Collaborative Digital Exhibits Representing the Archives of the Sisters of Charity Federation
by Mindy Gordon, Director, Archives, Sisters of Charity of New York, Bronx, NY, and Casey Bowser, Congregation Archivist, Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, PA
The tradition of maintaining Catholic heritage archives has a long and revered history. The archives of Catholic women religious are a tribute to the sisters who have preserved this heritage and to those who continue to document congregation events. From the first American congregation of religious sisters in the United States, founded by the first native-born American saint, Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton, derived the Sisters of Charity and the Daughters of Charity communities, which together comprise the Sisters of Charity Federation (SCF). The SCF represents over 2500 sisters from 13 Catholic congregations of women religious devoted to issues of peace, social justice, the needs of marginalized populations, and human development in the Vincentian-Setonian tradition. Each community maintains an archive with a professional staff of between one and five workers, including both sisters and lay archivists.
To expand the history of these individual communities in a collaborative format, archivists from each SCF congregation were asked to contribute to several ongoing projects designed without limitations on time range or subject matter. The first iteration established a combined collection that is comprised of materials about the SCF collected by each archive. To accomplish this, each repository’s relevant materials were transferred to the Daughters of Charity Provincial archives at Emmitsburg, Maryland. The processed collection, comprising 51 cubic feet and 125 GB of born-digital material, significantly reduced duplication, increased discovery, and centralized access.
Through the establishment of a public digital collections database, Charity Speaks was launched. Featuring oral histories conducted with sisters between 1970 and 2024, Charity Speaks was created and designed by Casey Bowser as an inter-congregational project utilizing historic and contemporary audio, transcriptions, and photographs. Previously, many of these first-person narratives were closed or inaccessible due to obsolete formats and staff limitations. As many communities continue to record the institutional memory of the sisters, this ongoing project will eventually feature hundreds of interviews.
To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the SCF, an exhibit called A History of the Sisters of Charity Federation Communities in Objects was launched in 2022 featuring items chosen by each community to represent a moment in time. The online visibility of these artifacts provides access to cultural materials that may otherwise be hidden due to limited exhibition space or physical fragility. Each congregation’s exhibition page begins with a history of the community’s archive, images of the current administrative center, and a selected item with descriptive information.
Inspired by the positive reception of these collaborations, the most recent project focuses on sisters as artists and includes a broad display of subject matter, format, and theme. Featured works include familiar ones previously displayed at community or other locations, as well as others less known, previously hidden in storage.
To contribute to the exhibitions, each archivist creates descriptive information according to standardized guidelines. Metadata created using Dublin Core, DACS elements, and ministry and liturgical terms from the Library of Congress subject headings and name authority files is submitted by the archivist for each oral history interview, congregation artifact, or sister’s artwork for upload to the collaborative website by the archivist coordinator.
The collaborative work of the archivists of these communities has both immediate and broader implications. Our goal of providing digital access to geographically disparate materials coincides with the establishment of collective repositories for Catholic congregations. Due to the diminishing number of professed sisters and the eventual completion or closure of some congregations, the transfer of collections to other custodians will occur. As several SCF congregations have announced their completion, the archivists strive to continue collaborating to preserve the legacy of the history of charity of the Sisters of Charity Federation.
