Oral History: Sr. Rose Angela Cunningham
Dublin Core
Title
Oral History: Sr. Rose Angela Cunningham
Subject
Sister Rose Angela Cunningham
Description
An oral history of Sister Rose Angela Cunningham, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1925 until 2007. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on February 22, 1987.
Sister Rose Angela Cunningham - born Catherine Cunningham on April 8, 1906 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in September of 1925. She received a bachelor's degree in home economics from Seton Hill College in 1930 and a master's degree in nutrition from Columbia University in 1941. She taught in the Home Economics department at Seton Hill College from 1931-1980, also teaching in the Summer Sessions from 1942-1972. Sister Rose Angela died on January 30, 2007.
Creator
Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill
Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill
Publisher
Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill
Date
1987-02-22
Rights
All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Format
Audio cassette tape
Language
English
Type
Oral history
Identifier
OH-42
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Interviewer
Sr. Marie Corona Miller
Interviewee
Sr. Rose Angela Cunningham
Location
Seton Hill College
Transcription
1
OH 42-1 Sr. Rose Angela Cunningham
This interview is being conducted as part of the Oral History program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister Rose Angela Cunningham. The interviewer is Sister Marie Corona Miller. It is being done at Seton Hill College. The date is February twenty-second , nineteen eighty-seven.
SMCM: Sister, I'm very happy to be with you today, to talk about some of the things that you have experienced as a Sister of Charity. Knowing that you have spent your entire Religious life here at Seton Hill College, I think there are many wonderful memories that you could share with us today. Would you like to begin?
SRAC: I was born in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania on April eighth, nineteen hundred six. My parents were Katherine Costella Cunningham and James Cunningham. I have three brothers and two sisters, one of whom, of course, is Miriam Francis, who entered the Community six years before I did. I never went to a Catholic school, because we didn' t have Catholic schools in Neville, a town in Waynesburg at that time. In fact, they still have none and probably never will. However, I enjoyed a good elementary education and remember my teachers very well. We had Religious instruction from our parish priest and went to Catechism every Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. It was planned that way for reception of the Sacraments.
SMCM: Sister, were those classes taught by Sisters?
SRAC: No, Father Dennis Maloney was the pastor that I remember so well. He taught the classes.
SRAC: My mother told me that she was born in Ireland, of course. My father was born in this country. My mothers ' parents left Ireland from County Mayo to go to England where my grandfather, my mother' s father, hoped to find work. After living there for a number of years, it was decided that there was more opportunity in America. So, my grandfather, grandmother, and their family, which included two aunts, one uncle (the second uncle was born in America) were to leave from England. It just so happened that when they were ready to board the boat, my mother was ill. She was only two years old and wasn' t allowed to go with them. The captain felt that she might have a contagious disease. I think they feared Scarlet Fever. So, what were they to do? My relatives, the Kerry family, who lived there in England were there to see them off and they had my mother with them. There was nothing else to do. They had to board the ship and leave her behind. She grew up in England until she was fifteen years old. They never had enough money to send her passage fare. All those years, my mother never knew her mother and father, since she lived with cousins. I think that might account for the fact that she became quite a baker and quite a cook of English foods because she often in later years would make a bread which she called English Christmas bread that we all like so much at home. Anyway, when she was fifteen, my grandfather finally was able to send money over for her to come to the States.
She tells the story about being all alone on the boat, being deathly ill and frightened. She was only fifteen, nobody with her, and it took so long. I think it took a couple of weeks at that time.
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SMCM: It probably did take that long.
SRAC: She finally arrived in New York. When I see the pictures now of how the immigrants were looking at the Statue of Liberty and cheering, I think of my mother. She never saw that, and if she did, she never told us about it. I think she was down in one of the lower decks. Anyhow, the hard part of it for her was that there was a failure of communications between my family, who lived in the South Side of Pittsburgh and the cousins in England, as to when the ship would arrive and so on. When she landed, there was no one there to meet her. There she was, fifteen years old, not knowing anyone. She said I guess they took pity.on me wherever they went, Ellis Island, perhaps. Someone took care of her overnight. She had her parents' names and where they lived, so someone contacted them from Pittsburgh. She didn't know her mother or Father, so that was a traumatic experience for her.
Then they moved from Pittsburgh to Waynesburg where my Father became a railroader. My Mother met him in Pittsburgh, of course, and they moved to Waynesburg, because my uncle had already gone there and had a fairly good job with the W & W Railroad. He got my father a job there, so that's where we grew up.
SMCM: Where is Waynesburg, Sister?
SRAC: It's about thirty miles south of Little Washington. I would say about fifty miles south from Green County in PA. It's a beautiful little town, but very prejudiced toward Catholics. It's very much a Presbyterian town. They had a College which was Presbyterian. There were wealthy people there who made money in the Coal Industry and still do.
I went to Waynesburg High School until my Sophomore year when my Mother died.
Sister Miriam Francis had already entered the Community in nineteen, nineteen. My younger sister, Elizabeth, was two years younger than I, two of my brothers were home, but my oldest brother had left. Therefore, it was thought that I should stay home and keep house, which I tried for a year. I'm not saying how well I did it. I didn't do well. At the end of the year, I guess my Father and Sister Miriam Francis thought that I should really finish High School. That Summer, there was a Summer School offering at Seton Hill, which I attended primarily because Sister Miriam Francis was there and she informed us about it. Of course, I fell in love with Seton Hill when I was there.
SMCM: Sister, you were attracted to the Sisters of Charity through your own Sister, I'm sure. Would you tell us what attracted Sr. Miriam Francis to the Community?
SRAC: Yes, my cousin lived in Sharpsburg and knew the Sisters of Charity because they taught at St. Joseph School in Sharpsburg. Mariah Linder, our cousin, knew my sister wanted to become a Sister. She wasn't much older than Sr. Miriam Francis and said: "You'll have to go to Seton Hill." She had two very dear friends, the McElligott Sisters...Mary Albert and Mary Bridget McElligott. Sister Mary Albert was Sr. Miriam Francis' sponsor. Mariah brought my Sister up to Seton Hill, so naturally she asked for Sr. Mary Albert. Sr. Mary Albert came and met my Sister. Mariah tells a story that she took her off some place. I don't know where, but I guess it was to meet the Mother Superior. Mariah often tells the story that when they came back, she could tell by Mary's (Sr. Miriam Francis) eyes that this is where she wanted to be.
SMCM: Thank you, Sister.
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SRAC: So, naturally she was here and during that Summer of nineteen twenty-four, I took a course in English. I forget what the other course was that I took. It so happened that Sister M. Paulina Glenn, who was Cornelia Glenn, Mother Claudia's niece, was here at the same time taking classes. She was already teaching school. We roomed together, so I got to know her.
What impressed me so much, and I think what really started me thinking about Religious life was going to Benediction. They had Benediction often, and at the end of Benediction there was always a certain hymn played. I thought it was so beautiful because we never had anything like that in our little hometown parish. "Adoremus in aetemum, sanctissimum" something like that.
We adore Thee Oh Christ, and we bless Thee forever and ever, but it was sung in Latin.
I never forgot that. I remember after going home and visiting our own parish that it would come back to me. Sr. Miriam Francis, before she entered made evening visits to our parish church every night. Because I was eight years old...younger than she was, she would take me with her. I remember walking with her, and sometimes having to hide from my younger sister because she would want to go too, and we didn' t want to take her. I thought I was great because I could accompany her as we walked. We lived in the south side of town and the church was quite a distance in the north side of town. We walked from South Side up and down Main Street and down to the little St. Anne' s Church which would always be dimly lighted. I would sit in there beside her as she prayed. I don' t think I prayed anything, but I just sat beside her thinking I was great because I was with her. I must tell her about that sometime. I think that's where my vocation really started, going with her.
SMCM: How old would she have been then?
SRAC: Well, she would have been about sixteen years old then, because she' s eight years older than me. She worked for a while. I guess she was about twenty-one when she entered. I'm not too sure, but she was older than I was when I entered.
SMCM: Was she the oldest of your brothers and sisters?
SRAC: No, my brother Joe, who is deceased, was the oldest. She was the second oldest. SMCM: And how many do you still have in your family now?
SRAC: There is my brother Leo, Sr. Miriam Francis and I. My younger sister died last July and my brother Jim died about five years ago.
I went back to school in the Fall and I finished after that. The next year, nineteen twenty-five, Sister Harriet Omlor, who had been here in college for a year, decided that was where she wanted to be. Sister Corinne Omlor, who was my age, decided that is where she wanted to be too. So, the three ofus entered together from Waynesburg in September of nineteen twenty-five. We were in the same group.
SMCM: How about Sr. Paulina Glenn? Was she going to enter too?
SRAC Yes, she was, but she didn' t come until about a year after we did. She entered with Sr. Miriam Joseph Murphy, who was also in Summer school, but she had finished her High School. At that time, I think you could teach without having gone to college. She was already teaching and entered about a year or so later.
SMCM: What was the date of your entrance?
SRAC: It was September eighth, nineteen twenty-five. There were twenty of us.
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SMCM: Can you recall the names of some of the others?
SRAC: Oh, yes. I believe there are eight ofus living. Sr. Stella Marie Beckel was the second oldest, Sr. Grace Marie Parker, Sr. Sara Marie O' Hara, Sr. Edith Fullen, Sr. Anselma Clougherty, Srs. Harriet and Corinne Omlor, myself, Sr. Mary Amy Nestor, Sr. Natalie Kent, Sr. Margaret Frances Coogan, Sr. Rosalie O' Hara, Sr. Rose Eileen Brazell, Sr. Evangelista Sofaly, Sr. Jean Marie Leonard, and Sr. Marcellus Buzzanell, who was the youngest. That's the most of them.
We've often been called "The Famous Twenty" because nobody left. We stayed throughout the whole novitiate which was five years in those days.
SMCM: Who was your Mistress of Novices
SRAC: Mother Mary Francis McCullough was our Mistress of Novices, and she was wonderful. She had been Mother Superior. She understood young people and overlooked a lot of things that we did. As I look back now, I can often see a little smile when she'd been scolding us, but couldn't quite bring herself to do it. However, she did discipline us.
SMCM: Did you say that Mother Mary Francis had help?
SRAC: Yes, Sr. Liguori Gillesspie was her assistant, and when Mother would go away, Sr. Liguori was in charge. In those days in the novitiate, it was common that if there was some misdemeanor that you committed, you were put in silence. Sr. Margaret Frances tells a funny story of being put in silence by Mother Mary Francis. Then Mother Mary Francis walked away and forgot that she wasn' t allowed to talk. She wasn' t gone long. Those were the days when you weren't permitted to ever talk in the dormitory, after night silence or in sacred places.
SMCM: Sister, do you have some memories of your novitiate days?
SRAC: We all had a charge and that charge was most important. When you were a white cap, that came before anything. I got into trouble a few times over that because I was put into Home Economics while I was still a white cap. Another teacher was needed in the department, so one day Mother Mary Francis came and asked me what I liked to do, which I thought was very strange. I said that I enjoyed Latin in High School, had received good marks, and was especially happy that Mother Maria Benedict Monahan taught me. I think Mother Mary Francis expected me to say: "Whatever you want me to do, I'd be glad to do it." I thought of that later, you know. She said: "Well, we' re going to put you into Home Economics, which was the other end of the spectrum.
Anyhow, that was where I was put the next year as a Novice. I had a full schedule, which was sixteen credits. Again your charge was important. Mine was to help clean or take care of the Priests' House every day. Sister Mary Kieran was in charge and I think Sr. Maurice McManama and I were helpers. We had to do Father Reeves' room first, and then Father Sullivan' s room.
There were two seculars rooms upstairs occupied by Mr. Dan Carr and one other teacher. I remember one time when a test was scheduled on a Saturday, I didn't go to do my charge. Sr. Mary Kieran must have reported me because I was really called to time and told that I should have mentioned this to Mother Mary Francis.
SMCM : Sister, was that the present Priest House?
SRAC: Yes, but it wasn't where it is now. The whole house was moved from where it was down to where it is now. It was up on a large bank where Bayley is now. The tennis courts were above it. They excavated all of that later when they built Sullivan Hall. The Priests' House was right
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there and that is where we went everyday.
SMCM: So, then it was closer to the campus? Was Canevin there?
SRAC: Yes, Canevin was built in nineteen twenty-five.. It was already there, as were the tennis courts. The Priest House was right along side of the tennis courts. There was a steep set of steps going up to it from down where the walk is now.
SMCM: So, you were there the entire canonical year? You weren't in the kitchen or dining room?
SRAC: No, I wasn't in the kitchen or dining room. I did help Sr. Mary Leonard Burns in the Priests' Dining Room. There of course are lots of stories. All of us who were Sr. Mary Leonard's assistants had stories to tell because she was one of those hyper active people who had to have everything just so. The priests were treated royally. I mean, everything was done for them then. The dining room was so perfect! Sr. Mary Leonard needed someone to run errands for her...someone to run back and forth between the kitchen and dining room. The priests had a special cook. Sister Ann Vincent McDonough was their cook for a while. We laugh about it now.
SMCM: Where was the Priests' Dining Room at that time?
SRAC: It was next to where the little kitchen on the ground floor is now. I think it still has "Refectory" above the door.
Sometimes after you got the black cap, you were sent out on mission to substitute. The only time I did substitute teaching was once during the month of September when the college didn't begin classes until the last week in September. A teacher was needed in Blairsville in the third and fourth grades. I subbed there that month and one other time somewhere else, but I don't recall where that was. I didn't have much mission experience at all.
SMCM: Sister, who were some of the other senior Sisters who were around when you were a Novice? You talked about the clothes room.
SRAC: Yes, Sister Agnes Francina Kearney had charge of the Novices' sewing room. It was located directly across from where our community room is now, to the left of the Oratory. That is where there were sewing machines and an ironing board. She had charge of our clothing....made sure that we kept our clothing mended. She checked on us now and then. It was not unusual for her to come and look at your habit to see if the hem was coming out or if something was ripped. If you couldn't do it yourself, she would help you. She guided us in our mending and made our white caps for us.
SMCM: So, she sort of helped Mother Mary Francis also?
SRAC: Yes, in that regard. Spiritually, Sr. Liguori Gillespie was next to Mother Mary Francis and she would take us for conferences when Mother wasn't there or was ill.
SMCM: Who was on the Council at the time?
SRAC: Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers was our Mother Superior, Sister Mary James Brownlee was Assistant, Sister Angela Sullivan, the Treasurer, and Sister Ignatius Loyola, the Procuratrix. Mother M. Eveline Fisher was the Mother Superior in nineteen thirty-three.
SMCM: Did Sr. Mary James Brownlee have Sisters in the Community?
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SRAC: Yes, she had two sisters...Sr. Francesca Brownlee, who was the first Dean of the College and Sister De Chantal Brownlee. Father Sullivan was the first President of the College. He was very fond of his students. He said if anybody wants to see one of his students, go ask the Dean. She may be seen, but don't ask D.R.S., Daniel Richard Sullivan.
SMCM: How were your years as a Novice for five years?
SRAC: Yes, we were novices for five years. Part of that time I was already studying in the college for my degree. It was really difficult getting everything done with school, your charge, prayers, etc. In my studies, I had laboratory classes which sometimes took me past meal hours. I'11 always remember Sr. Rose Marie Schneider though because she was in the Home Economics Department and I kind of fell into her tutelage as a novice.
I'm not a dietician. When we were selected, I was told that they needed a teacher, so I was to pursue teaching, and Sister Anselma Clougherty was going to be trained as a dietician. However, Sr. Anselma developed a Goiter in perhaps her second year of college and had to drop out. The year this was discovered we were on our way to Roselia Foundling to help out over the Christmas vacation because we weren' t out teaching as novices. So, to allow some Sisters from Roselia to come home for the Christmas Retreat we could help as we didn' t have other important things to do. On Sunday, we were to go to Roselia to spend Christmas and Sr. Anselma was to stop to see a doctor at Pittsburgh Hospital. He saw her and decided that she needed to stay to have treatment. They sent me over to Roselia and I, being from Waynesburg, didn' t know anything at all about Pittsburgh. I was to take a streetcar to 17th Street incline, go up the incline and that would bring me close to Roselia? Is that right? Anyhow, I was frightened to death. We didn' t have streetcars in Waynesburg. I managed to get up onto the incline and to the top of the
hill. By that time the street lights were coming on. It was dark, and I didn't know where the road
or the Foundling was either.
Beginning Tape 1 Side 2
SRAC: Now I can' t remember the Sister's family orto whom she was related, but she was stationed there at Roselia. I hadn' t had any dinner, but in the dining room there was a little old fashioned hot plate. Sister heated something for me to eat. The funny part was that I was sent the. next day to be in charge of a nursery room where all the girls who had their babies were.
Many of the mothers were there also, yet some were not. SMCM: What year was this, Sr. Rose Angela?
SRAC: That would have been about nineteen twenty-seven. I remember so well the one Sister saying: Well, what you have to do now is bathe all of these babies. There were thirty of them. We never had a baby in my home because I was next to the youngest. I didn't know what in the world I was going to do! I'll never forget that experience. Thank God, there were girls working there who helped. We took one baby at a time to the place where they bathed them. After bathing each baby (black or white), we took it back and put it in its crib. It was quite an experience let me tell you, but I go through it.
SMCM: How many days were you at Roselia?
SRAC: I was there during Christmas week only. I believe I went back again during one Summer, but it was not for long.
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Mother Rose Genevieve, thinking that I knew a little bit about office work because Sr. Miriam Francis did sent me to help Sister M. De Paul Brennan (Brennan 1/4 34 or McGill 7/19/47), who was then in charge of the Foundling. My job there was to copy a lot of the records and put them in some order. Sr. De Paul soon found that I wasn't quite as good as needed for this task. She must have called Mother Rose Genevieve and asked her to send someone else. Who came as the replacement in about a week? It was Sr. Maurice McManama . Sister Maurice did have the necessary skill, so she finished the job and I was sent back home to Greensburg.
SMCM: Did Sister Anselma ever get to Roselia?
SRAC: No, she had to have thyroid surgery. She was out of school for a while, so she didn' t finish her four years with me. She had to make up time. However, at the end of that time, she was sent to St. Mary' s, Rochester to do her internship. At the end of that year she was a certified dietician. She became a very fine dietician. They thought a lot of her up at St. Mary's. Then she became a dietician here at the college.
SMCM: When did you graduate from the college?
SRAC: I started in nineteen twenty-six and finished in nineteen thirty. I got my degree here at Seton Hill College. In fact, our class was the first class to receive their degrees over in Sullivan Hall. Before that, they got their degrees in Cecilian Hall. I went right into teaching in the Fall. When I think of it now no experience, no graduate work, but somehow or other we managed.
We learned on the job I suppose just as a lot of the teachers did. The Sisters who went out to teach in grade schools had to do the same in those days. I didn' t start any graduate work until nine years later. Then I was sent to a Teachers College. Well, I did have a couple of courses in Biochemistry before that, but all my graduate work was done in Summer school. I never had a year off.
SMCM: Sister, where did you go to Summer School?
SRAC: It was a Teachers College, Columbia in New York. Other than having experience in education at workshops, conventions and meetings of that nature, I did not have any further education. Of course, I had that trip to Europe, a gift from the Alumnae, which was a highlight in my life.
SMCM: Now, before you tell me about that, tell me about the Home Economics Department. SRAC: I taught Foods and Nutrition. That was to be my major field in nineteen thirty. I got my graduate work from nineteen thirty-nine through nineteen forty-one. Around that time Sister Anne Elizabeth Regan came into the Home Economics Department. She was to be the Chairman after Dr. Sanders left to go to Harrisburg. I continued teaching under Sr. Anne Elizabeth and took care of the Home Management House after Sr. Rose Marie discontinued. I was in the Home Management House from nineteen forty until perhaps sometime in the sixties where we lived with the students, ate all meals with them, and had charge of the baby. That was a long period of my teaching career.
SMCM: Where was the Home Management House? SRAC: One wing of St. Mary's was used.
SMCM: Now going back a little bit further. Tell me about the Home Economics Department
moving down to Saint Mary's.
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Sr. Marie Arthur Hamilton: Sister didn't really answer this question. She says: My recollection is that the Department moved to St. Mary's in nineteen twenty-eight. I was a student then, mainly doing what I was told, helping wherever I could, and studying at th-e same time. I wasn't teaching there until nineteen thirty, but was living there. It was much more simple in those days. You didn't have nearly as many activities as they have now.
SMCM: The Boys' School was down there.
SRAC: Yes, and when they moved out, Father Sullivan, Mother Rose Genevieve, and Dr. Sanders went down to evaluate it as a possible place for the Home Economics Department. SMCM: Who was Dr. Sanders?
SRAC: Pauline Sanders was the one in charge of Home Economics here. They always had a secular in charge until Sr. Anne Elizabeth Regan took her place. Sr. Anne Elizabeth was only in the department for a few years when she developed cancer of the throat. After her death in nineteen forty-five, I was made Provisional Chairman, and then Chairman after about a year. I was Chairman for about twenty years until sometime in the sixties. Then Sister Mildred Corvi (formerly known as Sr. Alice Louise Corvi) followed as Chairman. She was Chairman when we got the new bell.
SMCM: When those three people went down to look at the house, what developed from their decision to move that department down there?
SRAC: Well, we simply carried as much as we could. Sr. Anselma and I had a little wagon we used. All the material equipment we had was moved down and set up.
SMCM: Where were you moving from here at the college?
SRAC: From where the present Biology Lab is now....only two rooms. They had a sewing room which was in a different place...forget where that was. The Food Labs, Office and the little Dining Room were all along that section, which is the Biology Department right now.
SMCM: So the purpose was to get more space?
SRAC: Yes, because it was felt that there was a future for Home Economics. It was thought to be a growing field for women and we would eventually need even more space, which was good foresight on their part. Doctor Sanders was very alive as far as Home Economics was concerned. She graduated from Kent State in Ohio and did a lot for the college.
SMCM: How long was she at the college?
SRAC: She was here when I entered in nineteen twenty-five until I believe around nineteen thirty-nine or forty. She left thinking that she had more of a future if she could get into a state school. Her aim was to be in Harrisburg, and she finally made it. She said she would never forget the Harrisburg Catholic College because it was still prejudiced, so she took a job at Indiana State Teachers College. I remember telling her that I hoped that she would be back and she said that maybe she would. Having taught there, she was able to get the state job. She wanted to be in charge of Home Economics all over the state. This she did, but it wasn't as rosy a job as she had anticipated because of all the politicians. She was a Catholic, and Catholics were not held in high esteem. She had many duties with her superiors. I guess she was asked to leave because she was fearless and wanted you to know that she wasn't afraid to take strides.
When this happened to her, Sr. Rose Marie and I felt so bad for her that we went to Sister M.
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Francesca Brownlee. Sister Francesca asked her to come back. Doctor Sanders appreciated that, and we were happy that we had done it, but she decided not to return. She obtained a position at Misericordia College.
SMCM: When Saint Mary's was ready, what Sisters moved in?
SRAC: Sisters Rose Marie Schneider, Anselma Clougherty and I (Sr. Rose Angela Cunningham) were sent down to live there.
SMCM: And how did that go?
SRAC: Well, it was hard because we had to walk up to the Six AM Mass every morning. There were no cars. The college didn't even have a car. We never thought anything of it. In Winter and Summer, we walked up for Mass, went back, and walked up again for Reading. They had two sets of prayers... one at two PM, and one at five PM. We always went to the ones at five...Reading and Rosary. That went on until Vatican II Days.
SMCM: What were the accommodations like at St. Mary's?
SRAC: Three ofus lived in one room. There was a little bathroom connected with it which was almost primitive you would say. There was nothing fancy about it. It had a bathtub, a commode, and a sink. We had a coal furnace there. It was pretty cold many times.
SMCM: Was Sr. Rose Marie your Senior?
SRAC: Yes, I learned a great deal from her. I felt that it was a great privilege to have been under her tutelage because she always did so many things which she seemed to put her whole heart and soul into doing. We used to have a lot of fun too. During Thanksgiving and Christmas Vacation, it was usually a time when you were renovating your habit, making white sleeves, etc., Sisters came down from Seton Hill to be with us while we all worked together in the Sewing Room at St. Mary's on these things. Sometimes we turned a habit inside out and really made a new one out of it, made caps, and did things for some other Sisters. I remember making a first habit for Sister Caroline Lager. It was Sister Rose Marie who taught me how to be very careful in measurements, etc.,. She was very careful and exact about everything.
SMCM: What did you do for recreation in your early days at the college?
SRAC: We sat around. There were no televisions or radios. In nineteen twenty-eight, when Al Smith was running for President of the United States, Sister Rose Marie's brother gave her a little radio. She placed it on the mantle piece, and everyone went into that room to hear the talk that came over the radio. Sometimes we made cocoa and had some crackers with it at recreation. We talked, and of course damed, because our stockings always needed it.
SMCM: Did you do anything else during the Holidays.
SRAC: Well, there was always cleaning to be done. We just had one person. We did a lot of the cleaning. I remember scrubbing the floors, washing the walls, etc.,. One time during the War, when there were three bed rooms that the students used, living room, dining room, kitchen, I remember washing all those walls and ceilings myself. The students cleaned their rooms better than the students do now, but they had to be housecleaned.
SMCM: Sister, where was the rest of your group while you were at Saint Mary's?
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SRAC: Most of them were out teaching. They were black cap Novices then. Sister Anselma and I were the only two left.
SMCM: Did you make your Vows on December eighth?
SRAC: No, we made our Vows on January First, nineteen thirty, I guess. Before that, they had been making their Vows on Christmas Day. I believe our group was the first to make them in January.
Sr. Marie Arthur: Sr. Rose Angela did some rambling remembrances of retreats here.
SRAC: I remember my first retreat as a White Cap. I'll never forget that. It was a highlight in my Community life. Father Camillus from the Congregation of the Passion gave it. He was a much demanded Retreat Master in those days. That was the first retreat I ever made, except for the three day one that Mother Mary Francis gave us before receiving the Habit.
SMCM: How did she do that? Were you on silence?
SRAC: Yes, we were on silence, but I remember that Sister Edith Marie Fullen couldn' t quite keep it. One day she was talking to someone and I could hear her saying:"Well Mother Mary Francis said that if you couldn' t keep it, it was alright to talk." Mother Mary Francis was wise. She knew it might cause some too much stress, but we were encouraged to keep the silence.
Mother Mary Francis gave us a few talks everyday.
My first big, six day Retreat was in August of nineteen twenty-six. In those years, you didn't make a Retreat of your choice. Your name went up on a Retreat list, and you made whatever one your name was on.
SMCM: Can you tell me something about Sister M. Eucharia O' Hagan? SRAC: Sister Eucharia was the Registrar during the first years in the college? SMCM: Did she determine what classes you should take?
SRAC: No, she had charge of the secular students, and was the one who recorded our grades. SMCM: What Sister was in charge of the Sisters' extended work?
SRAC: In my case it was Doctor Sanders. There were catalogs which contained the directives
necessary for the choice of classes, so all they had to do was follow these. SMCM: How long were you down at Saint Mary' s?
SRAC: I taught for forty-five years which began in nineteen thirty. I retired in nineteen seventy rune.
SMCM: When did the Home Economics Department move up to where it is now? Can you tell us anything about that? SRAC: The Department moved up in nineteen seventy-five. ·We were permitted to plan the building as we wanted it. The architect was wonderful. At all stages he would call us in to make us aware of things. We were very satisfied with what we got, except we would like to have had a basement. It would have been too expensive. There was some controversy as to where the location ofthe Home Economics Building should be. The architect kept saying that is was the best spot because it was close to all the other buildings around. I remember walking around with Mother M. Victoria Brown and hearing her input as to where the best place was. Most of us in the Department felt that it would be nice to have it near where the Nursery School is now. I remember that they started digging during Christmas Vacation. I was the only one here. Sister Mildred Corvi was the Chairman, and she was up in New York. Noone thought or knew they were going to begin digging when they did. I remember being in the
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Chapel and hearing this extremely loud noise...looking out and seeing the large machine and huge amounts of grass and dirt being dug up.
Beginning of Tape 2 Side 1 Sr. Rose Angela Cunningham 42 - 2
SMCM: This is a continuation of the interview being conducted as part of the Oral History Program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sr. Rose Angela Cunningham. The interview is being conducted by Sr. Marie Corona Miller at Seton Hill College. The date is February twenty-second, nineteen eighty-seven.
SMCM: Sister, you were telling about the Home Economics Building? What was the name of it? SRAC: Bayl1 Hall. The year was nineteen seventy-five.
SMCM: You re teaching now, aren't you?
SRAC: No, I go over to Baylt¥ every day, answer the phone, check on equipment, etc I keep in
touch with the Staff. I enjoy being with them, for perhaps a half a day or a little longer. Since we have this little Green House, I spend some time with that.
SMCM: And this has been since nineteen seventy? SRAC: It has been since I retired in nineteen seventy-nine.
SMCM: Sister, tell us too. You also have another hobby down at the Hill? At Seton House? SRAC: Oh, yes, that's the garden. A number of years ago, some people were interested in having a garden, people from town. So, we started it. I suppose eight or ten people had gardens there. I was able to get our former Shoemaker, Fred Vercelli to help me. We had a garden for a number of years there. We're not going to have one this year though for the reason that Fred can't walk, no car transportation, and it's too far away now. We didn't get much out of it last year because we weren't able to spend as much time as before. We also had trouble with groundhogs, so we decided this year that we're not going to bother with a garden down there.
SMCM: Who were these people from downtown who were interested in having a garden? SRAC: Well, the first was a Minister from one of the churches who wondered if the congregation could sponsor a garden. They could give the produce to some of their poorer parishioners. We did that for a couple of years. Then that Minister was changed. They then dropped out of it.
Then other people from town were interested. The ones who asked were permitted to start a garden.
SMCM: Did you always have to be there when the people were doing their gardening? SRAC: No, we didn't have any problems. They were trustworthy people.
One of the gardens was started by a Korean woman who later worked at the College. There was a High School Teacher from one of the Greensburg schools who always had a garden because he loved to do it. Some people took good care of their garden. There were some who didn't.
SMCM: Did you have to do anything in relation to ones being neglected?
SRAC: No, the only thing I did was to have plowing done. That's about all I had done. SMCM: What about the Green House. How did you get into that?
SRAC: The way we got the Green House was a doctor from Jeannette Hospital called Sister Bernadette Fondy (no longer in Community) and asked her if she could use a Green House. She knew I liked flowers, so she asked if I would like to have it. What they had was sufficient for them
SRAC: I said: "Wonderful, great!" It was brand new. The doctor who had it never took it out of
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the crate. He had bought it when he lived out in the suburbs toward the country. He never got around to working with it. Then he moved back to Jeannette and he knew he never would, so gave it to us. Mr. Frank Butter and his Staff directed it for us.
SMCM: Where is that Green House?
SRAC: It' s right over behind the Boiler House.....behind the old laundry I should say. It isn't large, but has light, water, heat, etc. It's really nice. This year I'm trying to plant some seed for various places around the building...patios.
SMCM: Do you take care of all of it?
SRAC: Yes, pretty much. We' ve always bought the plants previous years. This year, we' re hoping that the seed from the Green House will be productive.
SMCM: Sister, tell me a little bit more about this friend you have.
SRAC: Fred Vercelli is ninety-one years old now. Many years ago, he had a shoe repair shop. We would wrap our shoes up, put our names on them, take them to the Post Office, where once or twice a week he came, took our shoes and repaired them. When he returned with them, he had the amount of the cost for repair written on the package, which was usually fifty or seventy-five cents, sometimes a dollar. We paid and then got our shoes. Fred did shoe repair until it went out of style. He closed his shop which was in Manor..toward Jeannette. He lived in Greensburg.
When these funded programs came through, I asked Fred ifhe would be interested in having a job here. He's been here ever since which is about fifteen years. He gets paid regularly, minimum wage, but is satisfied. They know they' ll never get another job. Everyone likes him. He is so friendly and so capable, and does so much. You just can't say: " You ' re too old to work anymore!"
SMCM: Does he work every day?
SRAC: Yes, he works Monday through Friday from eight AM until twelve Noon. He never takes the fifteen minute break that all the other employees take.
SMCM: Does he work with you all the time?
SRAC: No, I could tell him what to do, but he knew what to do most of the time. SMCM: Even at ninety-one, he can still do that kind of work?
SRAC: We had a little Birthday party for him on December the eleventh, and the men over at the shop got him a nice, new hammer for a present because he was always borrowing one from them. They like him very much. He' s very deaf now, but his mind is clear.
SMCM: How old is your Green House now, about fifteen years old?
SRAC Oh no, the Green House is only about three or four years old. Before the Green House, Fred worked in the garden. When the garden project was finished, we'.let him shine up all the pots and pans in the kitchen and that sort of thing. It was work that we.didn' t have time to do. SMCM: You also have some other hobbies. You do make good fudge.
SRAC: That was when we had the Summer Festivals. I still like to bake.
SMCM: How soon ahead did you begin making fudge and other candy for the Summer Festival? SRAC: I started early in the Spring to order my supplies. When we were doing it at Saint Mary's, there was plenty of storage space. Then I began making certain candies after the College girls were finished. I made the hard candy and things that wouldn't spoil.
SMCM: Can you tell me a little bit about the candy making? Did Sisters come to help you on a regular basis?
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SRAC: Sister Rose Catherine Ward was always a regular helper. Many Sisters came after the schools closed and volunteered to help. There was never a shortage of helpers. I always had enough. Sister Mary Edna Trexler, like Sr. Rose Catherine was also a regular helper. She did a lot of candy making in Altoona. Sisters Margaret Frances Coogan, Madeline Sophie Gloss, and Jean Ann Wilburn were right there to help a great deal of the time.
SMCM: What kind of candy did you make?
SRAC: We made fudge, divinity. Caramels were very popular. We made butterscotch hard candy for a time, but discontinued. We also made bonbons.
SCM: How much candy did you make? SRAC: Well over a thousand pounds.
SMCM: I remember that sometimes on Sunday, the candy was all gone.
SRAC: It was a good money maker. You know when you see the number of people who go into that business now, that there is money to be made.
SMCM: Did you make candy all the years that there was a Festival?
SRAC: No, Sr. Mary Edna really started it when she was in Youngwood on a small scale. She knew that I knew how to make candy. A few times when she was running out, she asked me to make something. At that time, I was helping with the dinners at the Festival.
SMCM: Where did you buy the lovely candy boxes you had?
SRAC: We got those in Williamsport. We still have some. We found them some years later. SMCM: Are you going to make candy for the Mardi Gras?
SRAC: No, the next day is Ash Wednesday and people don't like to eat it then.
SMCM: Do you want to tell about your CCD work now?
SRAC: I started that in nineteen twenty-eight with Sister Margaret Anne Hanley and Sister Anselma Clougherty. Sister Margaret Anne had already been teaching with Sister Mary Matthew Connolly down at St. Anthony's Church in Sedgewick ( if correct) around Our Lady of Grace Church. Sr. Mary Matthew had to stop teaching. Sr. Anselma and I were in the same novitiate as Sr. Margaret Anne, so we volunteered to go with her to teach. We walked down the hill all the way to Ludwig. We got there at two o'clock, and we taught from two until three.
SMCM: How long did it take to walk there?
SRAC: About a half hour I guess. Father Albanese was the Pastor. He would promptly check on us every Sunday to see how we were doing. Sr. Margaret Anne was a wonderful teacher. I learned a lot just from watching her. I was there for a good while. I was so pleased just this past Fall. One of the boys I had taught became quite an important person in Greensburg. He was Vice-President of (couldn't get name of corp.) until he retired. He died and I went to the funeral home to pay my respects. I was telling one of his sisters how I had taught him in the Confirmation class at St. Anthony's and she said: "Yes, Vince still has the little book you gave him, called "My Changeless Friend."
SMCM: What level did you teach?
SRAC: Well, I suppose at that time it was fifth and sixth grade boys. That was until nineteen thirty. I don't know why I discontinued going to St. Anthony's, but Sr. Rose Marie Schneider and Sr. Marie Gertrude McNeil were working out in Avonmore. They needed someone, so I started out there with them. We taught out there until around nineteen thirty-nine. During that
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time we did a lot ofFishing...looking for lapsed Catholics. That was a very rewarding time for me. Then I stopped teaching CCD until it must have been in the mid forties. Sister Helen Mary Laverty had to leave Strasbourg (if correct). They were opening a new missiol), I believe in Argyle (again, if correct). I took her place with Sr. Ruth Cecilia Giseburt. I was there about twenty years. Sr. Ruth Cecilia was probably there for about twenty-five years. I've had a rich experience with CCD. A few years I taught on Saturdays too...at LevelGreen and Jeannette. I worked with Sister M. Silverius Finnerty. She was another wonderful teacher the "Blue
Sister", we called her. Did you ever hear about that? She had in error taken Silver Nitrate, and her skin turned kind of blue. The children listened so carefully to her. 1I didn't teach too long on Saturdays, only for a couple of years.
SMCM: What about Saltsburg? How long did you teach there?
SRAC : I taught at Saltsburg for about eighteen years. I taught the·older children there. SMCM: Was it common at that time for many of the Sisters to teach CCD on Saturdays and Sundays?
SRAC: Yes, every Sunday the house would practically be vacant. When I taught in Avonmore, we would leave right after Mass in the morning and wouldn't return home until after five PM. We had our dinner and everything in Avonmore. We taught in Avonmore in the morning and Tintown in the afternoon. Sr. Marie Gertrude McNeil and Sr. M. Consuelo Hughes taught at Saltzburg in the morning and then at Morraine in the afternoon. We had a secular driver who would transport us. The CCD paid for that driver. In later years, Sr. Marie Consuelo drove me and Sr. Marie Cecilia Bums. We stopped at St. Vincent's and got a few boys who would help us out in Avonmore. My CCD work extended into nineteen fifty-two.
SMCM: Would you like to comment on any of the changes that occurred after Vatican II? SRAC: Well, I can say this, I was on the Chapter during that time. The thing that I remember most was the trauma that we had in deciding on change in the habit.
SMCM: What about the prayer life? Have you found that it is suitable for you?
SRAC: I think so. You aren't under the stress that you had formerly, having always to be at a certain place at a certain time. I like it better.
SMCM: Is there anything else you would like to tell us? You have had a rich experience although you have been stationed at Seton Hill for the entire time.
SRAC: Yes, I feel that it may have been better for me to have had more experience on the Missions. Although I have been happy here all of this time. Sometimes I think I might have missed out a little bit on the things the Sisters learn at the Mission level.
SMCM: Sister, I can say that you were a great inspiration to the Sisters when they came to Seton Hill for Retreats and in the Summers. I do want to thank you for your time and effort in giving this history. The Community will be very happy to have it in the Archives of the Community at Caritas Christi.
Sr. Marie Arthur Hamilton: I completed the transcription of this oral history for Sr. Rose Angela Cunningham on Wednesday, January thirtieth, two thousand thirteen 1/30/13.
Original Format
Audio cassette tape
Duration
31:00
31:04
31:02
31:04
31:02
Bit Rate/Frequency
96kHz
Collection
Other Media
Citation
Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill and Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, “Oral History: Sr. Rose Angela Cunningham,” Collections of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Archives, accessed April 19, 2024, https://scsharchives.com/items/show/513.
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