This series contains records related to the ministry in Arnprior, Ontario, conducted by the Sisters of St. Joseph in the Pembroke diocese. The file contains limited information about this mission house. There is a data form, a brief chronology, and a note in response to questions about the mission.

This series contains records relevant to the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the diocese of London’s amalgamation with the Hamilton, Pembroke, and Peterborough congregations to become the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada. The records are from before, during, and just after the amalgamation. While material concerns all four of the congregations and the Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada, it was created by and primarily concerns the London Sisters.

The Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada was heavily involved in driving the amalgamation. In 1996 a video was shown to the London Sisters to bring awareness of the prospects of the religious communities and proposed uniting as one congregation. The London Sisters individually wrote reflections on this video. From 2007 to 2009 the Federation operated the Oneness Project which focused on interconnectedness and unity amongst the Sisters of St. Joseph and assessed four potential options of collaboration, one of which was amalgamation. This project resulted in newsletters, presentation slides, and the “Wisdom Gathering” report prepared by Sister Veronica O’Reilly. There is feedback from the London Sisters to the Oneness Project and the options presented at the 2009 Assembly.

Many of the records involved preparation for the amalgamation and the legal, organizational, and financial concerns related to the amalgamation. Other congregations of the Sisters of St. Joseph in the United States had undergone similar union of congregations. A booklet, timelines of their process, and minutes from meetings with these American Sisters were amassed by the Canadian Sisters in preparation for their own amalgamation.

Many committees and teams were formed and involved with preparing for and facilitating the transition, creating new goals and organizational structures for the amalgamated congregation, and communicating the process to the Sisters. Prayer pamphlets, minutes, and agendas from meetings as well as correspondence, newsletters, and reports from these teams and committees are present in this series. Those prominently featured are the Core and Local Futuring Teams, the Transitional Team, the Design Team, Chapter Planning Committee, Materials Resource Committee, Lay Advisory Committee, Website Committee, and the General Council. Select major topics include by-laws, insurance, finances, internal organizational structure, future planning, canonical and civil law requirements, and the creation of a website for the amalgamated congregation. There is also preparation for, and reports from, various Chapters and the Assembly where amalgamation and other options proposed by the Federation were discussed and voted on.

Another report included is “Evolving Design” which was created as part of the amalgamation process to outline the goals, governance, and process of the amalgamated congregation. There are several versions of this document from its creation process. It is based on the Sisters’ feedback on the congregation’s collective vocation and outlines the charism, the leadership structure, the role of the General Chapter, and contains a transitional constitution for the Sisters. It also outlines the duties of the Transitional Team.

There were many legal and financial issues which had to be addressed during the amalgamation. Forms, agreements, by-laws, acts, and correspondence with the Holy See, the Canadian government, solicitors, and Father Francis G. Morrisey about canonical and civil legal requirements for the amalgamation are present in this series. Some by-laws are internal and concern the operations and structures of the amalgamated congregation. Financial records, including budgets and arrangements for transfer of assets, for both the individual and amalgamated congregation are also included. There are also various iterations of guiding principles for the transition process and the amalgamated congregation.

The Sisters of St. Joseph of London had their final, binding vote on amalgamation at the Special Chapter in November of 2011 and there is an album of photographs documenting the event. The formal installation of leadership of the amalgamated congregation was held in 2013, and there is an invitation and brochure from the event. There are also correspondence and statements concerning press releases about the amalgamation.

This series documents the Community Days. The series contains material covering ten different years. The Community Days were not held every year, but Assembly meetings were held every two years, and Chapter meetings were held every four years. The series contains various materials related to these meetings. Some of the most interesting materials include, for example, a Windsor workshop that taught Sisters to experience negotiation, meditation, and to practice active listening communication; the celebration of the 125th Anniversary (1993); a workshop on managing differences and conflict situations (2002); and other workshops and conferences.

The series contains schedules of congregational days, leadership style notes, spiritual exercises, prayers, workshop notes, “coming soon” reminders and “welcome” sheets, musical sheets for prayers and songs, short writings about the congregational history, correspondence related to the Community gatherings, reviews of new publications, ceremonies and celebrations, talks, corporate stances, photocopies of articles or short book chapters. It also contains printed brochures with prayers, theological reflections, other kinds of spiritual reflections, and conference materials.

This collection contains draft biographies of some of the General Superiors, final copies of biographies prepared by the archivist for all General Superiors from 1870-2007, and a script for a television play about the General Superiors called “Our Little Design – A Tribute to St. Joseph” in which Father Medaille, the founder of the congregation, interviews each General Superior from Mother Ignatia Campbell to Sister Katherine McKeough concerning her life.

This sous-fonds contains records pertaining to Sister Margaret Ferris’s education, professional career, artistic endeavors, personal life, and travels. Sister Margaret Ferris was an avid academic and eventually became an instructor. There are various records from her academic pursuits present here, including her many degrees and certificates, research notes, papers, theses, report cards, transcripts, photographs, a scrapbook, and regalia from her Doctorate commencement ceremony. Based on her areas of interest in her studies, she wrote and published a book in 1993 called Compassioning: Basic Counselling Skills for Christian Care-Givers which was translated into Chinese in 2010. Drafts, correspondence with publishers, English and Chinese editions of the book, and material from the book launching party are included. There are also records from when she was teaching. These records are primarily concerned with her career as an instructor at St. Peter’s Seminary and the adaptations of Compassioning: Basic Counselling Skills for Christian Care-Givers as course books for classes at the University of Western Ontario, but there is also a speech by Sister Margaret and her Stewards in Catholic Education Award.

Sister Margaret was an artist, and she created the design for the cards and pamphlets of the congregation’s 2004 Jubilee celebration, which was her Golden Jubilee. Original artworks, preliminary sketches, and replicas are included in this sous-fonds. She was also an avid traveler and photographs, travel diaries, a scrapbook, and ephemera from these trips are present. She made trips to Yellowknife, Quebec, Peru, Florida, California, Rome, and a pilgrimage to France. On the trip to Rome, she acted as a correspondent for the Catholic News Times. There are also personal memorabilia, such as photographs, scrapbooks, a papal blessing, a yearbook from St. Patrick’s High School where she was principal, and an invitation to the 1976 Opening of the Ontario Legislature reception.

Sous-fonds consists of artwork created by Sister Marie Celine Janisse, including pencil sketches and originals and prints of watercolour paintings. There is also personal and professional correspondence, news clipping, poetry, journal entries, and reflections, written both during and after her missions in Peru and Nicaragua. There are photographs, the majority in albums, of Sister Marie Celine’s artwork and of the Sisters with whom she worked. There is also a journal kept by Sister Marie Celine during a trip to the Holy Land.

This series contains material created and used by Mother Angela and research on her conducted by others. The series has four subseries. In it is found biographical information collected about Mother Angela McKeogh as well as a small card gifted by her to Sister Mary in 1910. There is also a copy of Oliver Diston Company’s Wreath of Mary: companion to May Chimes, 1883 annotated by Mother Angela in 1902, and handwritten sheet music for various hymns. Also found are photographs of Mother Angela. Finally, there is material related to the Ontario legislation on teaching French and allegations made against Bishop Michael Francis Fallon by the French community which eventually led to Bishop Fallon bringing a defamation case before the Holy Rota in Rome. While there is photocopied correspondence, the majority of the material is secondary research.

This series contains records belonging to and created by Mother Margaret Coughlin. This series includes personal biographic material like Mother Margaret Coughlin’s notebook, Bartholomew Coughlin’s obituary, and Mother Margaret Coughlin’s educational certificates. This series also includes various correspondence regarding Mother Margaret Coughlin’s Feast Day, congratulations, expressions of gratitude, seasonal greetings, Mother Margaret Coughlin and Sister Placidia’s pilgrimage to Rome, the erection of the stations of the cross at Sacred Heart Convent (some of which is in Latin), and correspondence from Sisters in Le Puy and Lyon, France (some of which is in French). Included with the correspondence is a St. Joseph’s Alumni Bulletin and some pamphlets in French. There is also administrative correspondence with the Bishop of the Diocese of London, J. C. Cody, and a letter of thanks and congratulations from Rev. Durand. There are photographs of Mother Margaret Coughlin and a portrait of her father, Bartholomew Coughlin. There are also photographs, postcards, pamphlets, and news clippings from Mother Margaret Coughlin and Sister Placidia’s travels to Rome and France and scrapbook of the Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome and visits to Lyon and Le Puy on the occasion of the tercentenary of the Sisters of St. Joseph which has photographs, news clippings, and postcards pasted inside alongside a typed account. There is also material, primarily correspondence, concerning the “Ireland project” and a sermon on Ireland by Bishop J. C. Cody. The “Ireland project” was a recruitment endeavor to establish a Juniorate in Ireland from which young women could come and become novices in Canada where the Sisters would provide them with training in nursing or teaching.