Catholic Daughters of the Americas: A Century in Review (review)

The Catholic Daughters of the Americas, which originated as the Daughters of Isabella in Utica, New York, in the spring of 1903, has made significant contributions to the life of the Church and to the benefit of society in the United States and beyond. The authors of this centennial history of the CDA have crafted a fascinating narrative grounded in documentation and in the best of the secondary religious and social literature. The result is a splendid work of history, not merely a chronicle of events.

Complementing the text is an abundance of attractive visual material depicting leaders, programs and projects, and publications under the CDA motto "Unity and Charity." There are also photos indicating the Daughters' devotion to Mary Immaculate, the apostolates, and the social vision permeating the Daughters' religious world view.

The book is very well organized; the first two chapters deal with the foundation and developments during the first thirty years. The remaining chapters focus on leaders and programs neatly placed into social and ecclesial contexts such as war, depression, civil-rights, anticommunism, Vatican Council II, and right-to-life activities. There are four "Special Sections," or topical inter-chapters. The first, "The Daughters' Different Voices," features the various publications promoting communication, dedication to the Order's purposes, and promotion of new programs and membership. The second explores "Ritual: Ceremony, Passwords, and Dress." The third is a summary history of the "Junior Catholic Daughters of the Americas." The fourth, "Las Hijas Católicas de las Américas," is the story of the expansion of the Daughters into Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the Virgin Islands, and Mexico that led to the 1978 formal acknowledgment of the plural "Americas" in the title.

John Carberry, the Grand Knight of the Utica Council of Knights of Columbus, organized the CDA in the spring of 1903 as the first Court of the Daughters of Isabella, and was the first Supreme Regent. Three other of his fellow Knights were responsible for the national financial, legal, and secretarial roles, and three women joined them as the original incorporators in May of that year. The principal woman among the incorporators was Mary L. McKernan, who, upon the death of Carberry in 1906, became the first female Supreme Regent. Michael Kelly, National Secretary of the Board of Directors from 1903 to 1923, was the last man to be involved in the Daughters' administration.

The historical significance of the Knights of Columbus is, of course, not limited to its roles in the foundation and governance of the Daughters. The K of C proclaimed their patron as the founder of the nation, and perceived the Santa María as a Catholic counter-symbol of the Puritans' Mayflower. The Knights' ceremonials ritualized the moral lessons derived from Columbus. Notable Catholic women celebrated Queen Isabella of Spain for sacrificing her jewels to fund the first voyage of Columbus, and her image gained great stature during the fourth centennial of his landfall in the "New World." Daniel Colwell, National Secretary of the K of C for nearly thirty years, had provided the ceremonials for the Ladies Auxiliary of Russell Council in New Haven, the town where Father Michael McGivney founded the K of C at St. Mary's Parish in October of 1881. Colwell's initiation ritual dramatized the jewel motif, and after a new member completed the ritual the "crown of Isabella" was placed upon her head. Songs, pins, and insignia were symbols of the women's organization, which was incorporated in Connecticut in March, 1904, as Daughters of Isabella, Circle No. 1 Auxiliary to Russell Council.

Daniel Colwell also influenced the Utica Daughters' rituals. Knights and Daughters were united in the promotion of noble compatibility of Americanism and Catholicism. In a 1908 brochure, the Utica Order acknowledged that it "parallels the Knights of Columbus and aims to do for Catholic womankind what...