Composite photo of Therezon Sheerin, CSJ; Claire Archambault, CSJ; Mary Rita Grady, CSJ; and Blaithin Sullivan, CSJ in the CSJ Archives.

Reflection of the Cushwa Center Conference

Ava Mari Doogue, CSJ Archivist

The Conference of the History of Women Religious: Lives and Archives at the Cushwa Center at University of Notre Dame has connected historians, scholars, archivists and independent writers for 50 years. The conference brings together professionals who dedicate their careers to studying, uncovering, and preserving the memory of Catholic sisters and women religious.  

When Mary Rita Grady, CSJ brought the flier to me and suggested I submit a paper proposal for the conference, I thought why not? As a new entrant or novice to the world of archives, I was not sure I had anything profound to share.  Nevertheless, I decided to submit a proposal.

An option for the conference is to submit a 1,000-word paper about an image. Intending to submit a paper for this topic, I wanted to use a photo of former Congregational Archivists, Mary Rita, Therezon and Blaithin. However, when I sat down to type out the paper, I realized there was so little I knew about them. How did Mary Rita and Therezon become acquainted with the sisters? What grade levels did they teach?  What steps did they take to become educated in the world of archives and archival processes and standards? 

I quickly realized the paper was not suited for “1,000 words in a picture.” I needed to dedicate time and pages to learning about the former archivists before me. Through interviews I was able to learn more about Therezon and Mary Rita, the moment they were appointed to be congregational archivists and the decisions and actions they both made to enshrine the memory of CSJ Boston. Combining the interviews with scholarly research on women religious and catholic archives, I noticed that the origin and founding of catholic women archives and the impact those archives has on catholic history, women’s history and catholic women’s history is understudied and undervalued. My paper focused on the Boston CSJ Archives and concluded with a call to action to lay archivists to continue making connections with the sisters’ charism and faith to better serve returning and new researchers.  

Archivists at the Cushwa Center Conference. Left to right: Ava Mari, Kathy Washy (CSJ Archivist, Baden, PA) Catherine Lucy (Director of Carondelet Consolidated Archives), Jessica Novotny (Assistant Archivist, CSJ Cleveland, OH) Lisa Gibbon (Director of Archives, CSJ Cleveland, OH) Linda Wicks (Archivist, CSJ Toronto) Leo Catahan (Archivist, CSJ Orange, CA)

I presented my paper and interviews with Therezon and Mary Rita, the last day of the conference on the “Exploring Methodology: Blending Archival sources and Oral History” panel. I shared the founding and beginnings of the Boston CSJ Archives. The reaction was exactly what I wanted. People were impressed and inspired. Not many lay archivists have a close working relationship with the sisters’ archivists. Not many lay archivists could consult former sisters’ archivists and learn how they became a part of the archives. 

Both Mary Rita and Therezon shared a similar guiding principle, “If we can’t remember the past, we’re condemned to repeat it” (Grady, 2024).  My conversations with Therezon and Mary Rita provided me with more background information about the founding of the archives. As the future of women religious archives remain uncertain (congregations are closing due to declining membership) learning about the founding of the archives will assist in determining where the materials, artifacts and stories should move and be preserved.  

The job of the lay archivist is to preserve the sister’s charism, prayer, and faith. Understanding how sister archivists arranged and described their own history, ministry and vocation— following traditional archival standards of process and description—allows for their culture to be understood and preserved.  

Ava presenting her research.

Fernanda Perrone quoted Mary Oates, CSJ in Perrone’s chapter “From Annals to Heritage Centers: The Archives of Women’s Religious Communities,” in the book Perspectives on Women’s Archives (2013).  The quote by Mary Oates, CSJ reads: “religious community archives represent a first-rate source of primary material on American women”. To archive and preserve the memory and charism of Catholic wom en Religious can be difficult at times; professed sisters focused on educating the minds rather than preserving their history or stories.  

To archive and select records, documents, artifacts, images that represent and showcase this dedication can be difficult, especially as the community continues to evolve its ministry and vocation. How does one capture this evolution of ministry and vocation?  

By creating relationships with sisters, having open communication with former sister archivists and learning about the origin and founding of the archive— not just the congregation— can mitigate the difficulties of persevering Catholic sisters’ memory, both past and present. Overall, meeting with Therezon and Mary Rita provided me with more insight and encouragement to remind the public, whether they are scholars or hobbyists, the power, importance and reach of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Boston.