October 29, 2013 · 12:45 pm

“Doubt” Encourages Knowledge

Guest post by Sister Constance Brennan, Archivist, Sisters of Charity of New York

By now it is a well known fact that the movie Doubt, which was based on the Tony Award drama, was dedicated to Sister Margaret McEntee who taught the author, John Patrick Shanley, in the First Grade at St. Anthony’s School in the Bronx. Sister Margaret, or Peggy, as she is called, exhibited to young Shanley the love and concern that has earmarked Sister of Charity educators since the days of their foundress, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.

Less publicized is the number of theater groups that have staged their own productions of this drama. The Archives of the Sisters of Charity of New York has been deluged with appeals for help with costuming, staging, and background knowledge which would help the actors and actresses to live their parts. Doubt has been produced in many states throughout the country, including Alaska, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Missouri, Connecticut, Maryland, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon, West Virginia, and New Hampshire. Productions also occurred in Dublin, Ireland, and Vienna, Austria. The Archives even hosted a Theater Director from Canada who flew in especially for an appointment and in turn passed on the information she received to a neighboring company, and a costume director in far-away Croatia showed great interest in the Sisters of Charity Community Rosary.

The experiences of communicating with many people, who were dedicated to the authenticity of their productions, gave the archivists many opportunities to share their knowledge about the ministries and charism of their Congregation. Through this popular drama, many people have come to appreciate the contributions of the Sisters of Charity to life in New York in the 1960’s.

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October 28, 2013 · 12:27 pm

Were the DCs buried wearing the cornette?

The history of the Daughters of Charity cornette habit is one of our most popular research topics. Today, we received a reference question concerning the cornette habit that we’ve never been asked before: When Sisters died, were they buried wearing the cornette? A check with some of the Sisters gave us the answer.

It turns out that yes, Sisters were buried in the full habit, including the chaplet (the special rosary worn by the Sisters with the cornette habit) and the cornette. The cornette was worn just as it was worn in life, but, in order to allow the casket to close, the cornette would be moved downward slightly so that it covered more of the Sister’s face.

Today the Sisters’ habit includes a simple coiffe, and Sisters have the option of wearing it or not wearing it. Sisters are buried wearing the habit with or without the coife according to their wish.

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October 24, 2013 · 10:26 am

Digital Exhibit – Treasures from the Archives of the Sisters of Charity Federation

This digital exhibit is the companion to physical exhibit mounted by the Daughters of Charity Provincial Archives for a meeting of archivists from Sisters of Charity Federation member communities, held October 25-26, 2013, in Emmitsburg, MD. These images, selected from items used in the physical exhibit, are reproduced here with the permission of the contributing archives.

An Archivist Prayer
Lord, let us remember that
The trailblazers of yesterday
Are our traditions today
Boxed and labeled and
cataloged
They leap from our shelves
Our forebears who fashioned
new stories to tell.
Their spirit escapes in new
patterns, new plans
Our web site of findings that
links and expands
To whatever the future is
wanting to give.
Lord, let your Spirit spur us
To tell the pulse of our work.
In our quest for the best.
Amen.
Written for the Archivists of Congregations of Women Religious by
Sister Ann Courtney, Sisters of Charity of New York
August, 1997

SC Nazareth founders

Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, KY. The Sisters’ founders: left, Mother Emerentiana Handlovits (1869-1935) who founded the Vincentian Sisters of Charity in 1902, and right, Mother Catherine Spalding (1793-1858) who founded the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in 1812. [Image published with permission of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Archival Center]


Mother Margaret George

Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, OH. Mother Margaret Farrell George (1787-1868), who founded the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati in 1852. [Image published with permission of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati]


Mother Elizabeth Boyle, Sisters of Charity of New York

Sisters of Charity of New York. Mother Elizabeth Boyle (1788-1861), first superior of the Sisters of Charity of New York (1846-1849) (Courtesy Sisters of Charity of New York)


Sisters of Charity of Halifax, arrival in Halifax

Sisters of Charity, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. This painting presents the four founding Sisters of Charity: Sisters Mary Basilia McCann, Mary Cornelia Tinney, Mary Vincent Kerr, and Mary Rose McAleer arriving in Halifax from New York on May 11, 1849. Answering the request of Bishop William Walsh, the Sisters immediately set up an orphanage and began teaching. In 1856, Pope Pius IX approved the new congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, Halifax. The congregation received papal status June 10, 1913. [Painting by S. Agnes Berchmans, SC-Halifax, from the collection of the Sisters of Charity-Halifax Congregational Archives, used with permission]


SC Seton Hill

Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, PA
The Sisters’ first mission in Arizona, Saints Peter and Paul in Tucson, 1933. [Image published with permission of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill]


Sister Frances McEnnis


Daughters of Charity, Province of the West, Los Altos Hills, CA. Sister Frances McEnnis (1812-1879), Sister Servant of the group of Daughters of Charity who in 1852 came to San Francisco to establish an orphanage and school. [Image published with permission of the Daughters of Charity Archives, Province of the West]


Sisters of St. Martha, founders.

Sisters of Saint Martha, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. The 15 founding sisters of the Sisters of St. Martha, established in 1900. [Image published with permission of the Sisters of St. Martha, Bethany Archives]


Base Hospital 102, Loyola Unit

Daughters of Charity, Province of St. Louise, Emmitsburg, MD. Ten Daughters of Charity, together with the civilian nurses and Army medical staff of the Loyola Unit, serving at Base Hospital #102 in Vicenza, Italy, August 1917 to May 1919. [Image published with permission of the Daughters of Charity Provincial Archives]


SC Leavenworth THE LANDING

Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, KS. “The Landing,” a painting depicting the arrival of the Sisters of Charity in Leavenworth in 1858. [“The Landing,” copyrighted by the estate of Ernst Ulmer, the artist]


SC Convent Station first Mother House

Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station, NJ. First Motherhouse in Newark, Sept. 29, 1859, to July 2, 1860. [Image published with the permission of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth]


St. Francis Xavier Hospital

Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy, Charleston, SC. Sister Bernardine McGinley and graduates of the Class of 1912 of St. Francis Xavier Hospital Nursing School, Charleston, the state’s first Catholic hospital and nursing school. [Image published with the permission of the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy, Charleston, South Carolina]

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