Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America opened May 16 at the Cincinnati Museum Center. This national traveling exhibit, developed by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, tells the largely untold story of the role Catholic sisters have played in shaping the United States.
          Keeping in mind that approximately 650 groups of women religious have served the country, it is all the more remarkable that the final exhibit includes five prominent references to the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND).
          As museum goers enter the exhibit, one of the first areas is entitled “Leaving Home,” highlighting the presence of Catholic sisters among the waves of immigrants to the United States. Among the artifacts displayed is the naturalization paper of Maria Josefa Fick – Sister Mary Leonis, SSND, of St. Louis, Missouri. The paper indicates that she was 37 years old, had blond hair, “blue-grey” eyes, and was 4 feet 10 inches tall. The paper is dated July 6, 1944.
          Another featured item is a picture of the first graduates of the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. The picture is prominently displayed on a large panel introducing an exhibit area on higher education and women’s leadership.
          The caption accompanying the photograph reads, “On June 14, 1899, six women received their baccalaureate degrees from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, founded by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, the first Catholic college for women in the United States to award the four-year degree. By 1918, fourteen sister-founded women’s colleges were accredited.”
          Dr. David Snowdon’s Nun Study is included in the “New Frontiers” section, an area showing how congregations continue to respond to the needs of the day, expressing traditional ministries in new ways. The display includes a photo of Dr. Snowdon with study participants, as well as the autobiographical document of Sister Nicolette Welter, SSND, of Mankato, Minnesota, who recently celebrated her 101st birthday.
          In the area developing the theme of education, a stereoptic (three dimensional) viewer and cards, used by SSND teachers in the Milwaukee and dated “in the early 1890s,” is displayed along with other early audio-visual.
          Lastly, before leaving the exhibit, museum-goers stop at an area called “The Core,” where they can watch a short film in which several sisters speak about their life in community and ministry today. One of the sisters in this segment is Sister Catherine Bertrand, SSND, provincial leader of the Mankato Province.
          The project was conceived in 2004 as the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) considered ways to note its 50th anniversary in 2005. The idea of a travelling history exhibit took form in the SSND Motherhouse in St. Louis, where the planning committee was meeting.
          At that time, the SSND St. Louis Province was working with the Missouri Historical Society to develop a mural in the reception area portraying the intertwining stories of the province with the history of St. Louis. It was this lobby project that triggered the idea of a museum exhibit.
          Catholic Sisters in America will reside in Cincinnati until August 30. Other confirmed venues include The Women's Museum: An Institute for the Future in Dallas (September through December), the S. Dillon Ripley Gallery at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. (January through April, 2010), the Museum of the Mississippi River in Dubuque, Iowa (February through April, 2011), and the Statue of Liberty National Monument / Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York (dates to be determined). Several applications have been submitted to museums throughout the country. Additional venues will be announced as acceptance and dates are confirmed.
          The exhibit is beautifully designed by Seruto & Company, a California-based firm whose previous projects include America, I Am, currently on display at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, and the nationally acclaimed, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs.
          LCWR sees Women & Spirit as an opportunity to introduce Catholic sisters to those who may not know women religious at all, as well as to reintroduce them to many others.

By Sister Carole Shinnick, SSND

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