Publisher's Letter, Apr. 11, 1955

Dear TIME-Reader:

At daybreak one morning, a girl with a bright kerchief over her head walked into the chapel of the Maryknoll mother house near Ossining, N.Y. in the company of a group of black-hooded sisters. Soon, the religious were intent on their missals, following the recital of the Mass, while the visitor slyly tried to peer about without moving her head. The sisters were full of piety; the girl in the kerchief was full of curiosity. She was TIME Researcher Deirdre Mead Ryan, at work on the week's cover story.

To study Mother...

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