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Black Catholic nuns: A compelling, long-overlooked history

This 1968 photo provided by the National Black Sisters' Conference shows foundresses of the NBSC at Mercy College, which was later renamed Carlow University, in Pittsburgh. (NBSC via AP) This undated photo provided by the Oblate Sisters of Providence in 2022 shows founder Mary Lange. The order was founded in 1829, in Baltimore. Lange is one of three Black nuns from the U.S. designated by Catholic officials as worthy of consideration for sainthood. (OSP via AP) This undated photo provided by the Sisters of the Holy Family (SSF) in 2022 shows Henriette Delille, a principal founder of the religious order of African-American nuns which was established in 1842, in New Orleans. (SSF via AP) This 1965 photo provided by the Pittsburgh Catholic shows Patricia Grey, center, a nun in the Sisters of Mercy and a founder of the National Black Sisters' Conference, at a sympathy march for Selma, Ala., held in Pittsburgh. (Pittsburgh Catholic via AP) Patricia Grey, a former nun with the Sisters of Mercy, poses for a portrait outside of the Sewickley Public Library on Monday, April 18, 2022, in Sewickley, Pa. Grey founded the National Black Sisters' Conference in 1968 with the support of Rev. John J. Wright, before leaving religious life in 1974. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) This circa 1971 photo shows Patricia Grey, who was a nun in the Sisters of Mercy and a founder of the National Black Sisters' Conference before leaving religious life in 1974. (Courtesy Patricia Grey via AP) Patricia Grey, center, a former nun with the Sisters of Mercy, talks with members of the Divine Redeemer Catholic Parish pastoral council on Monday, April 18, 2022, in Sewickley, Pa. Before leaving religious life in 1974, Grey founded the National Black Sisters' Conference with the support of Rev. John J. Wright in 1968. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) This 1964 photo shows Patricia Grey, who was a nun in the Sisters of Mercy and a founder of the National Black Sisters' Conference before leaving religious life in 1974. (Courtesy Patricia Grey via AP) Patricia Grey, a former nun with the Sisters of Mercy, poses for a portrait at the Sewickley Public Library on Monday, April 18, 2022, in Sewickley, Pa. Grey founded the National Black Sisters' Conference in 1968 with the support of Rev. John J. Wright, before leaving religious life in 1974. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) This circa 1966 photo shows Patricia Grey, who was a nun in the Sisters of Mercy and a founder of the National Black Sisters' Conference before leaving religious life in 1974. (Courtesy Patricia Grey via AP) A picture of Mother Mary Lange, the founder of the order of the Oblate Sisters of Providence (OSP), is seen next to a card of Sister Delphine Okoro, a nun with the Oblate Sisters of Providence, in a fifth grade classroom at Mother Mary Lange Catholic School in Baltimore, Wednesday, April 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Sister Mary Ngina, a nun with the Oblate Sisters of Providence (OSP), poses for a portrait in the room that Oblate Sisters of Providence Foundress Mother Mary Lange lived and died in at Saint Frances Academy, in Baltimore, Md., Wednesday, April 27, 2022. The Academy, which today educates high school students, was founded in 1828 by Mother Mary Lange, who a year later founded the OSP. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Sister Anthonia Ugwu, left, and Sister Mary Ngina, both nuns with the Oblate Sisters of Providence (OSP), joke around with each other as they pose for a portrait in the chapel at Saint Frances Academy, in Baltimore, Md., Wednesday, April 27, 2022. The Academy, which today educates high school students, was founded in 1828 by Mother Mary Lange, who a year later founded the OSP. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Sister Delphine Okoro, a nun with the Oblate Sisters of Providence, high fives a student as she teaches a fifth grade class at Mother Mary Lange Catholic School in Baltimore, Md., Wednesday, April 27, 2022. The school is named for Mother Mary Lange, who was the foundress of the Oblate Sisters of Providence. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Sister Delphine Okoro, a nun with the Oblate Sisters of Providence, teaches fifth grade at Mother Mary Lange Catholic School in Baltimore, Md., Wednesday, April 27, 2022. The school is named for Mother Mary Lange, who was the foundress of the Oblate Sisters of Providence. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Sister Anthonia Ugwu, a nun with the Oblate Sisters of Providence, works in the chapel at Saint Frances Academy, in Baltimore, Md., Wednesday, April 27, 2022. The Academy, which today educates high school students, was founded in 1828 by Mother Mary Lange, who a year later founded the OSP. The school still educates high schoolers in Baltimore today. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Students at Mother Mary Lange Catholic School walk past the chapel, which is decorated with a portrait of Mother Mary Lange, the foundress of the order of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, in Baltimore, Md., Wednesday, April 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Sister Delphine Okoro, a nun with the Oblate Sisters of Providence, reacts to an answer from her fifth grade students at Mother Mary Lange Catholic School in Baltimore, Md., Wednesday, April 27, 2022. The school is named for Mother Mary Lange, who was the foundress of the Oblate Sisters of Providence. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Sister Mary Ngina, a nun with the Oblate Sisters of Providence, has her habit blown in the wind in front of Saint Frances Academy, in Baltimore, Md., Wednesday, April 27, 2022. The Academy, which today educates high school students, was founded in 1828 by Mother Mary Lange, who a year later founded the OSP. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Shannen Dee Williams, associate professor of history at the University of Dayton, poses for a portrait, Thursday, April 21, 2022, in Dayton, Ohio. Williams spent 14 years researching America's Black nuns, and her history of them, "Subversive Habits," will be published May 17. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster) This 1956 photo provided by Shannen Dee Williams shows Sister Cora Marie Billings, center, who as a 17-year-old in 1956 became the first Black person admitted into the Sisters of Mercy in Philadelphia. Later, she was the first Black nun to teach in a Catholic high school in Philadelphia and was a co-founder of the National Black Sisters' Conference. (Courtesy Sister Cora Marie Billings/Shannen Dee Williams via AP) Dr. Shannen Dee Williams, associate professor of history at the University of Dayton, speaks to her students during a class, Thursday, April 21, 2022, in Dayton, Ohio. Williams spent 14 years researching America's Black nuns, and her history of them, "Subversive Habits," will be published May 17. Williams found that many Black nuns were modest about their achievements and reticent about sharing details of bad experiences, such as encountering racism and discrimination. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster) FILE - Six Catholic nuns, including Sister Mary Antona Ebo, front row fourth from left, lead a march in Selma, Ala., on March 10, 1965, in support of Black voting rights and in protest of the violence of Bloody Sunday when white state troopers brutally dispersed peaceful Black demonstrators. The group was within a hundred feet of a black church when the police blocked their way. (AP Photo/File) Shannen Dee Williams, associate professor of history at the University of Dayton, speaks to her students during a class, Thursday, April 21, 2022, in Dayton, Ohio. Williams spent 14 years researching America's Black nuns, and her history of them, "Subversive Habits," will be published May 17. Williams found that many Black nuns were modest about their achievements and reticent about sharing details of bad experiences, such as encountering racism and discrimination. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster) This 1898 photo provided by the Sisters of the Holy Family (SSF) shows members of the religious order of African-American nuns in New Orleans. One of the oldest Black sisterhoods, the SSF, formed in New Orleans in 1842 because white sisterhoods in Louisiana, including the slave-holding Ursuline order, refused to accept African Americans. (SSF via AP)