August 13, 2024 // Diocese

New Heritage and Resource Center Will Share Histories of Women Religious at Saint Mary’s College

Todays Catholic

On Friday, July 26, officials from Saint Mary’s College and several orders of women religious broke ground on the college’s new Heritage and Research Center (HARC), which will house the rich histories and collections of nine women’s religious congregations.

A news release sent ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony by officials with the Sisters of the Holy Cross said the Heritage and Research Center will be a vital asset to the tri-campus (Saint Mary’s College, the University of Notre Dame, and Holy Cross College), highlighting the lives and ministries of thousands of religious sisters who launched and grew institutions of education, health care, and public outreach that became the standard and backbone of development within these fields in the United States. The collection will highlight these efforts and institutions, many of which still thrive today, and the lasting impacts of sisters’ presence and service.

Along with Saint Mary’s College, the Heritage and Research Center will include cooperation from the following religious congregations:

• Ladysmith Servite Sisters (Sister Servants of Mary), Ladysmith, Wisconsin

• Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters, Huntington

• Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dubuque, Iowa

• Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross, Merrill, Wisconsin

• Sisters of Saint Agnes, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

• Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Cross, Green Bay, Wisconsin

• Sisters of St. Casimir, Chicago

• Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame

• Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, O’Fallon, Missouri.

“We are excited about this collaboration that will deepen and advance the continued research and stories of women religious who have brought so much to the communities in which they served,” said Holy Cross Sister Suzanne Brennan, General Councilor and Treasurer of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross.

Though supported by each of the participating congregations, HARC will operate as an independent entity, employing an executive director, archivists, and curators to manage the center’s collections, exhibits, and programming. Part of the National Archives Project for Women Religious, HARC will share a technology platform with three other archival hubs – in Cleveland, at Santa Clara University in California, and at Boston College – allowing users access to all four repositories.

“HARC is a significant new archives institution bringing together the historical records of nine Midwestern congregations of women religious,” said Monte Abbott, Chair of HARC’s Board of Directors and Director of Archives for the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd in St. Louis. “More than just a repository, HARC will actively share the heartwarming stories of sisters in service to those in need over the past two centuries.”