Irish Catholic Sisters in San Francisco 1850s-1880s: Empowering Women Through the Church

Abstract

This study examines ways in which Irish Catholic Sisters perceive themselves as religious workers, women, and Irish migrants in San Francisco during the 1850s-1880s. Within the last few decades, historians have produced scholarship that takes on more of an interdisciplinary approach to investigating history from the perspective of marginalized groups. However, there is little scholarship investigating White ethnic groups that were once on the margins of society. This study utilizes a sociological approach to investigate the experiences of Irish Catholic Sisters in the Western United States in order to better understand the contributions and historical significance the Catholic Sisters played in Western development. Using social identity theory as my theoretical framework, I examine how these individuals utilized and negotiated their social identities throughout their mission in San Francisco. By reviewing other scholarship investigating Catholic Sisters in the West, I have found that these Irish women played a crucial role in developing social welfare institutions in California’s Bay Area. Further, by examining diaries, letters, and other historical artifacts these Catholic Sisters created, I have found that they utilized their religious identity more than their gender and ethnic identity as a source of empowerment and as a value system in decision-making processes.