The first biography of the remarkable historical figure who challenged perceptions of women's experiences in the early American Republic
In 1831 Sister Gertrude Wightt, the directress of Georgetown Academy (now Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School), donned the hat and cape of one of her students and abruptly left the academy and life as a nun. She soon became a fixture on the Washington social scene and an intimate of Dolley Madison.
The Two Worlds of Ann Gertrude Wightt is the first comprehensive biography of the enigmatic Wightt. Drawing from a rich cache of previously overlooked primary sources, the book meticulously explores Wightt's transformation from respected academy directress to celebrated "parlor politician" in the nation's capital. It delves deeply into her innovations in female education, her unprecedented departure from convent life, and her remarkable social reinvention. The author reveals a complex narrative of the opportunities and limitations that Catholic religious life posed for this gifted, ambitious, and socially prominent young woman.
Scholars of American women's history and Catholicism, as well as general readers, will find an illuminating exploration of how one woman navigated and transcended the rigid boundaries of her time. This book also offers a profound window into the intersections of gender, class, and institutional power in nineteenth-century America, resurrecting this forgotten historical figure who challenges our understanding of women's experiences in the early American Republic.
Reviews
"This book's rare achievement is to be both an engrossing biography and a shrewd portrait of an era. Mannard writes as a superb social historian as well as an incisive biographer. His mastery of the intricacies of this milieu, rendered in crisp prose, introduces us to a woman well worth knowing."—Anne C. Rose, distinguished professor emerita of history and religious studies, Penn State University
"Joseph Mannard has written a lively and richly contextualized account of a fascinating woman. Ann Gertrude Wightt's life of unexpected choices—to take just two, entering and then abruptly leaving the convent—offers not only an intriguing story but a new lens through which to contemplate religion and gender in nineteenth-century America."—Catherine O'Donnell, professor of history, Arizona State University, author of Elizabeth Seton: American Saint
"This well-written and well-documented biography of Ann Gertrude Wightt places her within the context of her times as a Catholic sister in the nineteenth century and follows her after she leaves religious life. A welcome and readable biography of a little-known figure who deserves a place in religious and women's history."—Margaret McGuinness, professor emerita of religion and theology, La Salle University
About the Author
Joseph Mannard is an associate professor in the Department of History at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the American Catholic Historical Association and the American Catholic Historical Society.
