This series contains material related to the receptions and professions of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Diocese of London, Ontario. The records are primarily concerned with Sisters who had their receptions and professions in London, Ontario and at the mission in Edmonton, Alberta. This series includes records related to the vows and vow ceremonies, which are the rituals involved in becoming a member of a religious community. These ceremony records include correspondence, invitations, seating charts, guest lists, and forms of vows. The first receptions occurred at Mount Hope which was the Sisters’ first motherhouse in London, and a historical summary of those early ceremonies is present. There are also scripts for speeches and homilies and written accounts. Photographs, prayers, and ephemera including booklets, programs, and newspaper clippings from these ceremonies are also present. One photograph is of the reception of a class of Sisters who had been recruited from Ireland by Sister Julia Moore. One pamphlet is from the 1987 Profession of the Sisters of St. Michael the Archangel of the Diocese of Ekiti, Nigeria. Various lists of Sisters’ ceremony dates, stages of religious life, deaths and withdrawals are also included. The vows present here are primarily in bound volumes, though some are on individual sheets of paper. Many of the volumes have related correspondence, renewals, or scripts for the vows (referred to as forms) tucked or pasted within. The vows are generally formulaic, though some are unique. Some, mainly first vows, list the Sisters’ hometown, age, and parents.
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This series contains the annals of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Hamilton, Ontario’s ministry in Guatemala. In October 1963, Sisters Francis Xavier Ruth, Marie Garnier (Joan) McMahon and Bertille Riordan started a mission in Guatemala. They traveled to Teculután to establish a school. A construction committee was formed to buy a plot of land the belonged to the Casteñeda-Rossal family for the school and convent. The town gave half of the land to the Sisters and Don Carlos Piaz of the construction committee provided the other half. The Sisters raised funds to pay for the construction of the buildings. The school opened on January 18, 1965. It was officially inaugurated and named Colegio San José on March 19, 1965. The school offered both elementary and secondary programs and was fully approved by the Guatemalan Ministry of Education. Education was also extended through the airwaves, where literacy programs were broadcast. Evangelization work occurred through catechetics in the schools, the local parish, and through radio programs. In the 1970s, a beca program was created. This program collected donations in-order-to help fund children’s education.
Several other projects were initiated in addition to the school. In 1969, a dentistry clinic was built. The clinic provided a space for nursing Sisters to treat the sick. Several of the Sisters also worked in the local clinics. In 1977, Sister Mary O’ Sullivan started the Nutritional Centre to help children with malnutrition receive care. A focus was also placed on pregnant mothers, and the Sisters provided nutritional advice to ensure the health of their infants. The Nutritional Centre officially opened on August 22, 1978.
In 1976, an earthquake devastated Guatemala. Restoration programs commenced shortly after. The Sisters lent the football field of the school to be used for temporary housing for the 200 workers who had lost their homes during the disaster. The Sisters in Hamilton started “Operation Guatemala,” a charity effort to raise funds and send supplies to the devastated country.
Sister Aloysia Fischer was responsible for the organization and administration of the Christian Children’s Fund, which was an American program, from 1972 to 1976. She also administered the Guatemala Education Bursary (C.O.G.E.B.) in 1975. This bursary program was created by Bishop Reding of the Hamilton Diocese. He wanted to start a program like the Christian Children’s Fund but with Canadian and Diocesan roots. The program provided Teculután families with financial assistance to help with school costs. Participating children had to attend Colegio San José or the local school and mothers had to attend one hour of cooking, one hour of sewing, and one hour of nutrition classes per month. Sister Madeleine Graf later administered this program from 1977 to 1979.
The Sisters also were involved in bringing portable water and electricity to poor areas. The Sisters and priests brought running water to El Jute and Gúijo in 1978 and to the small village of Los Palmares in 1979.
The mission formally ended in November 1979 when the Sisters returned to Canada. That year, they relinquished control of the Colegio San José and the Nutritional Centre to the Capuchin Sisters of the Third Order. Although no longer directly involved in the mission, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Hamilton continued to send funds to Guatemala into the 2000s. Several Sisters went back to Guatemala celebrate various milestones. For instance, Sisters Madeleine Graf and Marie Garnier (Joan) McMahon returned to Teculután in 2005 for the 40th anniversary of the Colegio San José.
This series contains written histories and recollections including annals, correspondence, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, publications, donation lists, financial reports, legal documents, class lists, photographs, negatives, and meeting minutes.
Sin títuloThis fonds contains records produced during the time the Sisters administered and worked at Mount St. Joseph Centre in Hamilton. It also consists of records which were produced by the Woodview Children’s Centre and Cool School in Burlington and Hamilton. These institutions grew out of Mount St. Joseph Centre after it ceased its functions. The records that encompass this collection are of historical importance because they offer a snapshot of special needs education during the latter half of the twentieth century. The fonds consists of bylaws and policies, correspondence, proposals and reports, a scrapbook, meeting minutes, financial records, newspaper clippings, photographs, publications, invitations, addresses, and legal documents.
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Series contains correspondence, deeds, photographs, and newspaper articles about Mount Hope Motherhouse in London, Ontario before its purchase and while it was operating. Earliest records include a report card from 1868, a letter dated 1869, and an original deed of land dated 1883. Records from the late 1920s to 1960s include original newsclippings. Many of the records are undated photographs, photocopies, or typed histories and biographies. The latest record dated 2005 is email correspondence.
Sin títuloThis series consists of contracts, deeds, plans, and newspaper clippings relating to Hellmuth College from 1866-1952. There is a general history and photographs of Hellmuth College. The series includes photographs of the Chapel and Motherhouse. The series contains a description of the layout of the Orphanage as well as information regarding the day-to-day routines. The series also contains notes on the process of purchasing the Mills property and written summaries of ecclesiastical events such as the Eucharistic Congress at Mount St. Joseph in July, 1923 and the visit of Cardinal Villeneuve in 1934. There are also special issues of the Western Gazette and magazine and newspaper articles, including a biography of Bishop Hellmuth, and the building of the new Motherhouse.
Sin títuloThis series contains the correspondence, programs from the award ceremonies, photographs and certificates reflecting the various awards presented to the Congregation.
Sin títuloThe series contains oral histories and autobiographies of some of the Sisters of St. Joseph in the London Diocese. Many of the oral histories included were conducted for the Federation Collaborative History Project. The Federation includes the Congregations of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Toronto, Hamilton, London, Peterborough, Pembroke, and Sault Ste. Marie. The oral histories included in the Federation project are those of a select few Sisters. These Sisters are Noella Armstrong, Mary Doyle, Augustine Long, Margaret Ferris, and Cathleen Flynn. The Sisters discussed memories of their childhood and their lives before entering the convent, the call to service, and stories of their years preparing to become a professed Sister. This series includes digital and printed transcripts of oral history interviews with the Sisters, e-mail correspondence regarding the Federation oral history project, and a newspaper clipping.
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The fonds consists of histories for Killam, Galahad, Rimbey and Stettler hospitals that have been combined to create a history of the Alberta hospitals run by the Sisters of St. Joseph. Killam General Hospital was opened for the longest period of all these hospitals, and therefore a large quantity of the combined history is about this hospital. Along with the series for the histories of the four hospitals, there are series for commemorative and administrative materials. The fonds contains community histories, a timeline, staff listings, correspondence, newsletters, pamphlets, and photographs.
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This sous-fonds contains materials related to the activities of the St. Joseph's School of Music, including rosters of staff and students, music festival results, sheet music, photographs and scrapbooks.
Sin títuloThe sous-fonds consists of a variety of materials related to the Sisters of St. Joseph Concert Band, including photographs, various textual records, scrapbooks, audio cassettes, and compact discs.
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