Alumnae files from Academy of Our Lady (AOL), a Catholic girls’ school owned and operated by the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) for nearly 125 years, will be transferred this fall to the SSND North American Archives (NAA) in Milwaukee.
The school, known informally as Longwood Academy from the name given to the area in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood where the school was located, closed in 1999. Since then, a group of dedicated members of the AOL Alumnae Association has maintained its alumnae files in a classroom at a nearby elementary school. Those same volunteers are now busy sorting and packing the materials for their move to Milwaukee.
The SSND NAA already houses collections from SSND schools throughout the United States and Canada, including those of AOL. The addition of the materials from the AOL Alumnae Association will supplement what is already there by providing records on the thousands of AOL graduates through the years. The collection also includes yearbooks and bound copies of the Longwood News; photographs, scrapbooks, and posterboards covering events throughout the school’s history; reunion programs; and financial and administrative records of the alumnae association.
“The Academy of Our Lady collection is an important part of the archives because it was one of the oldest and largest schools; all you have to say is ‘Longwood’ and everyone knows what you’re talking about,” said SSND NAA Director Michele Levandoski. “And now, the alumnae records will be a great addition to the legacy of the school.”