Of Hidden Treasures ...by Sr. Laura

Notre Dame's famous "Touchdown Jesus"

Wonder what we might be holding in our archives? The archives of other Congregations of women? This younger generation of scholars began to discover that we hold hidden treasures (of the kind scholars appreciate), just about when Congregations were beginning to merge and even to conclude. 

Conversations spread like wildfire, including: Who is holding what? Where and how can we find this out? And especially, where are the archives of merging or concluding Congregations going?

I recently attended the Conference on the History of Women Religious "Lives and Archives" (https://cushwa.nd.edu/hwr/), hosted by the University of Notre Dame and St. Mary's College. In part, we celebrated the life and art of Sister Mary Corita Kent, IHM, who shook up the church in the 1960s with her "secular" silk screen artwork (by the way, St. Placid's Sister Nathalie Karels also created some stunning silkscreen artwork).

 Nine years ago, archivists were asked to attend this conference (my first) as scholars wanted and needed a space to talk with archivists about their struggles in figuring out who was holding what. And archivists learned, with much delight, the creative and non-traditional things scholars did with our holdings. It has been a learning process, and the conversation continues to expand.

 These gatherings are international in scope: I've chatted with scholars and archivists from Nigeria, Hong Kong, Australia, the Netherlands, England, and Ireland. They are trying to replicate the Conference on the History of Women Religious (CHWR) in their own regions.

Sarah Lubelski of WRAC with Sister Laura Swan

One project coming out of this growing awareness of the need to make archives known and available to scholars is the Women's Religious Archives Collaborative (WRAC) in Cleveland, Ohio (https://archivescollaborative.org/). This state-of-the-art complex will house the archives of up to 70 communities of Women Religious. We are number 43 to join. Besides the necessary massive storage space and online presence, rotating exhibits and conference space will be included. They are breaking ground as I write this. 

Boston College is planning something similar, as are the Holy Cross sisters. This is, in part, a recognition that Catholic Sisters have never commanded the financial resources that men's communities have, but also the unique breadth of our holdings. Sisters have long tended to collaborate with other laity, and this is reflected in our rich holdings.