Diane Wells
According to our Mission Statement, the chief purpose of the Archivists of Religious Collections Section is to “promote cooperation, communication, and professional development among archivists concerned with the preservation, use and promotion of materials relative to religious institutions.” I think we would all agree that our purpose is an admirable one. The big question is, of course, how do we attain it?
As my tenure as Chair winds down and I’m given to a bit of introspection, I must ask myself if I have contributed to the accomplishment of this purpose. I would ask you to do the same – and when we come together for our annual Section meeting in New Orleans, let’s talk about it. Let’s look at our Mission Statement, let’s look at our goals, let’s look at our participation, and let’s discuss the future direction of ARCS. Our Section meeting will be held on Friday, August 19th at 8 a.m. If you will not be at the Section meeting, please voice your comments on the ARCS listserv or contact any of the officers or Steering Committee members. Tell us what you’d like to “get out” of your Section membership – and what you’re willing to “put in.” For more information on this year’s program, see Loretta Greene’s article in this issue. We’d like to hear from all of you!
At our annual meeting we will also be selecting a Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, a Secretary and a Representative-At-Large. Information on the candidates is included within. Current Vice-Chair, Loretta Greene, will become Chair at the end of this year’s meeting and I’d like to thank her for her dedication and hard work as Vice-Chair– particularly on program planning – and to wish her luck in her new office. I’d also like to thank Secretary Suni Johnson who has taken another position and Representative-At-Large, Joan Clemmons who has completed her term of office.
As last year’s reception in Boston was such a hit, we’re doing it again - New Orleans style! All ARCS members are invited to a reception that will be held on Wednesday evening, Aug. 17th from 6:00-7:30PM at Loyola University’s, J. Edgar & Louise S. Monroe Library - Department of Special Collections & Archives, an easy streetcar ride from the conference hotel. Information will be posted on the ARCS website at http://www.saa-arcs.org and on our listserv. Please RSVP by contacting me at dwells@ecww.org or 206-325-4200. Hope to see you there.
Don Your Thinking Caps!
Loretta Greene
Not so long ago, in a meeting not so far way, the members of the Archivists of Religious Collections Section convened in Boston to discuss various matters of import. The time has once again come for us to meet and we are scheduled for Friday, August 19 from 8 to 10 a.m. The program this year includes participants with varied backgrounds and interests and all passionate about their work with religious collections. They have agreed to gather to discuss various topics and to review the Section’s future and its goals. You know these participants well: They are you!
It has been some time since we all had the opportunity to discuss our current and future goals. What would you like the Section to provide for you? What activity could we undertake? What does the Section do that engages you? What is tired and needs a change? Bring IDEAS!
The Section list-serv is up and running but activity has been rather low. Are members not aware of it? Are you inundated in list-servs? How can it be useful to you? Bring IDEAS!
Every year we talk about developing a session proposal but often don’t have the time to meet SAA’s deadlines. Get a jumpstart now and think about topics and participants. Take the step to contact one person who could participate in a session based on your topic. Together we can discuss the proposal and get it together. Bring IDEAS!
And finally, there will be time to raise other questions and comments, to share accomplishments and to network with your fellow archivists. Friday, August 19 from 8-10 a.m., this is the place to bring IDEAS!
Native America Images at Marquette University
Matt Blessing
Marquette University Libraries has launched its Native America Images digital collection, featuring 1,200 images selected from over 30,000 photographs contained in the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions (BCIM) Records at Marquette. The photographs depict Native peoples from across the United States, although the majority of images document the West, Southwest, and upper Great Lakes. The online collection is a convenient tool for learning more about this important research collection, although archivists decided to exclude all images depicting children or Catholic sacraments after 1935, in addition to Native religious ceremonies. Powered by CONTENTdm software, visitors can conduct keyword searches, or rely on pull-down menus and search by subject categories, state, or tribe. Additional images from Marquette’s Native American holdings will be added to the collection in late 2005 and 2006. To view the collection, visit: http://www.marquette.edu/library/MUDC/
Marquette University Libraries also recently acquired two significant collections of Native American photographs. Red Cloud School and Holy Rosary Mission, near Pine Ridge, South Dakota, have donated approximately 20,000 images spanning its 117-year history. The school and mission were established by Jesuits following several requests by Chief Red Cloud. Marquette has maintained the mission’s historical records for many years, but this accession provides important iconographic material about the Lakota community. The collection documents Catholic Sioux Congresses; Indian linguistics, literature, and culture; and Jesuit and Indian missionaries. Material on the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre, and 1973 takeover of the local Catholic church, museum and trading post by Native activists is also included.
In addition, award-winning photographer Don Doll, S.J., has donated his color transparencies, prints, and oral history interviews gathered for his book, Vision Quest: Men, Women, and Sacred Sites of the Sioux Nation (Crown Publishers, 1994). The exquisite contemporary images chronicle Lakota, Dakota and Nakota men and women who have made positive contributions to their communities. Doll, a Jesuit priest and professor at Creighton University, lived and taught among the Lakota forty years ago. Vision Quest also formed the basis of an award-winning documentary produced by Nebraska Educational Television in 2003.
Lighting the Path heritage exhibit is sponsored by the Church of God Historical Commission and the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center. The exhibit is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during normal hours. It will remain on display at the Pentecostal Resource Center at Lee University until June 2006.
For more information, contact: Dixon Pentecostal Research Center, 423-614-8576 or e-mail at dixon_research@leeuniversity.edu.
Images of Faith and Art from Mexico: Exclusive New Exhibit at Knights of Columbus Museum
Susan H. Brosnan
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(New Haven, Conn.) - A collection of 48 religious works of art never before exhibited in the U.S. went on display March 23 at the Knights of Columbus Museum, One State Street, New Haven.
Titled “Images of Faith and Art from Mexico,” the artwork covers the period from the 16th through the 20th centuries, with most of the paintings created during Mexico’s colonial era. The paintings include representations of the Life of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, revered saints and bishops. All of the text accompanying the exhibit is in both English and Spanish.
Of the paintings on display, 35 come directly from Mexico City. They are on loan from Latin America’s oldest and largest Cathedral, the magnificent Metropolitan Cathedral, from the Metropolitan El Sagrario Shrine and from The Profes, the Museum of Painting of the St. Felipe Neri Temple.
As the property of Mexico, the art has been made available through the cooperation of the Archdiocese of Mexico City and the Mexican Government’s National Council for Culture and the Arts and General Office of Sites and Monuments of the Cultural Patrimony.
Mexican artists of this period adapted and incorporated Old World art forms, resulting in a unique painting style, reinforced by the artists’ spiritual exuberance and reflecting of the strong devotion of the Mexican faithful.
“It is fitting that we honor the faith-inspired art of Mexico during this centennial anniversary of the Order’s founding in Mexico, and it is our hope that this exhibit will allow us to share the profound faith of the Mexican people with their neighbors to the North,” noted Supreme Knight Carl Anderson.
Thirteen additional pieces will be displayed from the Knights of Columbus Religious Art Collection. Acquired over the years from Mexico, these pieces are also being shown to the American public for the first time.
Both collections include several renderings of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico and the Americas. It was the apparition of the Virgin Mary to a Mexican native, Juan Diego, in 1531, and the inexplicable imprint of her image on his tilma, or cloak, that led to the conversion of nine million native Mexicans and ensured that the vast territories of New Spain would be Catholic. The image continues to baffle scientists, and though the tilma should have disintegrated years ago, it continues to be seen by upwards of 20 million people each year - making it the most visited relic and shrine in the world.
“Images of Faith and Art from Mexico” will run through Oct. 9, 2005.
Also showing is “Light from the Age of Augustine” through Dec 31, 2005. On loan from the Harvard Art Museums and private collectors, the exhibition contains 104 ceramics from the Roman Empire dating back an average of 1500 years.
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Candidates for Open Positions on ARCS
Secretary
Lisa Jacobson has been working as an archivist in the Maryknoll Mission Archives in Ossining, N.Y. since August of 2001. She earned her MLIS degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the spring of 2001. Prior to switching her career path to archives, Lisa worked in museum registration and holds a BA and MA degree in Art History. Lisa is a member of SAA, MARAC, and Archivists of Religious Institutions and has benefited from attending various conferences and workshops over the past few years. In her leisure time, Lisa enjoys cooking and baking, hiking, and camping.
Representative At-Large
Judy Huenneke is a graduate of the School of Information and Library Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. (Last year she received her second master’s degree, in history, from University of Massachusetts/Boston.) She has been active in archives and records management for nearly two decades. Presently she is Senior Researcher at The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity in Boston, where she manages the records of the Christian Science church as well as the special collections relating to the church’s founder, Mary Baker Eddy.
Vice-Chair
Gwynedd Cannan has been the archivist for the Episcopal Parish of Trinity Church at Wall Street in New York since 2001. She has served ARCS as secretary and as committee member. She is on the board of the National Episcopal Historians and Archivists (NEHA) and a member of the Episcopal Archivists Network. Ms. Cannan holds an MLS with a specialty in archives from The University of Texas at Austin and she is a certified archivist.
Archivists of Religious Collections Section Officers
| Chair: Diane Wells, Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, (Wash.) |
Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Loretta Zwolak Greene, Sisters
of Providence Archives
| Secretary: Gwynedd Cannan, Trinity Church, New York |
| Representatives-at-Large: Joan S. Clemens, Pitts Theology Library, Emory University; Wesley W. Wilson, Archives of DePauw University and Indiana United Methodism |
| Past Chair/Nominating Committee: Dale Patterson, General Commission on Archives and History, United Methodist Church |
| Newsletter Editor: Wesley W. Wilson |
| Web Coordinator: Mark J. Duffy, The Archives of the Episcopal Church USA |
Editor's Notes
The Archival Spirit is published three times a year by the Archivists of Religious Collections Section of the Society of American Archivists. Feature pieces as well as announcements of acquisitions and projects are welcome. Send submissions to: Wesley W. Wilson at wwwilson@depauw.edu.
For membership information, contact: Society of American Archivists, 527 S. Wells, 5th Floor, Chicago, IL 60607, 312-922-0140, fax 312-347-1452, info@archivists.org
[End of document. HTML document version prepared June 30, 2005.]
