St. Walburg Monastery was founded in 1859. For a correct picture of its archives, add in plenty of shelving in the big space in the clip art to the left. And take away the color.
Inside plain labeled gray boxes, and inside army green metal cabinets from decades ago, is the COLOR! One
hundred sixty-six years of stories—stories of the 329 sisters who lived and died as members of the Benedictine Sisters of St. Walburg Monastery, and of the 24 who now remember them. Accounts and memorabilia from the schools in which they taught, at first in German, the parishes in which they served, the health care ministries in which they worked. Later, the church called forth individual sisters to make a difference. There are memoirs, diaries, prayer books, personal accounts and photos of teachers, cooks, gardeners, farm workers, social justice activists, artists, musicians, singers, composers, organizers, administrators and prioresses. Bookkeepers, board members, and members gathered in prayer. If a sister wrote a thesis, it’s there too.
We’re now working to prepare a large part of archival material for storage in Cleveland, in the Women Religious Archives Collaborative (WRAC) Heritage Center. Ground was broken in August. From WRAC’s website “…the Heritage Center will be a place of study and celebration. housing the archives of over 75 congregations of women religious…WRAC will make them accessible for research in person and online. It will also present public exhibits and events, and interactive digital programs that honor the unique contributions of women religious to their communities and the country.”
The WRAC (pronounced rack) Heritage Center is likely to look more like the clip art picture above. To visit the website, go to archivescollaborative.org.
