Moylan, Prudence Ann

Born July 17, 1939, Gary, Indiana. Historian, professor, feminist, and social justice activist. Prudence Ann Moylan was born on July 17, 1939, in Gary, Indiana, the second of four daughters of Harriette Brazzelle and Francis Moylan. She graduated from Bishop Noll High School in Hammond, Indiana, in 1957 and two years later joined the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM). While a BVM novice in Dubuque, Iowa, she studied at Clarke College before being sent to Mundelein College, earning her bachelor's degree in 1963. Between 1964 and 1966, as Sr. Mary Prudence, she attended Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and taught history at Guadalupe College in Los Gatos. In March 1966, she joined the United Farm Workers in the civil rights march from Delano to Sacramento. Later that year, she was awarded her MA degree from Stanford University in Modern European History. In 1967, she took her final vows as a member of the BVM congregation. Having received her MA, Sr. Prudence returned to Chicago where she taught history at Mundelein College. In 1969, she commenced her doctoral study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1971. In 1975, she received her Ph. D. in Modern British History. Though she left the BVM congregation in 1981, Dr. Moylan continued to teach at Mundelein College. When Mundelein affiliated with Loyola University Chicago in 1991, Dr. Moylan was appointed a full Professor in Loyola's History Department. The areas of Dr. Moylan's professional interests vary widely, but include feminism, the women's movement, peace movement, pedagogy, and theory.