{"id":{"repo_id":"buffalo","oai_identifier":"oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/86433"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/buffalo/oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/86433","repository":{"repo_id":"buffalo","name":"Buffalo","base_url":"https://ubir.buffalo.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Women and the Consolidation Controversy: The Development of the American Catholic Church, 1800-1870","abstract":"Ph.D.","abstract_html":"Ph.D.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Davis, Elisabeth"],"institution":"State University of New York at Buffalo","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Seeman, Erik","History"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-02-21T17:22:22Z","date_published":"2025-02-21T17:22:22Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:32Z","subjects":["American history","women's studies","religious history"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10477/86433","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Seeman, Erik","History"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Davis, Elisabeth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-02-21T17:22:22Z","2020"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["State University of New York at Buffalo"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text","Dissertation"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["American history","women's studies","religious history"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/86433"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Ph.D.","This dissertation bridges the fields of Catholic History, Women's History, and American Religious History to propose a new perspective for studying the development of the American Catholic Church, termed by me as the Consolidation Controversy. Previous historians have focused on the development of the local parishes and the diocese, focusing on the power conflicts between the lay trustees and the local bishops that accompanied this institutional growth. However, an often-forgotten aspect of Catholic history is the simultaneous rise of religious congregations and orders. As these communities developed, their leaders clashed with the local bishops over questions of property and authority over members of the communities. Often at the center of these power struggles were the women religious. Rather than allowing themselves to be manipulated, women religious demonstrated their own agency, navigating larger institutional politics. Should these women fail to maneuver these institutional relationships, they faced losing their autonomy within the diocese as well as their position and vocation as women religious. This dissertation examines three religious communities in America, each of whom endured the politics of Catholic Consolidation. The first is the Oblates of Providence, the first congregation for women religious of African-descent. The Oblates could be called an \"ideal\" Catholic model of diocesan governance under the leadership of the bishop and other local clergy. The second case study is the Order of the Preachers of St. Dominic, or the Dominicans, who employed a provincial style of governance. The Dominican Order consisted of friars and nuns both, leading to multiple struggles over authority and jurisdiction in the local dioceses. The final case study, the Sisters of St. Joseph, were also a provincial-style congregation. However, they promoted female leadership, questionably undermining the authority of the local bishops. Each of the three case studies point to a distinct trend in consolidation, as these various congregations either supported the authority of the local diocesan bishops or argued for the autonomy of their communities. The resulting power struggles, and the role women played within them, created the Consolidation Controversy.","**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact library@buffalo.edu. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.**"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Women and the Consolidation Controversy: The Development of the American Catholic Church, 1800-1870"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Seeman, Erik","History"],"dc:creator":["Davis, Elisabeth"],"dc:date":["2025-02-21T17:22:22Z","2020"],"dc:description":["Ph.D.","This dissertation bridges the fields of Catholic History, Women's History, and American Religious History to propose a new perspective for studying the development of the American Catholic Church, termed by me as the Consolidation Controversy. Previous historians have focused on the development of the local parishes and the diocese, focusing on the power conflicts between the lay trustees and the local bishops that accompanied this institutional growth. However, an often-forgotten aspect of Catholic history is the simultaneous rise of religious congregations and orders. As these communities developed, their leaders clashed with the local bishops over questions of property and authority over members of the communities. Often at the center of these power struggles were the women religious. Rather than allowing themselves to be manipulated, women religious demonstrated their own agency, navigating larger institutional politics. Should these women fail to maneuver these institutional relationships, they faced losing their autonomy within the diocese as well as their position and vocation as women religious. This dissertation examines three religious communities in America, each of whom endured the politics of Catholic Consolidation. The first is the Oblates of Providence, the first congregation for women religious of African-descent. The Oblates could be called an \"ideal\" Catholic model of diocesan governance under the leadership of the bishop and other local clergy. The second case study is the Order of the Preachers of St. Dominic, or the Dominicans, who employed a provincial style of governance. The Dominican Order consisted of friars and nuns both, leading to multiple struggles over authority and jurisdiction in the local dioceses. The final case study, the Sisters of St. Joseph, were also a provincial-style congregation. However, they promoted female leadership, questionably undermining the authority of the local bishops. Each of the three case studies point to a distinct trend in consolidation, as these various congregations either supported the authority of the local diocesan bishops or argued for the autonomy of their communities. The resulting power struggles, and the role women played within them, created the Consolidation Controversy.","**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact library@buffalo.edu. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.**"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/86433"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["State University of New York at Buffalo"],"dc:rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"dc:subject":["American history","women's studies","religious history"],"dc:title":["Women and the Consolidation Controversy: The Development of the American Catholic Church, 1800-1870"],"dc:type":["Text","Dissertation"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:32Z"}