Tapestry in Time: The Story of the Dominican Sisters Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1966-2012 by Mary Navarre, OP, ed. (review)

Book Reviews 123 Mary Navarre, OP, ed., Tapestry in Time: The Story of the Dominican Sisters Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1966-2012. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015. Pp. 315. Bibliography. Glossary. Illustrations. Index. Paper: $20.00. In recent years, meaningful attention has been brought to the history of Catholic women religious, and Mary Navarre, OP’s edited collection of essays on the prayer, ministry, and community life of the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids, Michigan, is one such book. Navarre, who is both editor and contributor, has brought together essays which thoughtfully contemplate the impact of Vatican II on their Dominican heritage and the congregation’s recognition of its need to adapt to the “signs of the time,” not only in 1960s and 70s but into the twenty-first century as well. Tapestry in Time is divided into four parts that focus on the “Essentials to Dominican Life”: Prayer, Study, Common Life, and Ministry, each section having three to six essays. The contributors to this volume are all members of the Dominican Sisters and, though their names are listed within the front material of Tapestry in Time, the essays appear without an author’s name. While there is some overlap in each section with some coverage of similar events, each essay brings a complementary approach to the subjects at hand. For instance, the first section on “Prayer” examines the renovation of the Dominican Chapel/Marywood in 1985 with more than one author touching upon the significance of these changes whether in terms of community prayer, liturgy, or welcoming the laity to the chapel. While each section has its strengths, the essays devoted to “Common Life” will appeal to those interested in studying Catholic religious life as the authors examine the changes that Vatican II had on how women religious conducted their own government and understood the meaning of community. The last section on “Ministry” stretches from local to international ministry changes, whether at Aquinas College, the Dominican Center at Marywood in New Mexico, or Chimbote, Peru. This section gives the reader a sense of how the Dominican Sisters have evolved since Vatican II in answering the call to embrace social justice. The section of “Study” delves into the relevance of St. Thomas Aquinas; all four sections work together to provide a common understanding of the Dominican Sisters’ history and the congregation’s founding charism in supporting prayer, community, and ministry. The lack of author attribution to each essay might be off-putting to some readers, particularly the more academically-minded. Yet, as Navarre 124 The Michigan Historical Review indicates in her introduction, this was a collaborative work of the Dominican Sisters, “a work of many hands” (p. ix). Readers should appreciate the volume as a whole, especially those with a mind to understanding the impact of Vatican II and renewal upon the community and the spiritual and ministerial lives of women religious. Mary Beth Fraser Connolly Purdue University Northwest Douglas Noverr, Michigan State University: The Rise of a Research University and the New Millennium, 1970-2005. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2015. Pp. 303. Bibliography. Illustrations. Index. Cloth: $39.95. Douglas Noverr’s Michigan State University: The Rise of a Research University and the New Millennium, 1970-2005 is a continuation of the work that began with Keith Widder’s Michigan Agricultural College: The Evolution of a Land-Grant philosophy, 1855-1925 (2005) and was followed by David Thomas’s Michigan State College: John Hannah and the Creation of a World University, 1926-69 (2008). Although Noverr mentions in the conclusion that, “no argument for specialness or uniqueness has been made” in this book, readers will find that Noverr, an emeritus professor in MSU’s Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures, sees a great deal that is special about Michigan State, especially as it developed in the run up to the turn of the century (p. 271). The book, which is extensively researched using University administrative records and the recollections of notable personalities as chronicled by MSU’s Sesquicentennial Oral History Project, shows how thorough university archives research can be turned into an easy to read and engaging narrative history. Supplementing the text are hundreds...