Bertha “Birdie” Bowman was so captivated by her Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration teachers as a child in Canton, Mississippi, she decided she wanted to become part of the order. She professed her FSPA vows in 1963, becoming the first Black member of the FSPA community.
She was given the FSPA name of Mary Thea, but everybody called her Sister Thea. She graduated from Viterbo in 1965 and went on to become one of Viterbo’s most notable graduates as an educator, evangelist for the Catholic faith, nationally known speaker advocating for social justice, and candidate for sainthood.
Since her untimely death on March 30, 1990, at age 52, at least 16 institutions have taken the name of Sister Thea, from schools and academies to spirituality centers. This spring, Viterbo University will be added to the list of institutions honoring her with the creation of the Sister Thea Bowman Center and the renaming of the campus ministry building in her honor. The week of March 27 to April 1 will be dedicated to activities celebrating her memory and legacy.
People are also reading…
At the core of the Sister Thea Bowman Center is a commitment to carrying on Sister Thea’s mission of promoting equity and social justice, as well as honoring her memory and ensuring that the campus and wider community knows who she was and how she came to be considered a candidate for sainthood.
The Sister Thea Bowman Center’s emphasis on social justice is just the kind of example of putting faith into action that inspired Sister Thea to start on her path, said Sister Laura Nettles, FSPA, Viterbo’s executive director for mission and social justice and an assistant professor of religious studies.
“The way we honor her is not just by show and tell of her life but by engaging in social justice work,” Nettles said. “It’s vital that we are engaged in the social justice work she was engaged in.”
After earning master’s and doctoral degrees from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., Sister Thea returned to Viterbo as an instructor from 1972 to 1978, creating lasting memories for her students. Sister Thea always managed to incorporate musical elements into the English classes she taught, and she made every effort to enlighten her students on the racism that persisted even after the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Sister Thea came to such national prominence in the 1980s that she merited a segment on “60 Minutes,” during which she coaxed interviewer Mike Wallace to say “Black is beautiful.” In the last year of her life, she was a big hit at a national conference of U.S. Catholic bishops, convincing those in attendance to link arms and sing “We Shall Overcome” with her.
In 2018, the Catholic Church designated her as Servant of God, the first of four steps toward sainthood, in recognition of her social justice advocacy and ministry, which she carried on even as the cancer that killed her sapped her strength.
“Sister Thea was a unique woman who didn’t fit the mold. You rise to sainthood because you’re not in the norm,” said Nettles, whose first published work in grad school addressed the question of whether Sister Thea was worthy of canonization. “She has had a positive, enduring influence on our society. I’m fully supportive of her sainthood. She’s clearly a role model.”
Viterbo President Rick Trietley said he sees great promises for the new Sister Thea Bowman Center as an agent of change.
“The establishment of the Sister Thea Bowman Center not only recognizes the amazing life and accomplishments of one of our most famous Viterbo graduates, but also demonstrates our ongoing commitment to social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion,” Trietley said. “The Sister Thea Bowman Center will provide educational opportunities and programming to future generations of Viterbo students and La Crosse community students. We are extremely grateful to the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and the numerous donors who helped make the center a reality.”
The activities honoring Sister Thea will kick off Sunday, March 27, with a Celebration Mass in San Damiano Chapel and a concert.
The main event on March 30, the anniversary of Sister Thea’s death, includes a building dedication and a celebration event in the Fine Arts Center with music and keynote speaker Nola Jo Starling Ratliff, a 1974 Viterbo graduate who grew up in the same town as Sister Thea.
Other activities during the week will include panel discussions of Sister Thea’s life, legacy and artistry, a day of education about social justice and equity issues, a lecture on racial justice and the environment, and a Holocaust survivor sharing how Catholics helped him survive.
More details on the week’s activities can be found at www.viterbo.edu/thea.
Going forward, Sister Thea will be celebrated in some way every year on March 30, and additional campus events throughout the academic year will focus on Sister Thea’s life and legacy.
“I have long dreamed of having a social justice center at Viterbo, so this is really exciting,” Nettles said. “This is our time to stand up and do something.”