The Sisters of Loretto in Early National Kentucky

By Hannah O' Daniel

This thesis analyzes the experiences of Roman Catholic women who joined the Sisters

of Loretto, a community of women religious in rural Washington and Nelson Counties,

Kentucky, between the 1790s and 1826. It argues that the Sisters of Loretto used faith to

interpret and respond to unfolding events in the early nation. The women sought to

combat moral slippage and restore providential favor in the face of local Catholic

institutional instability, global Protestant evangelical movements, war and economic

crisis, and a tuberculosis outbreak. The Lorettines faced financial, social, and cultural

pressures-including an economic depression, a culture that celebrated family formation

and reproduction, and race-based slavery-that shaped how they executed their

benevolent and educational missions over time. The Sisters pursued benevolent and

educational missions to serve God and uphold the economic, racial, and gendered social

order of the Border South.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1835710395
• ISBN13: 9781835710395
• Release Date: October 2023
• Publisher: Sander Werkhoven
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"