Research
The Value of Women Religious & Their Archives
Catholic women religious have been a fundamental part of American social infrastructure since the Ursuline Sisters arrived in New Orleans in 1727. Their powerful influence on American society has shaped major systems, including education, healthcare, and social services; their strong voice as social advocates has benefited millions of people from all backgrounds. Sisters have demonstrated unwavering commitment, courage, and compassion while serving on the front lines of devastating crises including the Civil War, the San Francisco earthquake, the Titanic shipwreck, the 1918 influenza pandemic, the AIDS epidemic, the aftermath of 9/11, and the COVID-19 crisis.
Despite these contributions, the story of women religious has historically been invisible in both American and Catholic history. Animated by profound faith and spirituality, Catholic women religious achieved vast accomplishments during periods of intense struggle, controversy, and restrictive societal expectations for women. They significantly expanded opportunities for themselves and for others, including women, children, immigrants, prisoners, and all those marginalized by society.
The archives of women religious communities are a rich and vital resource, preserving the histories of the nearly half-million women who became sisters. These collections document their service in varied ministries, their self-governance, and their interactions with the Church and local communities. These archives hold not only the history of the sisters themselves, but also of the countless individuals and communities they served, offering an enduring example of service fueled by faith and unwavering commitment to the underserved.
Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine
Sr. Ursula Nicholson, St. John Hospital School of Nursing, 1921
Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa
Sisters stand against hate and advocate for peace.
By the Numbers
Resources for Researchers
The following research guides, authored by ACWR, are designed to assist researchers to find and use appropriate collections to strengthen their research. These guides should be considered fluid rather than authoritative documents, as they are continually updated by the ACWR Publications Committee. Any updates, corrections, or additions may be submitted to the publications committee.
How Do I Find a Sister?: Tips for Researchers
Archives of women religious are rich repositories of history. Whether you are searching for a relative, a sister who impacted your life, or local stories, congregation archives can help you find the answers you need. Use these tips to locate sisters, congregations, and the records that tell their stories. For more in-depth guidance on connecting a woman to her religious identity, we highly recommend Searching for Sisters: A Guide to Researching Catholic Nuns in the United States by Sunny Jane Morton.
Nuns vs. Sisters: Frequently Asked Questions About Women Religious
What’s the difference between a nun and a Sister? Why do Sisters wear habits? Don’t Sisters just pray all day? While every congregation has its own unique story, rules, and mission, this guide will help you understand some of the most common misconceptions about religious life.
Women Religious History Sources: A Digital Guide to Repositories in North America
This resource updates the 1983 guide Women Religious History Sources, for researchers in the digital age. Organized alphabetically by geographic state or province and cross-referenced by post-nomial for each community, this guide provides contact information for repositories of women religious archives collections in the United States and Canada. The location of the archives listed here does not necessarily limit its scope to that city and/or state; please directly inquire about the full scope of the collection directly with the individual archive.
A Guide to Post-Nominal Abbreviations for Women Religious
Post-nominal initials can be an important clue to identify the religious order and mission to which a Catholic sister belongs. This guide provides an alphabetical listing of these abbreviations to assist researchers in identifying religious communities.
Orders in the Archives: A Resource Guide for Researching Women Religious
Whether you are tracing the history of an individual sister or searching for specific community archives, navigating religious records can be a complex journey. This guide is designed to aid your research by highlighting online and print resources that are particularly helpful in your search for sisters.
Women Religious Glossary
Women religious congregations have a unique language that can be difficult for those outside of the community to understand. The following glossary includes terms that are common to many congregations of women religious. Meant to be a starting point for researchers, these terms do not encompass all aspects of every congregation’s lived experience.
A Bibliographic Guide to Women Religious and Their History
The most exhaustive bibliography of its kind, this guide offers both detailed histories of individual congregations and comprehensive general histories that examine the legacy of women religious in North America.
Catholic Truth and Healing
A collaborative group of archivists, historians, concerned Catholics, and tribal members compiled and refined this resource to help facilitate access to information for survivors of Native boarding schools, their descendants, and Tribal Nations. This resource is the first and most comprehensive source for information on Native boarding schools that were overseen or staffed by the Catholic Church before 1978.
Regional Map
See where in the world ACWR members are located with this interactive map created from ACWR’s Guide to Women Religious Repositories. Included are each organization’s website and information about the future disposition of the collection at a collaborative repository (if applicable).
If your organization would like to be represented on this map, please contact the Executive Secretary.
