School Sisters' Archive opening houses over 325 years of history
The School Sister of Notre Dame's (SSND) North American archives, which details the history and significant moments within the order, will open in early 2018 at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, WI.
The renovated space at the University will include 2,800 linear feet of materials from 11 collections. 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. A limited number of documents are in other languages which represent the growth of the SSND as an international organization. Languages represented include: Polish, Hungarian, Italian, Czech, and Slovenian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chamorro, Japanese, Nepalese and Ghanaian.
The oldest item in the collection is a book entitled Ceremonial des Religieuses de la Congregation de Nostre-Dame, and was printed in 1690. The book is in Latin and French and describes 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 is the "Suscipe," which School Sisters of Notre Dame still sing today on special occasions.
The SSND North American Archives is open to the public Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Appointments are preferred and can be made by contacting the archivist: 414-930-2706 or mlevandoski@ssnd.org.
Media coverage:
Archivist maintains SSND history
Archivist Michelle Levandoski preserves and maintains the SSND collections. Archival materials include records for more than 9,000 sisters from North America who have entered into eternal life.