Book 33: Let Us Set Out: Sinsinawa Dominicans 1949-1985 by Alice O'Rourke

Shortly before Thanksgiving, I visited Sinsinawa Mound for the first time in a few years. It had been closed for construction and I drove by every few months to check on the progress. At last it was open during this visit, and on the receptionist's desk was a list of books for sale. I'd never heard of any of them, but when I saw the time period this book covered I ordered a copy. This was my first time reading it.

This isn't the kind of book you sit down and read cover to cover, it contains many lists, names, and dates. There are few details - hopefully once their archives are digitized, I'll be able to fall down the rabbit holes listed in the Reference Notes. Two months before I was born, the Sinsinawa Dominicans hosted an Arts Festival celebrating their history of visual and performance arts! I had no idea, and hopefully someday I'll be able to access a copy of the SinsiNOVA publication issue about it! 

Although I'm glad to have this book as a reference, it was very disappointing. Sr. Teresita Kelly OP designed most of their incredible church, which now lies abandoned with water damage, and O'Rourke devotes two sentences to her. The chapters about the effects of Vatican II were the most interesting as they included personal details, from difficulties figuring out what to wear after the habit to one-on-one interviews with each sister (hundreds back in the late 60's) to ask for her opinions on renewal. My main takeaway from this section was that although the numbers of Sinsinawa Dominicans dropped after Vatican II, like with women religious across the US, but this seemed to allow a greater concentration of time, energy, and resources to their mission. It's not a matter of quantity vs. quality, as the quality was almost always there, but they didn't have to devote so much to simple management. 

Let Us Set Out is more of a map than a book, less bogged down with names and dates as the reader progresses.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10133719-let-us-set-out 

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