The Extraordinary Contributions of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
There are commonly held stereotypes that women in the early twentieth century were passive or unimportant in affecting the development of the Western Frontier. However, women in Arizona during this time period helped shape history in a multitude of ways. One area impacted by the role of women during the early twentieth century was medicine. An area greatly dominated by males, medicine may not have advanced as successfully in Southern Arizona if it had not been for the efforts of seven women from St. Joseph, Missouri. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet made profound contributions to the Western Frontier in many ways. They severely impacted both areas of education and medicine in Arizona. By exploring the Sisters’ various contributions, this paper will uncover the significance of the Carondelet Sisters’ role in the development of the Western Frontier.
In the early twentieth century, pioneers began to inundate the area of Southern Arizona. Among them were the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet; Emerentia Bonnefoy, Monica Corrigan, Euphrasia Suchet, Hyacinth Blanc, Martha Peters, Ambrosia Arnichaud, and Maxine Croisat (Bryne and Cammack). In 1870, these seven women began the exhausting and rigorous journey from St. Louis to Tucson, traveling by rail, sea and wagon. The Sisters came to Tucson on a mission to help Jean Baptiste Salpointe, who was a Bishop in the area. They were to teach in Tucson’s first school, which would transform the ways of education in the Western Frontier.
Before the Carondelet sisters’ arrival, little had been done in the state of Arizona in the means of education. The Sisters established education in the area and contributed to the demise of the negative attitudes that parents had about raising their children in the West. Before these contributions, many parents found it necessary to move to a town or settlement where there would be more advantages for their children. "Mother did not let any of the unusual life about us interfere with our bringing up," a young Arizona girl recalled. "Except for the desire of giving us a more extended education than we could get in the state at that time, I am sure my father and mother would have remained…instead of removing to New Mexico" (Myres, pg.
The books “Fertile Ground, Narrow Choices” by Rebecca Sharpless and “The Path to a Modern South” by Walter L. Buenger paint a picture of what life was like from the late 1800’s to the 1930’s. Though written with their own style and from different views these two books describe the modernization of Texas through economics, politics, lifestyles and gender roles, specifically the roles of women during this era.
Additionally, this essay would be a good read for those interested in the topic of sexuality, gender and culture or anyone studying anthropology. This essay contributes to understanding aspects of California history that is not primarily discussed. The reader gets and insight on two different cultures, and the effects of them merging together -- in this case, the cultures of the Spaniards and Indians. I believe that this article supports Competing Visions as the text also discusses how “the object of the missions was to convert the natives to Christianity as well as to Hispanicize them…” and both touch upon the topic of the rapes of
The record of service for these Sisters is a brilliant one, and one which set a very high standard for all who were to follow. The following statistics are noteworthy:
Genaro Padilla, author of the article Yo Sola Aprendi: Mexican Women’s Personal Narratives from Nineteenth-Century California, expands upon a discussion first chronicled by the historian, H. H. Bancroft and his assistants, who collected oral histories from Spanish Mexican women in the 1870’s American West. Bancroft’s collection, however, did not come from this time period, but closer to the 1840s, a time where Mexican heritage still played a strong presence throughout most of California. These accounts, collected from many different women, in many various positions and lifestyles, shows just how muted the Mexican female voice could be during this era.
Aztec women embarked on several defining moments of labor, gender, class, symbolism, and political power in the Aztec Mexico history and culture. The roles of the Aztec women were unjustly marginalized. Their contributions to the work activities, economy, government and the influence of growth and development were grossly deceptive in the Ethnohistoric documents. Moreover, the variations of Aztec women cooking and weaving revolutionized gender. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
Texas Indians had a unique social order. Men were often the warriors and hunters of the village; while women toiled with hard labor such as farming. As de Vaca famously wrote, “children were the most important member of their society”. Children took precedence in their community and way of life. Texas Indians believed that children were the future; and
Cather, Willa. O Pioneers!. Eds. Susan J. Rosowski, Charles Mignon, and Kathleen Danker. The Willa Cather Scholarly Edition. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1992.
According to the DSM-IV, if a child's problem behaviors do not meet the criteria for Conduct Disorder, but involve a pattern of defiant, angry, antagonistic, hostile, irritable, or vindictive behavior, Oppositional Defiant Disorder may be diagnosed. These children may blame others for their problems.
Human Trafficking is a universal issue that is still currently happening today. It is a major crime that essentially lets someone take illegal custody of another human’s rights and freedoms. The impacts of human trafficking are crucial and nerve-racking. Victims of such crimes most likely suffer from injuries physically and mentally, abusive behavior, rape, death threats, and life taking. Human Trafficking undermines the safety and security of people and their lives (TIP, 2007). People who are desperate for money and would do anything for little amounts of money would either do drug and gun dealing, or human trafficking. Human Trafficking is the fastest growing business in the world. The number of current slaves in America is less than half of what the number of identified humans who are trafficked (HJHP, 2012).
Juliana Barr’s book, Peace Came in the Form of a Women: Indians and Spaniards in the Texas Borderlands. Dr. Barr, professor of history at Duke University-specializes in women’s role in American history. Peace Came in the Form of A Women, is an examination on the role of gender and kinship in the Texas territory during the colonial period. An important part of her book is Spanish settlers and slavery in their relationship with Natives in the region. Even though her book clearly places political, economic, and military power in the hands of Natives in the Texas borderland, her book details Spanish attempts to wrestle that power away from indigenous people through forced captivity of native women. For example, Dr, Barr wrote, “In varying diplomatic strategies, women were sometimes pawns, sometimes agents.” To put it another way, women were an important part of Apache, Wichita, and Comanche culture and Spanish settlers attempted to exploit
In “Tecumseh and the Quest for Indian Leadership”, Tecumseh and the many Indian tribes in west America spent years fighting for their land and trying to keep their culture alive. The story illustrates cultural aspects of the period through elucidating the important figure The Shawnees were a patrilineal tribe meaning they are traced through the males of the family. Although men were a main part of the culture, each village had an informal group of women who governed certain tribal rituals and set dates for many activities. Women were also allowed to save captives and prisoners.
The National Institution of Health published this article for the purpose of explaining about the human brain and it’s relation to alcohol. According to the article, people with alcoholism have been known to have problems with skills in their prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that controls decision-making and emotions. These same people show exaggerated neural responses in the dorsal striatum due to alcohol-related cues. This information shows that excessive drinking can affect learning and control of behavior and emotion. This information can be helpful in my paper because it explains that alcohol is a disease that affects the brain and it will help me try to prove my point of view.
Human trafficking is the illegal transport, reception, and/or housing of human beings against their will. It’s an action. An important component of human trafficking is that the intent be to enslave the person. Enslaved persons, largely comprised of women and children, are forced to be house servants, to do heavy labor like working in fields, and/or to commit various sex acts. They can be tricked into going with the trafficker because they believe that they’re going to be smuggled into another country, hired for a job, or in other ways. They are also often taken by force. Slavery is dehumanizing, demeaning, and robs individuals of their own lives. Ensuring the human right from slavery is a task that many of countries have undertaken. President Barack Obama said it best: “It ought to concern every person, because it is a debasement of our common humanity. It ought to concern every community, because it tears at our social fabric. It ought to concern every business, because it distorts markets. It ought to concern every nation, because it endangers public health and fuels violence and organized crime. I’m talking about the injustice, the outrage, of human trafficking, which must be called by its true name – modern slavery.” (whitehouse.gov) One voice is like an ever expanding ripple. In choosing to become educated about the issue ourselves, we become able to contribute to raising awareness and awareness will help combat, even prevent, human trafficking.
Kugel, Rebecca, and Lucy Eldersveld Murphy. Native women's history in eastern North America before 1900: a guide to research and writing. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007.
In the Old World, these children did not have the opportunity to attend school, thus this restricted their knowledge base to only the knowledge of the community. To many immigrants, schooling and education was of the utmost importance as it provided the potential for upward mobility for the entire family: “He could send his children to school, to learn all those things that he knew by fame to be desirable” (Antin, 161). Often times, the older children would have to work, and would in turn become stuck in the Old World, in order for the younger ones to go to school. This allowed the younger children to escape into the New World and in turn embody the promises of a better life in America. Mary Antin’s family was no exception. While, Mary was allowed the privilege of receiving an education, the same privilege was not given to her older sister Frieda, who had to work in a factory making garments in order to help support the family: “[Mary] was led to the schoolroom, with its sunshine…while, [Frieda] was led to a workshop, with its foul air, care-lined faces, and the foreman’s stern command” (Antin