the History of Women Religious here assembled confers on Suellen Hoy, Ph.D., the Lifetime Achievement Award. Given the twenty-sixth day of June in the year of Our Lord two thousand and seven, at the conference, “Local Cultures/Global Church: Challenge and Mission in the History of Women Religious,” gathered at the Center for Continuing Education, McKenna Hall, the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana.