CARA Annual Business Report and 2017-2019 Steering Committee

Jerice Barrios, Archivist of the North American Province of the Cenacle, conducted the Annual CARA Business Meeting on May 11. She reported that CARA continues to be a small but vibrant subset of the Chicago Archives world. Our membership is stable and our treasury is adequate to meet anticipated expenses.

Over the past year CARA has sponsored educational events including a session on Digital Preservation last June and an introduction to controlled vocabulary by the American Theological Library Association’s (ATLA) Andy Carter and Adam Paradis in October. Tours this year were of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Archives and Records Center of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, The F. M. Johnson Archives and Special Collections at North Park University and ATLA. Our 2017 Spring Meeting featured historian Rima Lunin Schultz who discussed her work and how it is enriched by the inclusion of women’s religious archival material.

In accordance with CARA Bylaws, Steering Committee members were elected for a 2-year term this Spring. Anna Kajsa (Anderson) Echague and Malachy McCarthy have both opted to step down from their CARA Steering Committee service. We thank them for all they have contributed. Reelected to the Committee are Audra Adomenas, Jerice Barrios and Patricia Carroll. Elected and joining anew are Merle Branner and Doris Cardenas. We welcome them and look forward to working together for professional development in religious archives.

Submitted by Patricia Carroll - May 22, 2017

REFLECTIONS ON RACE, CHURCH, PEACE & YOUTH SPORTS 


May and early-June, 2017: Individual reading.
Crossing Parish Boundaries: Race, Sports and Catholic Youth in Chicago, 1914 - 1954. Author: Timothy B. Neary. 272 pages.
. . . . . . . .
Wednesday, June 14 / 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Book Discussion & Signing with the Author
Old St. Pat's Hughes Hall, 700 W. Adams Street, Chicago

How did mid-20th century racial violence lead to the formation of Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) sports programs?

What similarities are there between mid-20th century Chicago (as explained in the book) and the North Lawndale and Old St. Pat's communities in 2017?

Can the Kinship Initiative, the NLCCC and the church contribute to racial reconciliation and reduce violence in Chicago today via youth sports?

CARA Spring Meeting with Historian Rima Lunin Schultz

Thursday, May 11, 2017
Twenty-one people met at Mrs. Murphy’s & Sons Irish Bistro in Chicago for CARA’s first "Lunch and Learn" event. The guest speaker was historian Rima Lunin Schultz. She is the co-editor of Women Building Chicago 1790-1990: A Biographical Dictionary.  This book was a 10-year exploration of the impact that women had in building Chicago and included extensive research in religious archives. Rima captivated us with her stories and exploration of uncovering the unknown female leaders that built our great city. Rima concluded her talk by saying, “ Religious archives are the historic space and living document of the vocation and spirit of the congregational life.”

Historian Rima Lunin Schultz (center) gives a wonderful talk on the
importance of religious archives

CARA members and other interested parties
gather at Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro