Harmon’s Histories: Name-calling nun ignites riot at Missoula Masonic Temple
By Jim Harmon
It was a lovely spring afternoon, April 28, 1925. The temperature was expected to reach 65 degrees. Downtown, at the Missoula Masonic Temple, a former nun by the name of Sister Lucretia was scheduled to speak.
More than 200 women turned out for the event, “some in sympathy with her message and some opposed,” according to local press reports.
Within minutes, voices were raised, shouts were heard, and police had to be called “to calm the troubled waters.”
“At times as many as thirty women were on their feet, exchanging decidedly uncomplimentary remarks. Some are said to have attacked the speaker openly - and reports were that at one time chairs were hurled.”
What in the world? A former nun speaks. Women riot? Chairs are hurled? The speaker is openly attacked? Police have to be summoned, repeatedly?
That must have been some speech!
To understand, we need to examine the society, the culture, the beliefs and the prejudices of the time.
The Catholic League reports that a hundred years ago, “anti-Catholic nativists believed that Catholics could overthrow the government at a moment’s notice, turning Americans into knaves of the Roman pope.”
“They believed that only by attending a government-controlled school could children learn to be true Americans, and become properly grounded in American history and the principles of liberty.”
The League noted “an ages-old anti-Catholic device - lectures by an ‘escaped nun’ - was a favorite ploy.”
The 1925 version of that ploy in Montana featured one “Sister Lucretia,” who was shuttled around the state, denouncing Catholicism and stirring up audiences against the Roman church.
Why, if you believed what was being said, sending your kids to private Catholic schools was not only an expression of being against public schools - but against everything America stood for!
The editor and publisher of The Daily Missoulian, Martin J. Hutchens, was caught off guard by the mini-riot. “We confess with reluctance that this feeling is more bitter and widespread than we had been led to believe,” he said.
He continued, “All that we can do is plead to both elements for tolerance and fair play. The continuance and growth of this religious antagonism may lead to very serious consequences. Already it has done too much damage.”
Hutchins reminded his readers, “In the late autumn, we (The Daily Missoulian) told of a new national organization headed by Elihu Root, the purpose of which is to stamp out religious and racial warfare in this country.”
“There is an urgent need for such an organization in Missoula at this time and we would like to see some of our patriotic, broad-minded citizens to start it.”
Meantime, back at the Masonic Hall, the police had been called repeatedly to control the disturbances. “Officer Lease reported that the speaker berated certain denominations for their neglect in providing religious teaching for the children.”
One woman in the crowd claimed Sister Lucretia had made “remarks reflecting upon the character of certain pastors, alleging that ‘certain practices’ were the vogue among them."
The Daily Missoulian reported, “Considerably agitated by the incident, Missoula is talking freely of the affair today and persistent reports were received that men who were in the groups which congregated at the hall early in the evening were armed and ready for action.”
"One group of women demanded the former nun be arrested! The City Attorney declined, pointing out that such an action would only be within the law if a riot caused serious damage, personal or otherwise.”
The entire police force was called out as “more than one hundred men, including a large number of Knights of Columbus, were in that gathering. It is said that ominous threats were made as to what might happen if the speaker repeated her statements that she had made in the afternoon.”
One person who observed the gathering outside the Masonic Hall felt “the younger men were excited and were likely to lose their heads. (So) he called leaders of the Masonic lodge to lock the doors to avoid any possible trouble.”
In the end, Sister Lucretia departed Missoula with nothing but ruffled feathers. She was never heard of again.
A pamphlet circulated among the crowd attending the Missoula speech, described “Sister Lucretia” as being “Miss Elizabeth Schoffen, a member of the Sisters of Charity of Providence for 31 years, who had served at a number orphanages and Indian schools."
She was said to have been the floor supervisor at St. Vincent hospital in Portland, Oregon for seventeen years, and was so respected and popular the the Religious Order “paid her considerable money.”
Oddly, the pamphlet also noted that “a sister of Miss Schoffen was still a pious nun (but) a brother and another sister were feeble-minded.”
A single story in the Missoula Sentinel newspaper, dated April 22, 1926, describes the death of a “Sister Lucretia” near Pendleton, Oregon. Could it have been her? Possibly. A search of newspapers, published in the years that followed, uncovered no mention of the former nun.