This is a Brand New exact Reprint of the 1930 Revised Edition of Elinor Tong Dehey's Religious Orders of Women in the United States. 940 Pages. Hardcover, *Religious Orders of Women in the United States* was written by Elinor Tong Dehey in 1930. In 1913, the same author had published an earlier edition of this directory and this is its revision. Dehey's work was the first attempt EVER made to collect a listing of every religious order of women in the United States describing their origins, their foundresses, their works, activities, charism, way of life clothing (habit) and institutions. Rev. Thomas McCarthy later published his famous *Guides to Catholic Sisterhoods*, but Elinor Dehey's book was the first and is much more extensive in its research and presentation. Unlike the McCarthy Guides which confine each order to one page, some of Dehey's entries need many pages (orders like the Ursulines have 40 pages, the Sisters of Mercy have 88 pages and the various Charity orders have 30 pages). Other smaller, lesser known communities can be described in a single page or two (like the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge or the Sisters of the Infant Jesus). The entries are presented in chronological order starting with the earliest community in America (the Ursulines in 1727) to the most recent (1930 Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa). This 940 page hardbound book is filled with over 400 illustrations of sisters, foundresses, Motherhouses, novitiates and institutions (schools, colleges, hospitals). Along with historical sketches of the origins of each order and its founders, the story of the development of each individual mission in the U. S. is related including naming the pioneer sisters who sacrificed so much to spread God's Word and to fulfill their vows. These sketches always conclude with a Summary chart which lists the official name of the order, the place and date of its original foundation, a description of the habit worn by the sisters, the approximate membership numbers and a listing of their institutions. The Directory ends with a 50 page supplement giving the addresses of the Motherhouse, Novitiate, College, Hospital and Boarding Home in the United States conducted by religious orders of women (in 1930, of course). The book concludes with a 5 page Glossary of words such as: prioress, grille, cornette, oblate, bandeau, wimple, coif, guimpe, etc.) *Religious Orders of Women in the United States* by Elinor Tong Dehey is the definitive Directory of all of the Catholic Sisterhoods existing at that time and is an extremely difficult book to locate.Many Photos.
