Welcome to the Mount St. Joseph Archives blog Memories from the Mount! We are excited to use this medium to share with you the treasures of the Ursuline Sisters. So often in our work we come across records or books or pictures that make us stop and say, “Wow!”
Paola Sister Immaculata Elmer exercises her photography skills.
The problem with this is usually we are the only ones to see it. This blog will give us the opportunity to share with you treasures found in the archives, little stories that are not often told, and pictures that put faces to names.
Sisters Joseph Raymond Payne, Imelda Lyvers, Francis Xavier Miles, and Florentia Mahoney stand with Holy Cross schoolchildren in 1953.
Archives are records that have permanent value. Meaning, some records created in day-to-day business can many years from now tell the history of the people using them. For example, letters written from a school in Raywick, Ky. can tell us about the sisters who served at that school and how it operated. When these records are no longer needed at the school, they come to the archives. The archivist puts the records in order and writes a finding aid (catalog) so that we can locate those records when needed in the future. As you can imagine, this takes a lot of work. Through the years the archives has had many sisters dedicate their time to this work. Currently, the archives has eight sisters who donate their time.
With the mergers of the Ursuline Sisters of Belleville in 2005 and Paola in 2009, the archives from these two communities have come to Maple Mount. In this blog we will be able to share with you their stories in addition to those of the sisters of Maple Mount.
Sisters Jacinta Powers and Bernadita Sipes share a laugh in the 1980s.
We hope that you will find this blog an enjoyable and informative read of the great and memorable deeds, examples, and prayerful presence that the Ursuline Sisters of Maple Mount, Belleville, Paola and their missions have been and continue to be.
Comments
This is great! I’ll definitely be following the unfolding stories of these extraodinary women. Here’s hoping you inspire lots of followers 🙂
Hi Sarah, Congratulations on your new BLOG.
Love hearing about the Sisters(and you).
Charlyne Schecker (Sharon’s mom)
Good job! Looks great!
I was so excited with the MSJ girls FB site to share with my fellow “girls” from the Academy and College in preparation for our Alumni reunion in May. I am just as excited to have this method of communication about my fellow “sisters”.
Great idea! Am sure there are LOTS of memories out there to be shared!
I never viewed myself as a great “history buff” while I was at school at the Mount, but I’m really looking forward to this “history making” blog. Thanks to all those Sisters who currently are serving and/or served in the past in the archives.
What wonderful memories! Pictures are worth a thousand words and just recalling Sister Bernadita’s smile makes me happy. We never know how long one of our smiles will last in those who have known us.
What a great idea. I hope you include tidbits from the academy, too.
This is truly an act of grace and I know in my heart that it will be exquisitely done!! I wish to have God continually bless all of you involved in this beautiful piece of work.
Great explanation of the importance of preserving everyday records so that future generations can understand our lives. Congrats on the new blog Sarah, and I look forward to following it!
Sharing the history of Maple Mount with the rest of us via the internet…what a wonderful idea! Over the past 30+ years I’ve grown to deeply admire them for their dedication and resolve to teach Christian living to the poor and marginaized citizens of the world, especially women and children. I find it difficult to put into words what the Ursuline Sisters have done and continue to do for me today. Thank you! May God continue to bless you as you strive to change with the signs of the times.
Great work, Sarah! Your dedication will spread the ministry and history of Mount St Joseph in many ways. It is important work that you are well-suited for. My prayers and thoughts are constantly supporting your efforts!
I love this. Keep up the great work.
Wonderful blog! (Beautiful picture of Sr. Immaculata!)
Here’s a link to a history of Saints Peter and Paul in Cumberland, MD, where Ursulines of Louisville taught. Two of those listed would later be part of the Paola congregation: Agnes Brinker (Sister Mary Mathia) would be Sister M. Matthias, and Josephine Reichert (Sister Mary Aquina) would be Mother M. Thomas.
http://archive.org/stream/fiftyyearsofsspe00cumb#page/n223/mode/2up