Dose of History – Sister Pharmacists

Although Catholic Sister nurses were operating in North America since the eighteenth century, waves of immigration from regions with significant Catholic populations in the nineteenth century would dramatically increase their numbers. There was a perpetual demand for nurses throughout this period, and Sisters played a major role in alleviating this shortage. During the cholera outbreaks of the early nineteenth century, the devastation of the American Civil War, and the endemic health problems stemming from poverty and dangerous working conditions, Sisters would provide their labor, oftentimes for free or a very low fee. As a result, they obtained a reputation for willingness to do work that was dangerous and difficult. 

Opinions of these Sisters varied depending on time and place. The anti-Catholic sentiment of Protestant America, the immigrant status of many Sisters, and the willingness to rub elbows with the lower-classes meant that the work these Sisters performed was not held in high esteem by groups such as the Protestant elite. Many firsthand accounts of Civil War veterans express admiration for the Sisters’ work ethic and discipline, and many are dismissive of their competence in comparison to men. 

Despite the mixed and sometimes hostile perception of Catholic Sisters, they played a key role in growing the institution of the hospital in the United States. With minimal backing from the Catholic church, Sisters often took on the responsibility of fundraising to construct and maintain hospitals across the country. Oftentimes, Sisters managed and administered the hospitals they founded, a role which was uncommon for women to hold. These hospitals were known for their tendency to accept a wide variety of people, including non-Catholics. However, like most hospitals in the United States at this time the vast majority were still segregated by race, although there are some instances of Sisters admitting Black patients.

In the late nineteenth century, the professionalization movement took off in the United States, which aimed to professionalize, standardize, and increase regulations on American medical institutions. Many Sisters expressed opposition to this since the increased regulations it brought meant that it would be harder for people without college degrees to work at hospitals. However, some Sisters would embrace the movement, and in many states the first women to obtain degrees in pharmacy were Sisters. Concurrently, women were obtaining increased access to medical fields, so Sister pharmacists would often work alongside non-Sister pharmacists.  By the 1950s, several Sisters would become prominent contributors to pharmaceutical research, development, and education. 

Although the groups discussed in this article share many religious and organizational principles, the groups themselves were incredibly diverse in terms of composition and ideology. Some groups allowed women from marginalized communities to strengthen their bonds with one another. On the other hand, some Sisters would play a significant role in the cultural assimilation of Native Americans at Catholic boarding schools. Sister nurses would allow many women of disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue labor that went beyond the domestic sphere, but they also reinforced patriarchal ideas of what roles women ought to play in their rhetoric. In sum, their legacy is complex. Their contributions to pharmaceutical practice, however, should not be forgotten. 

This Dose of History was brought to you by AIHP Intern, Leo Ryan.

Bibliography:

Henderson, Metta Lou, and Sister Margaret Wright. “Sister Pharmacists and Pharmacy Practice from the 1700s to the 1970s.” Pharmacy in History 50, no. 2 (2008): 70–81. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41112389.

Henderson, Metta Lou, and Sister Margaret Wright. “Sister Pharmacists and Pharmacy Organizations, 1900 to 1980.” Pharmacy in History 50, no. 3 (2008): 87–96. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41112393.

Levin, Peter J. “Bold Vision: Catholic Sisters and the Creation of American Hospitals.” Journal of Community Health 36 (2011): 343-347. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-011-9401-7. 

Wall, Barbra Mann. “American Catholic Nursing. An Historical Analysis.” Medizinhistorisches Journal 47, no. 2/3 (2012): 160–75. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24573289.

Warsh, Cheryl Krasnick. “Nursing: The Science of Womanly Arts.” In Prescribed Norms: Women and Health in Canada and the United States since 1800, 225–227. University of Toronto Press, 2010. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/j.ctvg5bs69.12.