ACWR Conference
“Religious Archivists: Our Quest For The Best”

by Sister Mary Louise Sahm, SFP

Archives Staff viewing wreaths worn at Professions and Jubilees Artifacts preserved at SFP Museum

Sister Mary Louise Sahm and Mary Milburn attended the fifth triennial conference of the Archivists for Congregations of Women Religious, held in northern Kentucky, September 28-October 1, 2006. 

 “Religious Archivists: Our Quest For The Best” was the theme of the conference, emphasizing the role and responsibilities of archivists within their congregations.  Almost two hundred Sisters came from around the country to share their experiences and ideas with others in their field.  It proved to be an excellent opportunity to renew past learnings and take home some new and helpful ideas. Sister Mary Louise was elected in April and formally appointed as secretary of the ACWR organization at this conference.

The opening plenary session, “The History of the Church in Cincinnati,” was given by Roger Fortin, Xavier University.  He offered an overview of the Church in Cincinnati from 1821 to the present.  He highlighted the role of women religious in the archdiocese and identified them as the “backbone” of the Church.  Sarah Peter’s role in bringing the Sisters to Cincinnati was emphasized with special mention of our congregation’s pioneer role in the development of the church.

William Maher, University of Illinois Archivist, discussed copyright laws that pertain to photocopying, plagiarism, rights of authors and their heirs, and rights and responsibilities of institutions.  He referred us to Kenneth Crews’ “Fair Use Checklist” and other resources available to archivists.

Other sessions attended by Sister Mary Louise and Mary were:

• “Stewards of the Story: A Spirituality for Archivists” by Sr. Regina Bechtle, SC, New York. She reminded the participants that archivists are to keep their congregation’s story alive by bridging the past and present, including “their miracles and their brokenness.” She urged them to keep spirituality alive in their archives as they realize how their role is part of God’s total creation. 

• “Approaches to Software and Hardware for Archives,” facilitated by Vickie Cravens, OSU, archivist at Maple Mount, Kentucky.  Sister was pleased to realize that the program we currently use in our archives for our inventory and finding aids, Microsoft Access, is one of the most recommended and well-suited for use in small archives such as ours.

• A session on oral history presented by Mary Ellen Gleason, SC, Archivist,  Convent Station, New Jersey.  Sr. Mary Ellen discussed how an oral history program is conducted and preserved.

• A session on preserving photographs turned out to be a dynamic and informative session.  Group discussion focused on selection of photos to be retained and preservation techniques.