Francesca Thompson Explained

Francesca Thompson
Birth Name:Edeve Thompson
Birth Place:Los Angeles, California
United States
Parents:Evelyn Preer (mother),
Edward Thompson (father)
Occupation:Franciscan Sister, educator and theater coach
Period:1966-2005
Honorific Suffix:OSF
Honorific Prefix:Sister

Francesca Thompson (born April 29, 1932) is an American member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Oldenburg, Indiana.[1] [2] She was at one point a leading academic in the field of theater and African-American studies.

Early life

She was born Edeve Thompson in 1932 in Los Angeles, California to Evelyn Preer and Edward Thompson, who were leading silent film actors and vaudevillians in the 1910s and 1920s.[3] Due to the death of her mother later the same year, her father moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where she was raised.[4]

When it came time to attend to high school, Thompson faced the barrier of local racial segregation laws, which practically barred her from enrolling in any school in Indianapolis. Although she was from an Episcopalian family, she chose to enroll at the only private school in the region which accepted black students, Immaculate Conception (St. Mary's) Academy, in Oldenburg, Indiana, (now Oldenburg Academy) run by the Franciscan Sisters of Oldenburg.[5] During her time as a student, Thompson chose to enter the Roman Catholic Church, overcoming the initial opposition of her father. When she graduated from the school in 1950, she made the decision to join the Franciscan sisters who had taught her, and she again faced the opposition of her father, who relented only after she agreed to join a group of students who were to travel to Europe. In the course of this trip, she met Pope Pius XII, who seemed to confirm her decision to enter the convent.[6]

Career

Thompson was received into the novitiate of the Franciscan Sisters that same year. She professed religious vows the following year, upon completing that stage of formation, at which time she received the religious habit of the congregation and the religious name by which she is known. In 1954, after professing perpetual vows as a Franciscan Sister of Oldenburg, she was sent by her superiors to teach at St. Mary's Academy while she worked on getting a bachelor's degree at Marian College (now Marian University). She obtained her degree in 1960, at which time she was assigned to teach at a school run by the congregation in the inner city of Cincinnati, Ohio.

While teaching in Cincinnati, Thompson was assigned to spend her summers working on a master's degree at Xavier University, where she earned a degree in education with a concentration in communications in 1964. She then received permission to work on a doctorate in theater at the University of Michigan, which she received in 1966. While teaching there, she trained notable actors such as Christine Lahti and Gilda Radner. She then began to teach at Marian College, where she served as chairwoman of the Department of Theater and Speech.[5]

From 1982, Thompson was an associate professor of African American studies and assistant dean/director for multicultural programs at Fordham University, where she was honored with an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts in 2002.[7]

In 1987, she gave a speech at the inaugural National Black Catholic Congress, a revival of the Colored Catholic Congress spearheaded by Daniel Rudd a century before.[8]

She retired in 2005, moving to the motherhouse of her congregation in Oldenburg.[5]

Thompson has served as a member of the nominating committee for the Tony Awards.[9]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sister Francesca Thompson The HistoryMakers. www.thehistorymakers.com. 2 November 2016. 3 October 2006.
  2. "Thompson, Francesca." Who's Who Among African Americans, edited by James Craddock, 28th ed., Gale, 2013, p. 1069. Gale Virtual Reference Library.
  3. Web site: A Pioneering Black Film Maker IIP Digital. iipdigital.usembassy.gov. U.S. Department of State, State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP). 2 November 2016. 1 January 1995.
  4. Indianapolis Recorder. July 14, 2011. Sister Francesca Thompson to observe 60 years as a nun.
  5. Religious Jubilarians. Catholic New York. 23. October 6, 2011. May 29, 2017.
  6. Schaber. Greg. Profile: Francesca Thompson, O.S.F.. Xavier Magazine. May 29, 2017. October 1, 2005. November 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161104003118/http://xtra.xavier.edu/xavier-magazine/profile-francesca-thompson-o-s-f/. dead.
  7. Web site: Levin Addresses Graduates. Fordham News. 2 November 2016. 20 May 2002.
  8. Web site: Thompson. Francesca. 1987. Speech. 2021-02-05. YouTube.
  9. News: Weber. Bruce. On Stage, and Off. 2 November 2016. The New York Times. 11 March 1994.