May 26, 2026
Introduction: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega reviews a new book that tackles a difficult genealogy search: the Catholic nun in your family tree. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.”
- Book: Searching for Sisters: A Guide to Researching Catholic Nuns in the United States
- Author: Sunny Jane Morton
- Publisher: Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2026
In family history research we often lament that researching female ancestors is difficult because of marital surname changes and a lack of legal rights that result in fewer historical records. But there is a group of American women who are even more difficult to research: Catholic nuns.
Illustration credit: https://depositphotos.com/home.html
A recent book by Sunny Jane Morton, Searching for Sisters: A Guide to Researching Catholic Nuns in the United States, addresses this aspect of genealogical research that has been largely ignored. Nuns often “disappear” from our families due to religious name changes and the absence of descendants. With Morton’s book we learn how to tell their story so that they can be remembered.
On page 7, Morton writes:
“An estimated 350,000 Catholic nuns and sisters have served people of all backgrounds in the United States. They have staffed thousands of schools; administered hundreds of hospitals; cared for epidemic-ridden communities when nobody else could or would; and tended the wounded in war…”
The back cover of her book states that, even with all these impressive achievements and living a life of service (and work):
“…the stories of nuns and sisters are largely forgotten, hidden in scattered archives, obscured by name changes and frequent relocations, fading from family and community memory with each passing generation.”
Morton provides the reader with the terminology, records, and resources they need to research Catholic nuns and sisters. In addition, case studies from other genealogists will help the researcher better understand how to put what they learn into action.
Chapters in this book include:
- An Introduction to Religious Life for Women
- Did She Become a Sister or Nun?
- What Institute Was It?
- How to Find the Archives
- What’s in the Archives: Records about Sisters, the Institute, and Others
- Looking for a Sister in Other Records
- Concluding Thoughts on Telling Their Stories
The appendix includes five case studies and a list of select archives.
Records
In the chapter entitled, “Looking for a Sister in Other Records,” Morton writes about civil vital records, census records, cemetery databases, newspapers, city directories, Social Security records, local histories and international resources. This chapter is a good reminder of all the records we need to use as we research family history. You are most likely familiar with these records, but Morton explains how they apply to the life of the religious.
Newspapers can help with telling a nun’s story from her pre-religious life to the end. Both Catholic and local newspapers should be searched as you look for the nun in your family. Searching for her should include searches on her birth name, religious name, and the order/institution she was associated with for historical context and a better understanding of her life of service.
Newspaper Articles
Morton provides some examples of what you will find in newspaper research, so I decided to conduct a search in GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives for the phrases “Catholic sister” and “Catholic sisters” to see what I could find. Those two searches revealed various types of newspaper articles that would be valuable for the family historian.
For example, this Dallas newspaper article about Sister Brendan and an award she was given doesn’t include a lot of personal information, but it tells you about the work she did (dating back to 1914), the order she was a member of (The Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul), and it includes a photo of her! In some cases, a newspaper photo might be the only one you will ever find.
This next newspaper article, about the death of Sister Zoe Marie in Philadelphia, provides us with a glimpse of how her death was handled by her order, Little Sisters of the Poor. We learn that she was 79 years old, she was suffering from “grip” (influenza), and that she was born in Brittany, France of “noble parentage,” and had been a member of her order for 54 years, having been one of the first six nuns to bring the order to Philadelphia.
In addition to some personal information about her that can help with your research about a nun in your family tree, newspaper articles may provide context to better understand her life. In this example, a Michigan newspaper article describes the modern dress that the Byzantine Catholic Sisters of Christ would be wearing. It also provides the birth names and religious names of four new nuns to the order – an important fact for those who only knew her birth name.
The Guide for Researching Catholic Nuns in the United States
Searching for Sisters: A Guide to Researching Catholic Nuns in the United States is an important new addition to genealogy methodology texts. Its unique perspective and the author’s passion for the topic make it a book that genealogists will want to read.
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Note on the header image: an engraving of nuns attending Mass. Credit: https://depositphotos.com/home.html
