Tag Archives: Artifacts

July 2, 2026 · 10:56 am

Studying the 200th for the 250th

Today, July 4, 2026, celebrates the 250th anniversary of the ratification of the Declaration of Independence. A big round-number anniversary that affords a time to re-examine our history and reflect a little more on the meaning, symbols, and values of our past national celebrations and histories.

The 250th commemoration encouraged us in the Archives to look back fifty years to our bicentennial celebration, which led to us finding this old calendar in the collections!  The months spanned from September 1975 (the time of Mother Seton’s canonization) through August 1976 and was published by the USCC – the former name of the United States Bishops’ Conference – and National Catholic Educational Association.  We encourage you to zoom in to see some of the celebrations and milestones that it lists, but we in the Archives wanted to point out a few things of note ourselves!

"A Declaration of Interdependence" Calendar from 1975-1976, published by the United States Catholic Conference and National Catholic Educators Association

There is a pride in highlighting our faithful citizens, Catholic Americans and some Protestants as well.  In January, the birthdays of three distinguished citizens were honored: Thomas Merton, American monk and theologian; John Carroll, the first American Catholic bishop who served in Baltimore; and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was born in 1929 and whose dream for the country was tragically cut short in April of 1968.  A continuing admiration for the Kennedy family amongst American Catholics appears in the month of July, with matriarch Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy ‘s birthday on the 22nd.

The calendar gives nods to the two Catholics to sign the U.S. Constitution, Daniel Carroll of Maryland and Thomas Fitzsimons of Philadelphia. However, it does fails to include Marylander Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the sole Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence.

In February’s second week, we find Black History Week, which was established by historian Carter G. Woodson in February of 1926 to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and Frederick Douglass (February 14). In 1976, President Gerald Ford expanded the recognition to encompass the entire month of February. More recently, in June of 2021, President Joe Biden declared Juneteenth (19th) a National Independence Day Act a federal holiday.

Reflecting the ideals of the 1970s, we see numerous saints’ days marked for culturally diverse ethnic groups:  St. Teresa of Avila for Spanish Americans in October,  St. Martin de Porres for Black Americans and St. Josaphat of Polotsk for Ukrainian Americans in November, certainly St. Patrick for the Irish Americans in March, and Our Lady of Guadalupe for Mexican Americans and St. Francis Xavier for Asian Americans (although the term used on the calendar is… out of date).   We hope that a Semiquincentennial edition of this calendar might build on 50 more years of knowledge and experience to expand these even further, showing that full scope of the Calendar of Saints is meant to serve every single person in a universal Church.

Independence Day blessings to you all!

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June 4, 2024 · 9:29 am

The Austin Cooler

Some artifacts are artifacts because they are unique; others appear amazingly ordinary until their place in history becomes evident.

What appears as a simple Igloo-brand cooler, the kind used for family picnics and fishing trips became a life-saving tool and a step into a new medical world at Seton Medical Center in Austin.  On February 2, 1986, Doctors Jim Calhoon, John Oswalt, and Emery Dilling completed the first open heart transplant at the Hospital, beginning its time as one of the most respected heart health programs in the country.  The cooler was used to transport the heart during the life-saving procedure.

Once the procedure was complete and the patient declared safe, the three doctors fully made their mark on the artifact and signed the cooler.

The cooler was a frequent showpiece of the archives at Seton Medical Center.  When the Hospital was transferred to the auspices of Ascension healthcare in 1999, many of the materials in the Archive were transferred to the Archives of the West Central Province in St. Louis, which then came to Emmitsburg in 2011.  It was discovered a few years later, however, that an entire roomful of materials had never been transferred, including the legendary cooler.  Thankfully, the entire collection was able to be reunited in 2019.

The cooler was on display from 2022-2023, and we will occasionally pull it out for special displays for visiting groups from Austin or from the health care field.  We are looking for ways to display it for the wider public again within the next few years.

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August 13, 2018 · 2:31 pm

Archival Re-discoveries

Even the archives does not pretend to know the full extent of its collections sometimes.  Last week, the archives team cleaned out their “furniture room,” which contained oversize artifacts and antique furniture.  Hidden in a back corner, we made a few re-discoveries of interest.  This oversized plaque hung in the lobby of Philadelphia General Hospital from 1947-1977.  It was a gift from the Alhambra Society, a Catholic fraternal organization that seeks, among other things, to commemorate the Catholic History of the United States.  The Daughters that it refers to were 13 in number during the cholera epidemic in 1832.  When the City Council voted to reward each of the Daughters with a silver pitcher the following year, they declined their reward as incompatible with their vows; the Council voted instead to donate the monetary value of the pitchers to St. Vincent’s Asylum in the city.

Philly plaque

Also among our large (and very heavy) objects was the cornerstone to St. Anne’s Home.  This orphanage in St. Louis was founded by the Daughters in 1831, but this cornerstone came from their second location in 1843.  With the coordination and work of Archbishop Kenrick, an Irish immigrant and philanthropist John Mullanphy, and the donation of the building by Anna Biddle, the Daughters began to cement their long association with the city.

St. Louis cornerstone

Finally,  the archives team saw their imagination sparked through the Daughters association, almost 400 years strong, with the Ladies of Charity.  The collection of artwork in the Provincial Archives does not only consist of portraits.  This hand-carved wooden rocking chair was given in memory of Edna and Frank Dorsey by the Ladies of Charity Association of the Archdiocese of Washington.

Carved chair

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