Dominicans at Home in a Young Nation, 1786-1865. Volume 1 of The Order of Preachers in the United States: A Family History (review)

Before the publication of this elegantly produced and attractively illustrated volume it was necessary to look in many places for information about the early history of the Dominicans in the United States. Here information about the ministries and missions of Dominican sisters, brothers, and priests (there were no chapters of Dominican Laity during the time-frame considered) are described in a single narrative written by seventeen Dominican contributors. The book contains endnotes (that provide a useful guide to the sources), a glossary of ecclesial terms, a bibliography, an index, and four profiles that provide close-up views of how Dominican life was lived by these pioneers.

The sacrifices and struggles of these early Dominicans and their efforts to sustain their Dominican identity in the United States are lovingly described, but problems of personnel, leadership, and the ownership of slaves are also noted.

The volume has an impressive consistency of style and content, which is a tribute to the collaborators and the general editor. The inevitable instances of repetitiveness that result from multiple authorship are likely to be helpful for readers who may consult a particular section of the book for information. One consistent feature of the book is the admirable effort to connect Dominican history with major developments in United States history. Making connections between the particular history of the American Dominicans and the history of the United States is a challenging undertaking because it requires a high level of skill in selecting and accurately summarizing complex situations that often are interpreted in conflicting ways, and in some instances this admirable effort founders. For example, after describing the first Dominicans in New York City, the book notes (p. 35), "In that year of 1787 the Constitutional Convention met in New York, with George Washington presiding." The New Federal Government met in New York City in 1789, but the Constitutional Convention of 1787 met in Philadelphia.

Another consistent characteristic of the volume is an emphasis on description. The information presented is infrequently analyzed or interpreted. For example (p. 213), the departure of slaves who had been Roman Catholics from St. Rose, a Dominican parish in Kentucky, after the end of slavery is mentioned, but the departure of the slaves is not analyzed even though the article by C. Walker Gollar (published in this journal January, 1998), which is cited in the text, includes an interpretation of the departure of the freedmen and freedwomen from Roman Catholicism. A page later the volume notes that ". . . the expansion of ideas aroused by the Enlightenment was confronted by the narrowing of theological perspective in the 'Syllabus of Errors'. . . ," but how reactions to the French Revolution had already impinged on the conflict of the Dominicans and the secular clergy in Kentucky about penitential practices (p. 86), the thoughtfully described conflicts with parish trustees (pp. 52-62), and the difficulties the Dominicans had in communicating their pastoral situation to the Master of the Order, A. V. Jandel (pp. 215-216, 229) are not considered.

It is also curious that a volume devoted to the history of the Dominicans in the United States 1786-1865 begins with a chapter devoted to Bartolomé de Las Casas (1464-1566), who was never in the territory of the United States. If the intention of this "Prelude" is to provide a background sketch of Dominican ministry and concern for social justice in the Americas, why not include St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617), the first canonized saint from the Americas (1671), or St. Martin de Porres (1579-1639), or something about the Dominicans in Baja California?

These issues, however, are minor compared...