As Ursuline Sister Susan Durkin outlined the plans for the Women Religious Archives Collaborative to the First Friday Club of Cleveland, her passion for the project was evident.
“Today is about storytelling,” she told the sold-out crowd attending the April 3 program at the Center for Pastoral Leadership. “Catholic sisters have been a quiet force for generations. But you can’t adequately tell the story of our nation and our Church without telling the story of the Catholic sisters.”
However, as the sisters age, their numbers dwindle and their congregations merge or cease to exist, Sister Durkin said it is essential to remember their legacy. The WRAC will help ensure they remain an important part of history. Sister Durkin, a former Ursuline congregational leader and former educator, is WRAC executive director.
“The Cleveland facility will be the first independent archival repository in the country,” Sister Durkin said. “Our mission is to preserve the legacy of women religious in the United States.”
Ground will be broken soon for the new, 30,000-square-foot facility with the following features:
- A 16,000-square-foot temperature-controlled, fire-suppressing archival vault
- A study area for guests and researchers
- Programming space and a gallery for historical displays
- Staff and intern offices
- A catering/serving kitchen to host events and meetings
WRAC will house the archives of more than 75 congregations of Catholic sisters from across the United States and Canada, making the collection accessible for research both in person and online.
Sister Durkin said the contributions of these sisters are woven into the social events and context of their time. Huge numbers of immigrants poured into the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries from countries including England, Ireland, Germany and other parts of Europe. The first religious women in the United States settled in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1727. These pioneering sisters established Ursuline Academy that year, the oldest continuously operating girls’ school in the country.
In the Diocese of Cleveland, Bishop Amadeus Rappe, the first bishop, knew he needed help to get the diocese launched so he sought out sisters from his native France. Sister Durkin said the first group of Ursuline sisters arrived in Cleveland from France in 1850.
“Within three weeks, they had established a school,” which she said was an amazing feat.
In 1861, as the Civil War raged, the Sisters of St. Augustine arrived in the diocese and organized a system of health care and an orphanage, including the first hospital in Cleveland. The sisters filled every role at the hospital, she added.
As the diocese grew, so did the number of religious congregations, from seven in the early years to more than 100.
“These fearless women put their faith in God. Often, with no money, the sisters made things happen. They gave up their meals and personal comfort to serve others,” Sister Durkin said, reflecting on the hardships of the early years in the diocese.
Vatican II brought significant changes, especially in their dress. Their interpretation of ministry broadened, but the mission remained constant, Sister Durkin added.
She said many people don’t realize the impact religious sisters have had on society throughout history. She said they are responsible for the largest system of private schools, founding more than 10,000 schools, colleges and universities.
“Catholic sisters are among the most highly educated women in the country,” she said, noting most have a master’s degree and many have doctoral degrees. She said they established curricula, courses in religious education in parishes and literacy programs. In 1871, the Ursuline sisters founded Ursuline College, the first women’s college in Ohio. Fifty years later, the Sisters of Notre Dame established Notre Dame College.
In health care, the sisters are responsible for many accomplishments. She said the sisters were responsible for about 20% of hospital beds and about 800 hospitals throughout the country.
Sister Ignatia Gavin, CSA worked at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron with a doctor who struggled with alcoholism. It was not considered a medical condition at the time, but by working with Dr. Bob and Bill W., she helped establish Alcoholics Anonymous, which offered a groundbreaking way to treat alcoholism.
More recently, the CSAs established Joseph and Mary’s Home, a facility to help the medically fragile rebuild their lives and find stable housing.
Religious sisters also are responsible for advancements in palliative care, hospice care and assisted living, in addition to their extensive contributions to social work and advocacy. They lobby against the death penalty, fight for fair housing, battle racism, food insecurity, work to end human trafficking and assist victims and to help the underserved.
“Their work is driven by a deep sense of care,” Sister Durkin said. It’s also important to remember the sisters in prayer ministry whose work might not be as evident, but still is important.
Looking outside the Diocese of Cleveland, she recounted the contributions of other religious women, including the Sisters of Loretto, Kentucky, founded in 1812. They traveled on the Santa Fe Trail, nursing the sick and injured and helping the sick during the flu pandemic in 1918. Nurses were in great demand during the Civil War and religious sisters helped to fill this need, Sister Durkin said.
The Sisters of the Presentation traveled 4,000 miles from Ireland to minister in rural South Dakota, especially in health care.
“Many of these sister nurses were not paid so their work was not recorded,” Sister Durkin said, yet they provided critically important services to many.
In 1864, the Sisters of the Humility of Mary settled in Villa Maria, Pennsylvania and established a viable farm that still exists. They shared the fruits of their labor and their farm — literally — with the needy.
Sister Henrietta Gorris, CSA who first worked as a nurse and nursing administrator, later ministered in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood providing food, clothing, education, employment, health care and housing for area residents. Sixty years ago, she established Our Lady of Fatima Mission Center.
Other sisters from the diocese and beyond have worked as missionaries, including many who served at the diocesan mission in El Salvador. Two of those women, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel and lay missionary Jean Donovan, along with two Maryknoll sisters, were killed Dec. 2, 1980 in El Salvador. “They are considered modern day saints,” Sister Durkin said, adding they advocated for the poor and marginalized.
“What if all this was forgotten?” she asked. “We can’t afford to lose these valuable stories.”
That’s what the WRAC will do, Sister Durkin said, explaining that diocesan archives are not capable of handling the volume of materials WRAC will have.
Sister Marge White, SSJ-TOSF, a former congregational leader, spoke briefly about the history of her congregation, which founded Marymount Hospital in Garfield Heights (now part of the Cleveland Clinic) and Trinity High School, on the same campus. There also is a large senior citizen housing development there.
“We needed a place for our archives,” Sister White said, “and WRAC helped us. We are pleased to partner with them and look forward to the facility opening next year.”
Sister Margaret Taylor, SIW, also shared information about her congregation. She said the sisters fled from oppression in Mexico and settled in the United States, working primarily in parish ministry and education. The sisters sponsored Incarnate Word Academy in Parma Heights, operated the Shrine of the Holy Rosary on the property that included IWA and their motherhouse and taught in several other diocesan schools.
“Now we have only 11 sisters, ages 72-98. We plan to come to fulfillment as a diocesan congregation. As we come to an end, we needed to find a place for our archives. WRAC was the answer to our prayers. It gives us great relief to know our SIW legacy will live into the future through WRAC.”
“Help us write the next chapter,” Sister Durkin said.
For more information on WRAC, email sdurkin@archivescollaborative.org or call 216-287-5176. Sister Durkin said donations to the campaign are welcome. Click here or mail donations to WRAC, 2475 E. 22nd St., Cleveland, Ohio 44115. The goal for the facility is $24 million and the endowment goal is $15 million.
Father Andrij Hlabse will discuss the Council of Nicea’s 1,700th anniversary at the May 1 lunchtime program of the First Friday Club of Cleveland. Click here, email firstfridaycleveland@gmail.com or call 330-800-1493 for more information or to make a reservation.