When the Sisters Said Farewell: The Transition of Leadership in Catholic Elementary Schools
Father Michael Caruso, SJ's book,When the Sisters Said Farewell…,addresses a crucial multidimensional issue in the history of Catholic education in the United States. In so doing, he delves into the depths of the personnel who made the voluntary school "system" possible and unmatched in the annals of human history - the teaching orders of sisters, commonly called "nuns." He goes far beyond the recapitulation of numbers and financial exigencies and captures the basic elements of human interest. It is a book most worthy of a thoughtful read. I highly recommend it.(Thomas C. Hunt, professor at the University of Dayton and co-editor of Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice)Sister-teachers both in heaven and on earth are saying: "Thank you, Father Michael, for telling our story!" Father Caruso has provided us with the first scholarly assessment of the vital role of women religious in the evolution of American Catholic education. This is an important book that documents both triumph and tragedy. It should be read by anyone concerned about the future of parish schools.(Timothy Walch, U.S. Catholic historian, author of Parish School: American Catholic Parochial Education from Colonial Times to the Present (2003))Fr. Michael Caruso tells a compelling story of the legacy of religious sister educators, revealing their profound contributions to the distinctive culture of Catholic schooling. Through their voices, he brings us to a deeper awareness of our historical roots and the magnitude of the call for leadership to the future of Catholic education.(Virginia Shimabukuro Ed.D, Associate Professor, Institute for Catholic Educational Leadership, University of San Francisco)As a laywoman teaching in a Catholic school who walked through the experiences described inWhen the Sisters Said Farewell: The Triumph, Trail, and Legacy of Nuns in US Catholic Schools, I found Father Caruso’s text insightful and reflective of the many ways transitions played out in school and parishes when sisters left. The interviews, which enrich the story, help the reader cherish the past and remain hopeful about the future. The history of this era in Catholic education must not be forgotten. This text will help us remember.(Karen M. Ristau)When the Sisters Said Farewell…reads like a conversation around the convent's kitchen table, with the narrative sprinkled with experience as much as data. Father Caruso captures the authentic pain of the American Sisters' transition out the sacred space of their classrooms - and he does so with fairness, sowing a few seeds of hope along the way.(Sr. M. Paul McCaughey, O.P., superintendent, Office of Catholic Schools, Chicago, Illinois)What is lost when Catholic schools close and disappear from American life? Fr. Michael Caruso, S.J. strikes an elegiac note inWhen the Sisters Said Farewell, a loving tribute to the crucial role women religious played in urban education. Sadly, like housework and laundry, the contributions of Catholic Sisters become apparent only when they cease to exist.(Ellen Skerrett, author of Born in Chicago: A History of Chicago’s Jesuit University)When the Sisters Said Farewellis an excellent source for understanding both the role of women religious in establishing Catholic schools and the role of their lay successors in ensuring the viability of today’s Catholic schools.(National Catholic Educational Association)Caruso’sWhen the Sisters Said Farewellthe Tradition of Leadership in Catholic Elementary Schoolsaddresses such a pivotal period in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States that it merits ‘must haves’ status for every Catholic university, seminary , and perish library. A powerful book to deepen understanding of the magnitude and nuances of this major historical transition, the title is highly recommended reading for all catholic school principals, teachers, catechists, and laity.(Catholic Library World)The book primarily uses case studies and anecdotes to give a face to the women religious who helped build what was the largest private school system in the world for a time….The book’s most powerful impact, however, is through the narratives of individual sisters and schools, giving a behind-the-scenes look at just how much goes into a Catholic school and the grieving process that happened when a relationship between an order and a school is lost.(Conscience)As a short study, this delightful substantive book traces that nineteenth-century roots of Catholic education in the United States and demonstrates how both the influx of nearly eight million Catholic immigrants and the Nativist movement directed against them created the momentum for the establishment of Catholic schools.The author illustrates these points with carefully researched individual case stories. the cases are described in such clarity combined with simplicity that one gets the sense of almost having been there.The book is well-researched and contains two appendices, one of letters and another with titles of pertinent documents. It will have genuine appeal for anyone associated with Catholic elementary schools in the United States due to the rich variety of perspectives it offers.(American Catholic Studies)