-
Sister Mary Kenneth Keller, BVM: A Pioneer in Computer Science
Sister Mary Kenneth Keller, a Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Dubuque, Iowa, USA) was among the first women to receive a PhD in Computer Science. She received her degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1964 and was the first person, woman or man, to receive such a degree from that educational…
-
The Sisters’ Legacy is Deeply Embedded into the Fabric of American Life
As a historian, I think it is important to remember and emphasize that the lived experience of American sisters is embedded within broader social and cultural struggles that rocked the nation in the last half century. By the mid-1960s, over 200,000 Catholic women were living and working in over 400 religious orders in the United…
-
Labor Activist: Rev. Vincent O’Connell, SM
“He has been shot at, black listed, and quietly transferred to other parts of the country, but he has always come back for more.” One morning when they were young boys, Vincent O’Connell and his brother “sensed that something other than coffee was brewing in the kitchen.” The boys’ father, owner of a Philadelphia hosiery…
-
The Franciscan Presence in America: A Story of Devotion
On April 26, 1858, the German Franciscans of the Holy Cross Province found a new home on the shores of American soil. Exiles from their fatherland, they established an independent province on July 2, 1879. The new province was named after the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Their mission was simple – to bring the…
-
CYO Homes and the Viatorians
Viatorians have a rich legacy of reaching out to those accounted of little importance in society. Below is just one example from an earlier time in the province. In the late 30s and early 40s, Viatorian brothers staffed Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) homes in Chicago at the invitation of Archbishop Bernard J. Sheil, co-founder of…
-
A Rich, Painful Experience
On July 31, 1973, Sister Rita Anne Houlihan, r.c., was arrested and held prisoner for 14 days for picketing with the United Farm Workers in Fresno, California. Fifty-three women and 150 men were arrested that day, including 16 sisters and 24 priests. The religious men and women had come to Fresno to “witness to the…
-
Southwest Franciscans, An Evolving History
The Franciscans have a long history in the Southwest. Fray Marcos de Niza saw Zuni Pueblo in 1539, leading to centuries of evangelization and struggle. After Mexico gained independence from Spain, trust in the Franciscans diminished and their numbers in the Southwest declined until the last died in 1848. Fifty years later, at the request…
-
Alexian Brothers
The Alexian Brothers, working closely with the Archdiocese of Chicago, responded to the problem of support for men and women with AIDS or ARC with a residential facility called “Bonaventure House” after the founder of the American province, Brother Bonaventure Thelen, C.F.A. The facility was not a hospital or hospice; rather, it provided room and…
-
Sister St. Francis Sullivan, CSJ
Sister St. Francis Sullivan devoted her career as a Sister of St. Joseph to the education of young women. By 1931, she had earned a doctorate in French. After teaching high she began her forty-year career in the French Department at Regis College as faculty and chair, in addition to fulfilling other collegiate duties, as…
-
“Don’t forget the Sisters!”
When I started research for my forthcoming book Chicago Católico: Making Parishes Mexican, 1920-77, historian Ellen Skerrett sagely suggested “Don’t forget the Sisters!” I gathered abundant material from Mexican parishioners and Claretian clergy at St. Francis of Assisi, a church known as Chicago’s catedral mexicana. But with Ellen’s words ringing in my ears, I contacted…
