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| On the campus of St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana. |
On April 27, 2018, over 50 participants from 27 congregations of women religious met on the campus of St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana, for A Day of Dreaming hosted by the Sisters of the Holy Cross. Among the attendees were CARA members Jerice Barrios, Patricia Carroll, Sr. Virginia Jung, and Rebekah McFarland. The day was organized by the Sisters of the Holy Cross to gauge the interest in a collaborative women's religious archive and/or heritage center in the Midwest. Judging by the strong attendance at the gathering, the interest is definitely there.
The group gathered that day in the Lillie O'Grady Center at St. Mary's Convent was energized and eager to discuss the issues facing the archives of women's religious congregations. A pressing question for congregations reaching completion is, what becomes of their archival collections? How will their legacy be preserved? A collaborative archive where sisters can deposit some or all of their materials could be welcome solution.
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Day of Dreaming participants gathered in the Lillie O'Grady Center to discuss a proposed
collaborative archive and heritage center |
Of course, a project of that scale cannot be completed in a single day, but the exchange of ideas will continue as the participants work toward creating a steering committee and a plan of action. It was obvious that all of the attendees valued the history of the sisters and had a will to carry it into the future.
