SSND North American Archives - School Sisters of Notre Dame

Renovations began in June 2017 on the new home of the School Sisters of Notre Dame’s North American Archives at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! Below we documented the progress with weekly updates and photos.

Archivist Michele Levandoski places the final box on a shelf. (12-07-17)

Sister Joan Helm attaches number stickers to the file boxes that will be moved
from the archives in Canada to the new location. (12-07-17)

S. Carol Marie Wildt, archivist in St. Louis, Missouri (center), is joined by
sisters at the Sancta Maria in Ripa campus to see off the truck with their
collection as it heads to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (12-07-17)

Sister Mary Ann Kuttner (left) shows Sister Joyce Nyakwama a directory with
pictures of sisters from Africa. This is included in the collection from
the former Mankato Province. (11-09-17)

Sisters Mary Ann Kuttner, Joyce Nyakwama and Zipporah Marigwa look over
some of the items from Africa that are in the North American Archives collections.
The picture on the cover of the booklet that Sister Zipporah is holding is of
Sister Bernadette Amimi, the first perpetually professed African SSND. (11-09-17)

Sisters Joyce Nyakwama, provincial leader from the Province of Africa, and
Zipporah Marigwa, who is a third year student at Mount Mary University, look
over some of the archive documents related to African sisters. (11-09-17)

The sisters look at a 1999 picture directory from Africa that includes a photo
and entry for Sister Carolyn Anyega, who was recently elected to the SSND
General Council. (11-09-17)

Sisters Rose Ann Bacak, Sylvia Provost and Mary Ann Kuttner pack
and label shipping boxes at St. Mary of the Pines in Chatawa, Mississippi. (11-02-17)

Sisters Rose Anne Bacak and Carol Nishke take a break from helping pack
the collection in Chatawa, Mississippi. (11-02-17)

S. Gemma Dittle participates in the prayer service for the closing of the archives in
Chatawa, Mississippi. (11-02-17)

The sisters in Chatawa, Mississippi, gather for a photo before the loaded truck
departs to take the collection to the new archives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
(11-02-17)

S. Annora Polega admires the renovated space that once housed the bookstore
that she managed from 1992-2006 at Mount Mary University. (11-02-17)

S. Vicki Chambers, who has been helping with organizing the deliveries when
they arrive, works at a desk inside the archives main office. (11-02-17)

Michele Levandoski, the SSND archivist, recruited her husband, Charlie McVay,
to help organize collections as they arrived at the archives office. They take a
break after organizing some of the boxes from Mankato, Minnesota. (11-02-17)

Sister Mary Kay Ash gives instructions to Sister Joan Fink, Kathleen
Felt (volunteer) and Sister Marilyn McCue for the packing process.
(10-26-17)

Sisters Jovann Irrgang and Rita Wollschlager work together to
help assemble shipping cartons for the move. (10-26-17)

Sister Mary Kay Gosch and Volunteer Kathleen Felt pack boxes.
(10-26-17)

Boxes are stacked and ready for the move near the elevator.
(10-26-17)

Sister Mary Ann Kuttner lights a candle of the present during the
prayer service for the closing of the archives in Mankato. The two
other candles represent the past and the future. (10-26-17)

It’s close quarters in the freight elevator as Sister Mary Kay Ash
accompanies the movers with the first load of boxes. (10-26-17)

Boxes are moved from the elevator up a ramp to the truck. (10-26-17)

Several sisters gather to bless and bid farewell to the truck. (10-26-17)

Michele Levandoski, the new archivist for the School Sisters of Notre Dame,
shows her excitement at the arrival of the first truck with the collections
from SSND campuses in Wilton, Connecticut, and Baltimore, Maryland. (10-19-17)

From left, Sister Marie Estelle Kuczynski, Sister Suzanne Rene Sobczynski,
Sister Vicki Jean Chambers, Michele Levandoski and Sister Georgeann
Krzyzanowski were on hand at the new archives to welcome the first moving truck.
(10-19-17)

Michele Levandoski (far right) directs the movers while Sisters Vicki
Jean Chambers and Marie Estelle Kuczynski watch. (10-19-17)

Michele Levandoski talks to one of the movers at the loading dock at
Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, where the new SSND North American
Archives is located. (10-19-17)

Michele Levandoski opens the first box from the shipment that arrived with
the archives collections from Wilton, Connecticut, and Baltimore, Maryland.
(10-19-17)

Oversized volumes containing copies of the Chataway newspaper dating back
to the 1920s begin to fill the shelves in the new archives.
Some fragile materials and volumes were brought ahead of the boxed materials.
(10-19-17)

Sister Mary Ann Kuttner, SSND receives the keys to the new School Sisters
of Notre Dame North American Archives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after
completing a walk-through of the archives last week with Humberto Sanchez,
project manager for VJS Construction. (10-12-17)

Sisters at Villa Notre Dame in Wilton, Connecticut, admire the centerpiece
after the prayer service that was held before the move of archives materials to
the new consolidated archives in Milwaukee. (10-12-17)

Sister Barbara Bowers lights a candle signifying the future during the
prayer service. When Sister Barbara was on the Atlantic-Midwest
Province Council, she was the liaison for the archives. (10-12-17)

Sister Kay O'Connell lights a candle signifying the past during the
prayer service. (10-12-17)

Sister Mary Mendum helps put together boxes that will be used to
hold some of the materials being transferred from the Wilton archives
to the new SSND consolidated archives. (10-5-17)

Sister Dorothy Kosarko packs boxes in Wilton, Connecticut,
as part of the moving process to the new consolidated archives. (10-5-17)

Sister Carol Nishke looks at a copy of the Chataway, the paper for St. Mary
of the Pines school. The volume with the old newspapers will be in the
collection that is moved to the new consolidated archives in Milwaukee. (9-28-17)

A view of the "staging area" at St. Mary of the Pines as boxes are prepped
and organized for the move to Milwaukee. (9-28-17)

Sister Charlaine Fill, SSND, works with a file from a deceased School Sister
of Notre Dame in Baltimore in preparation for the move to the new
consolidated archives. (9-21-17)

Boxes and files from the archives of the former SSND Chicago Province
include records for deceased sisters, as well as directories and other
documents chronicling the life and ministries of the sisters. (9-21-17)

Files for deceased sisters from the former Chicago Province have been
moved temporarily to Elm Grove, Wisconsin, as part of the transition to
the new consolidated archives at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee. (9-21-17)

Sister Mary Kay Ash (right) shows Michele Levandoski, the new SSND
North American Archivist, the collection in Mankato, Minnesota. Sister Mary
Kay also walked Michele through several large databases that she will need
to do her work. (9-14-17)

A representative from the moving company meets with Michele Levandoski
(center) and Sister Mary Ann Kuttner to discuss logistics about moving all
the SSND archive collections in North America to the new consolidated
archives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (9-14-17)

The contents of this sealed, copper box from the cornerstone of the
former SSND Chicago Province Motherhouse in DeKalb, Illinois,
is a mystery. (9-7-17)

SSND archivists plan to open the sealed copper box before the rest
of the collection from Chicago is moved to the new archives. (9-7-17)

The Chicago collection, which is in temporary storage in Elm Grove,
Wisconsin, includes the blueprints for the former Motherhouse in DeKalb,
Illinois (in the brown box on the top shelf against the wall). (9-7-17)

Sister Carol Marie Wildt, SSND, looks through an old volume of
candidate photos from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
At the time, sisters were not allowed to have their photos taken after
they took their vows. (8-31-17)

Michele Levandoski (left) meets with Sister Carol Marie Wildt,
the archivist in St. Louis, to talk about the transfer of the collection
on the Sancta Maria in Ripa campus to the new consolidated archives
in Milwaukee this fall. (8-31-17)

This box was once part of the weekly pick-up and delivery of many metal boxes
containing starched wimples for the mission sisters. It could get very tiring
for postal workers carrying the boxes up and down the front steps of the
motherhouse in St. Louis. Although the box won’t be going to the new
consolidated archives, it is an interesting piece of SSND history. (8-31-17)

Among the items in the Chicago collection that will move to the new
consolidated archives are records and documents dating to 1862
from the SSND's first mission in Chicago at St. Michaels. (8-24-17)

Sister Mary Ann Kuttner looks through the files for St. Michael's
parish school in Chicago. The records date to 1862. (8-24-17)

The last remnants of construction are gathered as the site for the new
archives nears completion. (8-24-17)

From left, Sisters Carol Nishke, Carol Marie Wildt and Joan Frey tour the
new archives storage space. (8-17-17)

Sisters Kate DuVal, Joan Cook, Charlaine Fill and Deborah Cerullo peek
through the archives shelving. (8-17-17)

From left, Sisters Vicki Jean Chambers and Joan Frey examine the new
shelving. (8-17-17)

Mount Mary University President Christine Pharr (left) joined Sister
Mary Ann Kuttner and the other archivists during their tour of the new
archives at Mount Mary University. (8-17-17)

Mount Mary University President Christine Pharr (far right) greets
Sister Carol Nishke as Sisters Mary Kay Ash, Joan Frey and Charlaine Fill
look on. (8-17-17)

From left, Sister Joan Frey; Michele Levandoski, the newly hired
archivist; and Sisters Mary Kay Ash, Carol Nishke, Vicki Jean
Chambers, Carol Marie Wildt and Mary Ann Kuttner look at one of
the storage cabinets in the hallway outside the archive offices. (8-17-17)

From left, Sisters Mary Kay Ash, Mary Ann Kuttner and Charlaine Fill
are the members of the Archives Task Force, which coordinated the
consolidated archives project. (8-17-17)

From left, Michele Levandoski, who is the new archivist for the SSND
archives, and Sisters Kate DuVal, Gail Marie Johnson, Joan Cook,
Charlaine Fill and J.B. Schammel tour the archives. (8-17-17)

Framing for the storage shelves is almost complete. (8-10-17)

Construction supplies are stacked to the side as installation of the shelves continues
this week. (8-10-17)

Glass doors are in place for the archives offices. If you look through
the doorway at the end of the hallway, you can see the framing for the shelves.
(8-10-17)

Doors and window shades have been installed in the offices. (8-10-17)

Crates and boxes of shelving were delivered to the
North American Archives on Monday. Installation began almost immediately.
(8-10-17)

Work is underway on the heating and air conditioning system. (8-3-17)

Boxes of LED strip lights are stacked, awaiting installation
in the main archives room. (8-3-17)

The view from the main entry shows the new floor tile,
freshly painted walls and door framing on the offices. (8-3-17)

Tile now has been installed in all the offices and in the archives
storage area. (8-3-17)

A panorama view of the archives space. The door on the right leads
to the offices and entry. (8-3-17)

A coat of paint is rolled onto a wall in the front office. (7-26-17)

A collection of painting supplies in the archives. (7-26-17)

This panorama view shows the painting underway on the ceiling
and walls. The doorway on the right leads to the front offices and the
main entrance.(7-26-17)

Doors have arrived for the offices. (7-19-17)

Metal piping for electrical wiring has been installed
in the ceiling over the archives storage area. (7-19-17)

Cement bricks are stacked in preparation for installation in
the spot on the wall where a radiator was removed. (7-19-17)

A construction worker fills in the hole that was left when an
old radiator was removed. (7-19-17)

View from within the archives storage space - walls up, facing doorway
leading to the offices and front door. (7-12-17)

View from the front door - offices on the left. (7-12-17)

A panorama view of the SSND North American Archives
under construction at Mount Mary University (7-12-17)

A panorama view of the SSND North American Archives
under construction at Mount Mary University.
If you compare this with earlier panorama views, you will
notice that the room is much deeper. A yellow and white wall
with a doorway that had been straight ahead is now gone, creating
a more open space for storage. The framing on the right
side also is new this week. (7-6-17)

A construction worker stands near the markings
from a wall that was demolished to create a more open area
for the SSND North American Archives
at Mount Mary University. (7-6-17)

Framing for new offices in the SSND North American Archives
is almost complete. This view is from the main entrance door to
the archives. As you walk in, the offices will be on the left, and a
storage area will be built on the right. (7-6-17)

The view looking towards the main entrance door to the
SSND archives. Framing is almost complete for the offices,
which will be on the right and storage area, which will
be on the left. (7-6-17)

These framing and construction materials
will be used in the renovation. (6-28-17)

This wall will be removed to created a larger area for storage. (6-28-17)

This panorama shot shows the space being renovated.
The blue wall at the far left was part of a small, glass-framed
office, that has been removed. The yellow and white wall straight
ahead will be torn down with the next week to create more
storage space. The area on the far right, where the glass entry doors are
located, will be converted into offices. (6-28-17)

A view of the space for the new SSND North American Archives
before the renovation began this month. The small glass-enclosed
office on the left will be removed. (6-21-17)

A pile of lumber from the demolition. (6-21-17)

Old ceiling panels are being removed and will be replaced
with a drop ceiling. The floor tiles also will be removed
as part of the renovation. (6-21-17)

Demolition continues as the space is readied for the
construction phase. This corner had held a small
glass-enclosed office. It will be part of the storage area for
the archives. (6-21-17)

A view from the entry to the space. Offices will be constructed in
the foreground, and the archives will be farther back and around
the corner to the right (not visible in this photo). (6-21-17)

December 7
The School Sisters of Notre Dame’s archives collections from throughout North America all have arrived at the new consolidated archives at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Archivist Michele Levandoski placed the final box on a shelf last week. The transfer of all of the collections from 11 locations went smoothly, and nothing was damaged in transit. The archives will officially open Jan. 2.

November 9
During a visit to Milwaukee, Sister Joyce Nyakwama, provincial leader of the Province of Africa, stopped by the new School Sisters of Notre Dame North American Archives for a tour with Sister Zipporah Marigwa, who is a third year student at Mount Mary University. The archives include some materials and documents from Africa because several provinces have had sisters who were missioned in Africa over the years.

November 2
As the School Sisters of Notre Dame North American Archives takes shape, materials from the campus in Mankato, Minnesota, arrived this past week, while the collection from the campus in Chatawa, Mississippi, was packed and sent on its way. The transfers continue this month in anticipation of the consolidated archives’ opening after the first of the year. Updates on the progress will continue as there are new developments. The next posting is planned for the end of November.

October 26
School Sisters of Notre Dame archivists, along with a bevy of volunteers, made the final preparations last week for the transfer of archives at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Mankato, Minnesota, to the new North American Archives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They supervised the loading of the moving trucks, held a prayer service for the closing of their campus archives and blessed the shipment before the truck departed. The moving truck with all the materials is expected to arrive on Thursday. The moving process will continue for the rest of the month.

October 19
They’re here! It was an exciting day Tuesday in Milwaukee as the first shipment arrived at the new School Sisters of Notre Dame North American Archives! Sisters were on hand to greet the truck, which arrived with documents and materials from Wilton, Connecticut, and Baltimore, Maryland. Collections from the other SSND campuses in North American are expected to arrive over the next few weeks. The next steps involve unpacking and sorting in preparation for the official opening in 2018.

October 12
Sister Mary Ann Kuttner, SSND, has received the keys to the new School Sisters of Notre Dame North American Archives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! VJS Construction is finishing up small details this week, and we are expecting the first moving truck to arrive next week with materials from Wilton, Connecticut, and Baltimore, Maryland! This week, the sisters in Wilton held a prayer service before the move, lighting candles to signify the past and the future.

October 5
School Sisters of Notre Dame in Wilton, Connecticut, are making the final preparation for moving their archives to the new consolidated archives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The moving trucks are scheduled to be in Wilton on Oct. 11 and are expected to arrive in Milwaukee between Oct. 16-23! The transfer of collections from other SSND campuses will take place throughout October and into late November.

September 28
At the School Sisters of Notre Dame’s campus at St. Mary of the Pines in Chatawa, Mississippi, Sister Carol Nishke met this week with Michele Levandoski, the archivist for the new consolidated archives, to share details about the SSND collection and progress preparing it for the move to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A fun fact about St. Mary of the Pines is that the Hollywood actress Maureen O’Hara married Will Price there during the Christmas holidays in 1941!

September 21
Archival materials documenting the life and mission of the School Sisters of Notre Dame include records for more than 9,000 sisters from North America who have entered into eternal life. Each of these sisters will have a file in the new consolidated North American Archives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In preparation for the move to the archives this fall, all those records originally housed in hanging files had to be transferred to folders and then put into boxes. It is estimated that 30 record boxes of deceased sister files will be come from Baltimore alone!

September 14
Continuing her visits of the SSND archives throughout North America, Michele Levandoski met with the archivists in Mankato, Minnesota, earlier this month to learn more about their collection. She also met with a representative from the moving company that will be coordinating the transfer of the materials from all the campuses to the new consolidated archives at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. More photos have been added in the slideshow on this page.

September 7
The process of sorting and preparing materials for transfer to the new School Sisters of Notre Dame North American Archives has revealed a little mystery: a sealed, copper box that was recovered from the cornerstone in the former Chicago Province Motherhouse. The box will not go into the new archives at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; however, the sealed box may contain documents that could be stored there. The SSND archivists plan to open it sometime before the move to find out! The collection from Chicago also includes the blueprints for the former Motherhouse, which was constructed in 1965 in DeKalb, Illinois, and they will be going to the new archives.

August 31
The new archivist for the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Michele Levandoski, is in the process of visiting each of the SSND campuses in North America as the sisters prepare their collections for transfer to the new consolidated archives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Michele was in St. Louis, Missouri, last week, where she spoke with Sister Carol Marie Wildt, SSND, about the collection there, had a peek into an old photo album from the late 19th-early 20th centuries and learned a bit of history about the post office the sisters operate. The collection in St. Louis is quite large and could fill more than two rows in the new archives. Read more about the post office here.

August 24
As the last bits of construction debris and equipment are cleared away from the site for the new consolidated School Sisters of Notre Dame North American Archives, the collections are being prepared for transport from the various campuses. The first collection to begin the journey is from Chicago, Illinois. It currently is in storage at Notre Dame of Elm Grove in Wisconsin. Among the many interesting items in this collection are the documents and records going back to 1862 for St. Michael’s parish school, the sisters’ first mission in Chicago. The school and the sisters’ convent burned to the ground in 1871 during the Great Chicago Fire, which destroyed thousands of buildings in more than three square miles and killed roughly 300 people. All the sisters escaped safely. Their harrowing account of the fire is reported in the "Chronological Sketches" for 1871 that were published with the SSND Directory for the following year. You can read the sisters' account of the fire here.

August 17
The SSND North American Archivists took time out of their meeting on Wednesday to tour the new North American Archives office, which is nearly finished at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee. The shelves have been installed and the painting completed. The archivists devoted much of their meeting time this week to addressing the complicated logistics of packing and moving the documents and materials currently stored in archives on SSND campuses throughout North America. The move to the consolidated archives will take place throughout the fall.

August 10
What once was a wide-open, empty space is filling rapidly as shelving is installed in the new SSND North American Archives at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The shelves will hold hundreds of boxes of archival materials documenting the life and mission of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, not only in North America but also in other parts of the world. The earliest accounts can be found in the chronicle that was kept in Baltimore where sisters lived at St. James and began teaching in three different schools in 1847. Registers record reception and profession ceremonies, the first of which were held in Baltimore in 1849. Not all documents are paper-based, and photographs, media of all types and digital material produced in the 21st century contribute to a wide array of resource material by and about the School Sisters of Notre Dame that will be available for research in the new archives.

August 3
With the installation of floor tiles and trim, freshly painted walls and some lighting in place, the new SSND North American Archives space is beginning to look much brighter. The oldest item in the collection, which will move into the space this fall, is a book entitled Ceremonial des Religieuses de la Congregation de Nostre-Dame, which was printed in 1690. The book is in Latin and French and describes various aspects of the religious life of the members of the Congrégation Notre-Dame and includes the celebration of the sacraments and the praying of the Divine Office. The most used section of the book contains the rituals for reception into the novitiate and the profession of vows. One of the hymns and verses with square chant notation arranged on four-line staves is the “Suscipe,” which School Sisters of Notre Dame still sing today on special occasions.

July 27
The renovation of the SSND North American Archives at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee has moved into the painting phase this week! Although most of the documents that will be housed in the new archives are in English, many documents written in German reflect the origins of the congregation in both Europe and America. The roots of the congregation lie deep in the past, which accounts for archival material written in Latin and French. You could trace the growth and history of the congregation through the languages found in its documents, which include Polish, Hungarian, Italian, Czech, and Slovenian, followed by Spanish and Portuguese as spoken in South and Central America. A limited number of documents in languages such as Chamorro, Japanese, Nepalese and Ghanaian are evidence of the sisters’ response to the call to serve God’s people in ever more distant lands.

July 20
A recent visit to the site for our SSND North American Archives at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee shows the ongoing progress. Since last week, the metal piping for electrical wires has been installed on the ceiling, office doors have arrived and the holes left where old radiators were removed are being filled with cement bricks. More photos have been added in the slideshow on this page.

July 13
Take a one-minute video tour of the renovation work underway for the SSND North American Archives at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee! A lot of progress is being made, with walls now up for the offices. This week, it also was announced that Michele M. Levandoski has accepted the new archivist position, and she will begin next month! Additional photos have been added in the slideshow on this page.

July 6
As work continues on the new SSND North American Archives, the demolition phase is winding down and construction is beginning. Maintaining an archive goes back to the congregation’s foundation in Neunburg vorm Wald, Germany, on October 24, 1833. In a letter dated March 29, 1834, Blessed Theresa Gerhardinger requested that the city council in Neunburg issue a receipt for the money that she had received from King Louis I for renovating the building in Neunburg so that she could place it in “the convent archives.”

Later references to the convent archives in Blessed Theresa’s letters include a record of negotiations regarding the opening of a new mission, a register book in which receptions and professions were carefully recorded and documentation of the transfer of the Poor Clare Convent in Munich by King Louis I to the sisters for use as their motherhouse.

June 28
Progress continues on the renovation of the new space for the SSND North American Archives! Old floor tiles have been removed, and the next steps include demolishing a wall, which will create a more spacious storage area, and constructing the framing for offices. The greatest challenge for this project was finding an available, suitable space with sufficient square feet, a layout that could be adapted for an archives, accessibility and the ability to be secured. The space in Bergstrom Hall at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, met these criteria! Watch for more updates in the coming weeks.

June 21
We’re excited to see the start of the renovation for the new home of the School Sisters of Notre Dame’s North American Archives at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! Demolition and construction began earlier this month and will continue through the summer. We anticipate moving the archives - 2,800 linear feet of materials from 11 collections - into the new space this fall. Stay tuned for more updates as work progresses!