Document Type
Podium Presentation
Publication Date
1994
Sponsorship/Conference/Institution
American Catholic Historical Association
Location
San Francisco, CA
Department
History
Abstract/Presentation Excerpt
In 1874, the Dominican priest Francis Sadoc Vilarrasa, aged 60, recorded the missionary activities of Dominicans in California over the previous twenty-four years. He concluded his chronicle: "This is a concise history of the [Dominican] Order in California from its beginnings to this day. The Order has progressed slowly up to now, but if it be recalled that only one Father [Sadoc Vilarrasa] was sent here in the beginning, . . . then it will seem wonderful that there are now found in California two houses of Brethren with 17 priests."1 Sadoc Vilarrasa's chronicle is only partially accurate because it omits discussion of the progress and contribution of Dominican women in California whose growth was more than double that of the Dominican men.