The national archives of the U.S. Province is housed in a former branch of the St. Louis Public Library.

The Society purchased the building in 2001 to make room for its growing archival collection, previously housed in a former convent infirmary at Villa Duchesne.

Guests streamed in for tours during the afternoon and more than 100 stayed for the ceremony on the front lawn at 3 p.m. Sister Kathleen Hughes, Provincial, invoked God’s blessing on all who work in or use and archives and quoted good wishes sent by Sister Clare Pratt, the Society’s Superior General in Rome. “May all who cross the threshold … find what they seek … and leave deepened and enriched by the wisdom and lessons of carefully kept records that are a gift not only to the Society but the history of other religious congregations, the Church in the United States … since 1818.”

The Society of the Sacred Heart was the first women’s religious order to settle in the St. Louis area, making the archives a rich source for historians of the region as well as for historians of the Society and religious life in the United States. The collection contains relics of Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, along with more than a million documents that tell the 185-year-old story of the Society in this country, which dates to 1818, when Philippine Duchesne and her pioneer band brought the Society to the United States from France.

During the open house, Sister Frances Gimber, Archivist, conducted tours for guests, as did members of her staff, Sister Mary Lou Gavan and Sacred Heart Associate Kay Schmitt, and alumnae from St. Louis.

Sister Gimber noted in an article for Update, a Society publication, that the Province “owes an incomparable debt” to the RSCJ who have helped to build, organize and preserve and collection over the years: Sisters Mary C. Wheeler, Marie Louise Martinez, Marie Louise Padberg, Elizabeth Farley, Elizabeth O’Connor and Margaret Phelan. Sister Phelan, Sister Gimber’s immediate predecessor as Archivist for the U.S. Province, moved recently to Rome to begin work as General Archivist for the Society worldwide.

Alumnae and alumni attending the open house represented six schools founded by the Society in St. Louis: Maryville University, Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill, City House and Barat Hall (both now closed) and the Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Charles, where a shrine to Philippine Duchesne draws visitors from around the world.

Alumnae serving as co-hostesses for the event included Barbara Lopiccolo of Detroit, president of Associated Alumnae of the Sacred Heart, Nancy Agnew, former AASH president, and Jeanne O’Fallon, executive secretary.

Area newspapers publishing articles about the dedication included the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the St. Louis Review, the newspaper of the St. Louis archdiocese.

To read the Post-Dispatch article, click here .
To see a copy of the dedication program,  click here.
To learn more about the history of the archives, click here.

Sister Kathleen Hughes, Provincial, presides over a dedication ceremony on the front lawn.	Guests gather on the front lawn for the dedication ceremony.	Sister Kathleen Hughes, Provincial, and members of the U.S. Provincial Team greet arriving guests in the foyer of the new archives.
Sister Frances Gimber visits with Sam Sciortino, head of school at Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill, and Sister Sally Stephens, rscj.	Sister Mary Lou Gavan, a member of the archives staff, leads a group on a tour of the new archives.	Waiting their turn to sing or read prayers at the dedication ceremony are (from left) Lisa Delicath, Sister Sheila Hammond, Barbara Lopiccolo, Sister Mary Lou Gavan and (head down) Sister Frances Gimber. Sister Kathleen Hughes is at the podium.
Sister Joan Gannon talks with a guest on the front lawn.	Guests (from left) Amy Schisler, Wally Strochbach, Kay Schmitt and Sister Paula Toner meet in the archives’ research room. Kay Schmitt is a Sacred Heart Associate and a member of the archives staff.	Jeanne O’Fallon (standing) talks with Marcella Sanders, a recently retired member of the archives staff.
Sacred Heart Sister Frances Gimber and Ursuline Sister Rosemary Meiman, archivists for their respective congregations, stand by a display featuring Saint Philippine Duchesne.	Sister Frances Gimber (right), Cynthia Barbee, a member of the Provincial House staff, and her mother, Jewell, watch arriving guests.	Sister Gimber and Sister Hughes greet guests from the doorway into the archives reading room. On the wall is a painting of Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne by Ohio artist William J. Schickel.