Across God's Frontiers
Catholic Sisters in the American West, 1850-1920
By Anne M. Butler
448 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 25 halftones, notes, bibl., index
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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-2205-7
Published: February 2015 -
eBook ISBN: 978-0-8078-3754-2
Published: September 2012
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Awards & distinctions
Distinguished Book Award, Conference for the History of American Religious
2013 Armitage-Jameson Prize, Coalition for Western Women's History
Moving to the West introduced significant changes for these women, including public employment and thoroughly unconventional monastic lives. As nuns and sisters adjusted to new circumstances and immersed themselves in rugged environments, Butler argues, the West shaped them; and through their labors and charities, the sisters in turn shaped the West. These female religious pioneers built institutions, brokered relationships between Indigenous peoples and encroaching settlers, and undertook varied occupations, often without organized funding or direct support from the church hierarchy. A comprehensive history of Roman Catholic nuns and sisters in the American West, Across God's Frontiers reveals Catholic sisters as dynamic and creative architects of civic and religious institutions in western communities.
About the Author
Anne M. Butler (1938-2014) was Trustee Professor Emerita at Utah State University and past editor of the Western Historical Quarterly.
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Reviews
"Highly recommended. All levels/libraries."--Choice
“Butler traces how sisters challenged and reconfigured contemporary ideas about women, work, religion, and the West.”--American Catholic Studies Newsletter
"A celebration of the intrepid spirit of sisters who established ministries of the frontier."--Conscience
"Across God's Frontiers livens up with its tales of courageous women and its forthright analysis of gender politics."--Tucson Weekly
“Butler has called attention to yet another strand of the West’s complex mix of peoples and cultures.”--H-SHGAPE
“Anyone interested in the history of American religion, Catholicism, women, education, race relations or cultural development should read this book.”--America Magazine
Multimedia & Links
Read: Butler's blog post "Nuns and the Road to Academic Recognition."