Where to Buy the Tomes

 The Dehey tomes have gone into Print-on-Demand, or POD. This brings with it a caveat -- clarify with the bookseller before purchasing a Dehey POD. The 1913 edition is around 500 pages, as opposed to the 1930 revised edition, which is north of 900 pages. 

Bookfinder.com will show a more complete list of available Dehey books, but, please remember my previous paragraph when contemplating a purchase.  

The easiest way to follow this blog is to go straight to the bookseller who reprinted the 1930 revised edition: 

https://stathanasiuspress.com/product/religious-orders-of-women-in-the-u-s-by-elinor-tong-dehey/

I have two of the St Athanasius Press reprints. One is a first edition.  The leatherette covers are different due to the publishers used by the press at the time (according to the bookseller). 

Preliminary research has led me to offer this link for the sake of those who taught or cared for us in earlier days:

Support Our Aging Religious (SOAR!):  https://soar-usa.org/

Please be generous. SOAR! receives the donations, then disseminates the funds via grants. The religious congregations are responsible for making application according to need. 

Blessings, Gemma

What is the "Dehey Tour?"

 The Dehey Tour is an inspiration to adapt into a "convent crawl" the book "Religious Communities of Women in the United States". The author was Elinor Tong Dehey, and the first edition was published in 1913.  Her second edition, a larger and more organized tome, was published in 1930. 

An online religious life historian doesn't like Dehey's works. One of the problems cited after Vatican II was the sisters not knowing their congregational history. In the historian's opinion, Dehey falls short. 

The histories may have been somewhat lacking, but used copies could sometimes go for hundreds of dollars online. I don't think one bookseller knew what they had on hand when they listed the 1913 edition for just $10. (The book now resides with me).  Abebooks recently had several copies of the 1930 edition for around $50 apiece.  St Joan of Arc Books reprinted this edition, and their copies are often more expensive than the original. I have a copy of both. 

After that bit of a disclaimer, a return to my original purpose. I had originally wanted to see what had happened to the convents that had been standing in 1930. It's been an eye opening experience. A great majority, however, are still in existence. 

I hope to follow the historical timeline Dehey set out. She began with the New Orleans Ursulines.