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Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Francis Louise Honeychuck Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Location The location of the interview De Paul Institute Pittsburgh (Pa.) Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:54 31:55 31:52 07:54 01:02:34 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound Sister of Charity Oral Histories Interviewee: Sr. Francis Louise Honeychuck Interviewer: Sr. Marie Corona Miller July 15, 1987 This interview is being conduced as part of the Oral History program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister. Francis Louise Honeychuck. The interview is being conducted by Sister. Marie Corona Miller at De Paul Institute. The date is July 15th, 1987. Sr. M: Good morning Sister Francis Louise Sr. F.L: Good morning, how are you today? Sr. M: I’m fine how are you. Sr. F.L: I’m fine thank you. Sr. M: All right sister I came here to today to talk to you about your life as a sister of charity all the many things you have done and the ministries you have been involved in. Would you like to begin with your date of birth? Sr. F.L: I was born in Mount pleasant October 23, 1914 I have one sister whose name is Helen she’s married she lives in Florida, clear water and um originally she lived in Greensburg and her children attended Cathedral school and she has 5 children and they are all married except one and um her oldest daughter lives in Westminster Colorado and her two daughters are attending Catholic university in Washington DC there first year in college first and second year in college they both have college scholarships very bright children and she has two other sons who are also very bright her next daughter her oldest boy is Regus who was a went to St. Vincent college for a scholarship and then he went to Pitt University and received his master degree in Chemical Engineering. And then later on he went on for his doctorate and now he worked at Westinghouse for many years and he moved to Lakeland because his wife had arthritis and she was recommended to go to a warmer climate. So they have 5 children also and the oldest daughter is ready for college this beginning of September. Jimmy is another son and he lives in Orlando and he also has his master’s degree in Engineering and the youngest boy is John he has a masters degree in Electrical Engineering. And I have a brotherFather Bob who was educated at St. Vincent’s college and he is the oldest in the family and he has gone been to Pittsburgh Diocese then it was split and then he went to Greensburg of course and he’s now retired and he lives at Polyment house. He’s my favorite brother of course and our brother Andrew lives in Cleveland and he has is married and has 5 children and they’re all married and I can’t begin to tell you all their relationships because it’s so many children ok and then Brother Johnny is my youngest one and he lives in Irwin and he was 5 children and they’re all married. Sr. M: Which one is the nurse sister? Sr. F.L: And Larry whose the nurse and he lives in Mount Lebanon and he goes to our lady of Grace Parish and he has 2 children and they’re married. Ok that’s the extent of my family. My mother of course was a widow and she my father died in 1918 flu and so my mother had to work and she took in washings and all kinds of things in order to keep us together, and she was determined not to leave us go to any other families you know she kept us together and so we all survived under my mothers care and all grew up and I remember going into first grade and I attended St. Johns school and Sister Mary Eustice Mellon was my first teacher happy memories because I remember she asked us to say the sounds of the alphabet A “a” B “ba” C “ca” and I remember I use to do that at home when I was a little girl and I would look at the story books and she gave me a metal a beautiful little metal and she said you go to that other class because you remember all the sounds of the alphabet but the very first day I remember she went around saying what’s your name what is your name what is your name 60 children in a classroom you know we had 3 in a seat or 2 in a seat you know and she said what’s your name what’s your name what’s your name and after the 4th time I was tired of hearing say what’s your name I said I told you my name before and guess what I got a little crack. But anyhow I learned quickly to be quite you know. Sr.M: So what school was this? Sr. F.L: St. James, St. John the Baptist school in Scottdale. Ok now I remember some of the teachers we had after coming to 4th grade I had Sister Mary Martin Wit and in 5th grade Sister Perpetua Behe in 8th grade Sister Salome Kline and they were happy memories you know then I got into high school and then I had some wonderful teachers in high school I remember them very distinctly. Sr.M: And what High School is this? Sr. F.L: This is St. Johns St. Johns it was just the 3rd floor of the school and I had Sister Angelica Little, Sister Suzanne McIntire she taught me Spanish, Sister Joanna Gleeson was English, and Sister Bertha Shay and I remember her, very distinguished she talked in Latin and oh I love Latin and Sister Marie Anthony was my report teacher Sister Anthony and we had about 16 I guess 20 students in the class and a Sr.M: In the whole class? Sr. F.L: In in my class, in my class ok Sr. M: About how many were in the high school? Sr. F.L: About 90 maybe 100 all through and Sister Bertha was a favorite teacher of mine I liked her and Sister Marie Anthony of course taught the Geometry and the science general science classes. So I remained in high school until I was about till the Junior year and it was then I was contemplating and I remember very distinctly I was eating I took my lunch to school and we Sister Marie Anthony was there watching the lunch hour they take turns, one day it was Sister Marie Anthony the next day it was Sister Suzanne they took something time. And we were eating our lunch one day and she said to me you know I dreamed about you last night and I said you did? Ya she said I dreamed you were a Sister of Charity and I said Oh I don’t know about that but I’ve been thinking about it, I’ve been thinking about it. And so then I began to pray a lot you know and think about what I would like to do I wasn’t quit sure but I just knew well I wanted to devote myself and I remember one day at home my brother Andy and I were playing a game and he said and you know you have to say what would you like to be would you like to be a sailor you like to be a nurse you like to be this and so a saint was there and I said I wanted to be a saint and he said no you be a saint I said yes I’m going to be a saint but anyhow I thought you know that I thought well I wanted to think about being my vocation. So I then after that I approached sister Marie Anthony and I said you know what I’m thinking about entering the community and she said I’m not surprised so Sister Germaine and Sister Richard Ann, Mother Richard Ann and Sister Mary Watson we were all thinking about it too so then not much was said except for ?? She said well where would you like to go and I said well guess I think you got to break the ice don’t all three go together she said that’s not good Sr. M: Were all of you in the same class? Sr. F.L: We were in the same class we were junior year and so she said I think you got to break the ice, so I said I think maybe March 25th would be nice so in the October before that I went to Seton Hill to petition and I can’t remember who I went with probably with Sister Germaine I’m not sure but Mother Eveline Fisher was the Mother general, so she said you’re from Scottdale and I said yes and she said when would you like to come? And I said well I think maybe March 25th and she said oh that nice she said we have quit a few but I think you’re the first one to apply for that date I think you’re probably the first one but she said threes a girl in college that’s thinking about coming and she didn’t tell me who that was, but later I found that was Sister Eugene O’Donnell, and so I went home and I told my mother that I wanted and she said you wanna go to the community don’t you wanna finish your high school and I said I think maybe I want to go now. So then I wrote a letter to Father Bob and he was at St. Vincent’s at the time and I wanted to get him opinion and he though well kind of young you know and so he did so then he wrote back and he said he didn’t know about that, but then he said yes you can by all means go he said you have my blessing or he said you know whatever I can’t remember what he said but he said ill pray that you enter the Catholic vocation and God be with you that was it. So then I remember we were getting ready, and Sister Marie Anthony said you need some clothes you need this you need that, Sister Joanne offered to make me a Kimona and I said well I already have one I already made one myself and she said oh you sew and I said yes. So then they had a party for me my class had a party so we went to Kate Sherman’s house and they presented me with a napkin ring so that I have a napkin ring for my napkin at you know on the table those days you had your own napkin ring ok. So that’s what they gave me as a gift, we had nice evening had a nice party and I remember boys wanted to dance with me and I said ok it’s the last time we’ll dance so we danced and we had some music and so on and I came home and Larry brought me home cuz he was invited to the party and so March came and I kept thinking you know oh gosh it was midnight we got worried that I shouldn’t go until Easter Sunday because, March 25th in that year fell on Good Friday so they said do you think we should come on Good Friday wait till Easter Sunday. So Easter Sunday came and everything was bright and beautiful of course they had Easter candy all around and the bishop baskets you name it everything to make it look inviting. So I remember going up to the clothes room and the sister in charge was Sister Agnes Francina and she had a black dress for me and little black lace cap to put on my head and she said here I think this will fit you so we put it on and I said well ill go down to the parlor and see how everybody likes me so I went down to the parlor and Sister Marie Anthony was there and Sister Germaine and Mother Richard Ann Sr. M: They all went with you? Sr. F.L: They all went with me yes Sr.M: How did you all go? Sr.F.L: Sister Germaine’s father drove the car ok, my mother didn’t go she said goodbye to me at home and so they took me and so I went down and remember said how do you like me? They said well you look kinda nice, and name? looked at me and she said she kept thinking you know I guess I’ll be next you know because she was contemplating being in a spot in September and so we stayed for a little while and Sister Theodosia came down and took me up to the Bishop Sr. M: And she was the mistress? Sr. F.L: She was the mistress, she was the first mistress back then, we were the first novices ok her first novices. So I went up to the Bishop and I met Sister Jean Francis Peters, and she just got the white cap, and Sister Agatha, Sister Alice Marie and Theresa Martin and Margery and Anne Matthia and all that whole gang there was a whole good many. Sr.M: What Sister Margery was that? Sr. F.L: Sister Margery, she’s the one that just died from cancer a couple years ago. And so we went I went to the chapel and Sister Marie Anthony took me to the chapel after their incident, and she took me all the way up to the front pew on the Saint Josephs sides I remember distinctly, and she said now you’re here and you tell God you’re here to stay that’s what she said to me, you tell God you’re here to stay. And so I prayed for a while and she took me out and we went down to the parlor for a little while and we said goodbye to everybody and that was the end of that. Sister Marie Anthony’s visit, and so they all went home and said goodbye. So then I went up to the Bishop and I didn’t know what to expect you know it was all such a big thing to me. Sr.M: Now where was the Bishop Sister? Sr.F.L: The Bishop is where the Sister’s community room is now. Ok, and the senior division used that room across the hall you know they had a piano in there and so that whole floor was really the Bishop floor. We use to go to the oratory you know right across from them. Ok I was taken up to the fifth floor and shown where my bed room was suppose to be, it was really a dormitory with curtains all the way around it. Sr.M: Now this is the administration building. Sr. F.L.: Administration building, and Sister Rose Irene Boggs was in charge up there and she was the senior in that room. Sister Clara Marie McManama was in that room and Sister Rose Irene, and she showed me where the washrooms were, and told me when to get up early in the morning five o’clock in the morning, and I thought oh dear and morning prayers etc. So while I was a postulant I remained in that area. And I remember distinctly after about a month’s time I got very very homesick Sr.M: Now were you the only postulant? Sr. F.L.: In that room Sr.M: Well I mean though in the group Sr. F.L.: Oh no oh no, I should tell you that five entered Sr.M: On that same day? Sr. F.L.: On that same day, and they wore, they were Mary Greeley from Johnstown and Sister Jean Seton she got the name from when she became a white cap, and I can’t remember her Baptismal name. Sister Ruthann Kronenberger, and Sister Eugene O’Donnell and myself. And Mary Ann Greely only stayed about two weeks, she got very homesick and decided she wanted to go home. Sister Jean Seton was in the community only six months, she got the white cap and decided she wanted to go home, but we didn’t know she was going it was all on the secret we just missed her and then sister asked if she was gone. So that left the three of us, Sister Ruthann, Sister Eugene, and myself. Now Sister Ruthann was missioned out west in various places, Scottdale and so on and she was a really wonderful companion, so was Sister Eugene. I remember being in class with Sister Ruthann we were studying American History and also Children’s Literature in summer school at Seton Hill. Sr. M: Who taught those classes? Sr.F.L: Oh I can’t remember who they are. Sister Mary Ann Joseph was the Literature teacher and oh she was so exciting and wonderful, I just loved everything. Sister Mary Fidelis taught the American History. Well, I had so much work to do I had an awful lot of reading, Sister Mary Ann Joseph had all kinds of things that we had to read about which was very fascinating to me which I, and Sister Mary Fidelis had all kinds of assignments and I had to do an awful lot of reading and I have spent most of the time with history, because I had a test every week and I also had a test every week in the Literature. So we would go out on the swing, out in the yard and Sister Ruthann would say to me now Francine did you read this story and I said no I couldn’t have time I was doing history I was doing history I said I had to make this book report for history and I said I had to go to the library and think what I was gonna do for history make a pickery board. So I though I’ll go to the I’ll read this certain book, because I know the name, it was Ulysses Grant I knew something about him, I thought this is something easy I have to pick something easy because I don’t have time, I had so much preparation to do. It was just so much the assignments were so heavy. So sister Ruthann would say to me remember Moby Dick goes with this, and so and so goes with that remember this, so she would the night before the tests, she would tell me all these different things about this literature. Sr. M: Were you in the same class? Sr. F.L: The same class, and I said well I recall this and I recall this and I recall this, but I don’t have time to be studying this. So we took the test and low and behold we passed both of us but I thought oh how could I ever go through a summer like this again, I will never take two heavy classes again because each of those classes required so much reading and so much preparation. In fact it was so hard on me that I didn’t even go to recreation would you believe it. I couldn’t take time, and the sisters in the dormitory said Francis Louise you gonna come out and play basketball, you gonna come out and lets go swimming, lets go here, lets go and I said I can’t I have to study this I have to do this, I have to do this work for tomorrow I had no recreation it was awful. Sr. M: What about a charge, were you given a charge? Sr. F.L: Oh I had a charge; I had a big charge too Sr.M: Whatcha get? Sr. F.L: Well I can’t remember I think I had something over in the bathroom in Cannevan I had to do a bathroom in Cannevan that was an everyday requirement you know because you had to supply the needs you know that was required, and besides I’d mop it up once a week, but outside of that you know I was kept very busy it was a very busy summer. Ask me the question. Sr.M: How long were you a postulant? Sr. F.L: I was a postuland for three months. And then I got the white cap, and I remember going to the oratory and the priest who was in charge of Seton Hill I can’t remember his name he was a chaplain well he blessed the well I guess it was a retreat master a retreat master. Sr.M: Now what year was this? Sr. F.L.: This was 1934 ok, so after we made may day retreat and I remember going to the chapel everyday and the place was packed with Sisters the whole chapels filled with Sisters everyday, they even had chairs on the side to accommodate you know people the Sisters who made the retreat. And I remember going to the chapel everyday and praying and then going to the retreat and we had our retreat exercises in Cecilian Hall, and the best part about that retreat was to go to bed in the afternoon and sleep. I tell ya because we get up at five o’clock every morning and I was always exhausted and I slept, did I sleep, and then I’d carry some my stocking to darn and downstairs I’d mend my stockings while the person was doing the reading and it was usually a profess Sister and I think it was Sister Ann Mckale Orielley who was doing the reading, and she had a beautiful powerful voice and she read for twenty minutes and after twenty minutes we’d disappear and so do our where we had to go and then we’d have a four o’clock conference and then early to bed in the evening which I welcomed; and that was a really restful time for me because it was something that I really thought I needed. Sr. M: And this was in preparation for your receiving the habit. Sr. F.L: Yes, so then the morning, the night before the novices were received, they announced the names of the candidates who were going to receive their habit, so the Sister up in the balcony in the Chapel after the prayers were over everybody hold their ears open you know listening who these names were gonna who the candidates were gonna be so they named them, and they said Emma Honeychuck would be named Sister Francis Louise; and I remember hearing that and I was delighted and Sister Ruthann of course got her name Sister Eugene. Sr.M: Now where did you tell me about the name Francis? Sr. F.L: Well I asked for the when I went to petition mother said to me would you have you would you like think of a name and I said well I’d like to have some form of Francis or some form of Louise, and she said oh I see, well she said we’ll think about it. Sr.M: Now why was that? Sr. F.L: That was probably maybe a month before I received the habit. Sr. M: And why why did you want Francis and Louise? Sr. F.L: Well I know that Louise was connected with Vincent De Paul Sr. M: I see Sr. F.L: And I knew that and I petitioned on October 4th at least to Saint Francis, Francis of Assisi. So and I was surprised that I got those two names and I was happy. And so I remember the morning that I received the habit you know then we had a big celebration and you know and a Sr. M: With all the retreat Sisters? Sr. F.L: All the retreat Sisters and then of course you know we looked different in our white caps it was so tight you know with the bows tied and all that and I remember during the mission days I learned how to tie the white bows and then all be placed there and I tied the bows, and even when I got to De Paul Sister John Agnes McClory and Sister and all the Sisters here you know would said Fancis will you tie my bows will you tie my bows, even the black bows so I learned that quickly you know and that was kinda fascinating to me it was one of the old things I use to do. Sr. M: Who made your Habit? Sr. F.L: Well, Sister Agnes Francina had a Habit. Sr. M: What was her family name? Sr. F.L: I can’t remember her family name, but anyhow she well no we all went to class. We had to do some sewing we had to make our own white sleeves and of course I knew how to sew because I used to do a lot of sewing when I was little, and so we you know all got together and did that, so I remember making the white sleeves, and she would put our names on it and I remember we made our own collars, and white caps, and she taught us how to do that, and she helped us to make our Habits, so we had one good Habit for Sunday and one handy down for somebody else. Yes for your everyday Habit So we Sr. M: And what color were the Habit’s in those days? Sr. F.L: Oh they were black of course they were black, and some were flannel the everyday Habit was a flannel Habit it was made of flannel material and the other was like a Panama which is a bit of quality it was a nicer, and so I used to remember that I learned quickly how to make the Habits because when I went to WestEnd I helped Sister, different Sisters to help fix their Habits I leaned by fixing, I’d rip an old Habit to see how it was done and how the pleats were fixed you had four pleats across the bodice and how they were turned, and I remember fixing a Habit one time for Sister Marie Faycott the pleats were in backwards so I had to I had to rip it and I said I knew where the mistake was. So then after that I began doing a lot of sewing mending Habits and making Habits you know petti coats and all that kinda of stitching. Sr. M: Ok now that time when you received the Habit, is that when Mother Richard Ann entered in the following September? Sr. F.L: Following September Sr.M: In 1934 Sr. F.L: Ya, no yes 1934 no wait a minute no she entered I entered in 32 1932 and she came the September of 1932, see I came in March and she came the following September and I remember when she entered, she had long black hair and she Sr.M: So Sister Germaine had not come yet? Sr. F.L: No, she came the following September, she had graduated school. So then we started to you know take some classes in preparation for teaching and you know methods of different methods of you know you had to learn for preparation for classroom work. So I remember going over to the college and learning at night and completed my high school year. You know so then one day Annalise came to me one day and she said do you know you haven’t finished your science you need a credit in science, and she said Dr. Car will be teaching science this summer and there’s one young lady from Greensburg who was interest in taking this, and she’s paying for the course and she said there would just be two people in the class, would consider taking the science course with her, that’s college credit, and she said if you take this we would give you a credit for your high school as well, so I said I’ll try it. So we met Dr. Car and I remember Sister Marie Anthony Lavin was also teaching Chemistry, and she was teaching on the other side of the table, and she was doing experimentations with some Chemistry, and she would see us everyday, but she wasn’t aloud to talk to use cause we were I was a novice and you weren’t aloud to talk to novices to Profess Sisters even though she was my mother in religion. And so we got through the course and I passed it and I was very happy. So then when I went to Duquesne University to work for my degree, I learned that when they transferred my credits from Seton Hill that I had accreditation in college Chemistry and I wouldn’t have to take any science at Seton Hill, so I also got my high school and college for the one course because it was college credit. And that was all due to Sister De Chantal Leis, which I was very happy. Well then in the mean time I earned up a lot of credits for college, but I still wasn’t finished high school and I didn’t finish high school until I came to De Paul Institute. And I remember taking pre professional examinations and Sister Theresa Vincent Mahoney said to me you mean you’re gonna study this you going to study this you’re going to do this by yourself, and I said we have about a year to teach you this, and I said well if you just give me some regions books so I went to Sister Emanuel Manny, and she gave me some regions books, and she said what do you want, and I said well I want Economic Geography and another aspect of Geography and so I studied these regions books, and I would read on that, and go to the library and get some reference material and then I would study these answers and so on. So I took the test, and I passed the test and they were the only two that I needed so then I got my certification though the state of Pennsylvania and finished my pre professional examinations and I got my certificate. Well then from then on I was able to go on to my college work, get the rest of it ok. I don’t know what I wanna say with the mission. Sr. M: Sister do you wanna talk a little bit about your novitiate days? Sr. F.L: Yes, um I’d like to say that the good number of Sisters entered with us there was a good crowd of Sisters there, I remember Sister Ligouri Steinmiller, Sister Theresa Martin Henry, Sister Ann Agnes, Kilkeary, Sister Rose Irene Boggs,, Sister Alice MarieCrates, Sister Caroline Joseph Wilson, Sister Helen Hart, Sister Jean Francis Peters, Sister Sara Marie O’hara, Sister Agatha Procter, Sister Clara Marie McManama Sister Helen Mary Laferty, Sister Mary Mildred Curry, and Sister Marie George Abbott. One particular day I remember that when I was very homesick Sister Alice Marie, and Sister Caroline Joseph took me out to the barn and they said all kinds of silly things about the cows and the chickens and the everything connected with the farm and they got me laughing, got me out of my homesickness which I was very grateful. Sr.M: Sister can you remember any other incidents during your novitiate days? Sr. F.L: Oh yes, I think I can remember another incident, I recall that you know we always had to wash the dishes after the meal was over, in the Sisters dining room and after serving and passing the pans and reading up and Sister Ligouri Steinmiller was at the sink at the time, and she was splashing around making a lot of soap suds and it was going everywhere and somebody got splashed and I said oh splash back and just then that Sister and I said Saint Theresa did and just at that moment SisterTheodosia walks in and she said Saint Theresa I never heard that, everybody laughed. Sr.M: Did you serve in the dining room? Sr. F.L: Oh yes we all had to serve we had to take turns carrying pans and serving the meals and we carried it on trays always the hot food was prepared in the kitchen and carried the serving dishes on the trays and carried them into the dining room and put them on carts and same with the dish pans the soap and the water and the mops and towels and all that. And after the meal several of us had to take care of the towels take them down and wash them out and then hang them down in the tunnel downstairs to dry for the next morning and the next day we’d collect them and some Sisters worked in the butter house they had to cut the butter and get prepared for the morning meal it would be breakfast. Other people had to get the pans ready count them all out get the coffee pots ready I remember two of our Sisters were appointed to make coffee every morning, they’d go down to the kitchen and use the big urn you know and oh Sister Mary Terrence she’s the one that did that. One time. Sr.M: ? Sr.F.L: Sister Mary Terrence she was in our division too she’s long she’s dead Sr.M: What’s’ her family name Sister? Sr.F.L: Um Sister Mary Terrence Clancy. And I think Sister Clara Marie McManama went down with her they had to go early in the morning before the morning prayers that was around 5 you know, and so they had to make the coffee every morning, and by the time Sister Mary Terrence was laughing she said well I hope the coffee’s not too strong because I put too much in it I’m half asleep and I don’t even know what I’m doin. We all laughed about that. So everybody had chores to do you know for the breakfast and the lunch. We were responsible for a lot of things and we also had to take turns saying prayers nigh prayers morning prayers reading, and I just never had a turn for the morning prayers, I said the quarter prayers you know before the lunch but I didn’t have a turn for that the reading. So when I got on mission I Sister Theodosia said she remembered that I didn’t have a turn and she wondered how I was doing and Sister Levonnation said oh she’s doing ok she was my Sister servant. Sr.M: Sister what do you recall about the senior Sisters in the dining room, like you weren’t aloud to talk to them, but do you recall anything about the senior Sisters that you could remember? Sr.F.L: Hmm well I can’t remember Sr.M: How many tables were in the dining room when you were serving Sr.F.L: Oh I would say about maybe 8 on each side you know maybe 16 tables at least, well maybe not that many I guess yes I guess there were there were long tables and you had 8, 10 people at a table you know, we had white table cloths on all the time and we would take we every Wednesday we change the table we turned the table cloths over the dirty side went under the clean side went on top in those days why you then on Saturday you would clean them for the next week for the following week and we all had napkins and napkin rings and all that was in this place, and the dishes were in place, the silverware was there and the plates were turned upside- down and the silverware was there, and you had to make sure that the sugar bowels were attended to have sugar and salt, pepper those kinds of things. And that was just the ordinary run of things. Sr.M: Now what about your charge on the steps you had an amusing story about the steps. Sr.F.L: Oh that happened, when I was I guess I was a white cap then, and I remember well we all had extra things to do that day because some Sisters went on retreat or I can’t remember the incident but we all had extra work to do, and so Sister Feodosha appointed Sister Mary Celest Casalina and myself to do the stairways in the in the landing you know the chapel chapel landing and the floor near Cecilian Hall and then the one below that near the dining room was and I said to her you take one side and ill take the other side and we’ll meet you know downstairs, so we started work we had our mops and we had our dusters and we had to dust all the curlicues you know in those days we had banisters that were very ornate and they had a lot of you know things to put your finger through in order to get your finger all to get the dust off and with your cloth, and so we started and we worked for a while and about 15 minutes she came over to me oh Sister I think this is too hard, this is too much work and she said I think I ought to ask somebody for some help, and I said oh come on you do your side and I’ll do my side and we’ll get finished don’t worry about it. So we went back to work and about 20 minutes later she says did you find, did you go to Sister Feodosha and ask her if we could have some help, this is just too much can’t you can’t you you’re the senior you should go now you’re the senior you go ask Sister to get some help because I think this is too much. So I said no I’m not gonna go I said no we’ll get finished don’t worry about it. Well now are you gonna go or aren’t you gonna go, and I said no I don’t think I’m gonna go, well why not why not and I said well I’m not goin because I don’t think we have to go we don’t need any help. So we went back to work, and next thing you know she came back again did you find some help I think you ought a go. So I finally went to Sister Theodosia after much deliberation I went, so I explained what happened and she said well you tell Sister Celest that I want to see her. So Sister Celest began apologizing immediately she said Sister it’s my fault it’s my fault I urged Sister to talk to you and get help, she says it was my fault and I knew I shouldn’t have done that but I knew it was my fault. So anyhow that was the end of that. Sr.M: So did you get the steps done? Sr.F.L: Ya we got them done, sure we did we went back to work and they just sure we did. Sr.M: Did you have anything to do with the animals in the barn? Sr.F.L: No, oh no oh no no no no Sister’s didn’t do anything like that the men take care of that. Sr. M: Alright Sister then you went out on your fist mission Sr.F.L: Yes Sr.M: Ok, now where was that? Sr.F.L: Ya now the first mission well first I would tell you that yes I went to Westend, and I was assigned to take third grade and the former teacher had that and she was told or asked to take fourth grade so I could have the third grade because I have never taught before. It was my first experience at teaching and Sister Generosa was in charge of the teachers in training at that time for the community. She was a supervisor you know. So she came around periodically and she had visits with all of us, and so I remember going into third grade, I had about sixty children in third grade. Sister Anastesia Mellon was in the second grade, Sister Ann Seton Boyle was in the first grade and between the two of them they really gave me a lot of help, especially Sister Ann Seton, and I spent a lot of time observing Sister Ann Seton when she was preparing her vocabulary work for first grade all the I was asking her many questions well how do you do this, and why are you doing this and she’d tell me this is the vocabulary for tomorrow and then she’d have printing on the board she’d have all kinds of art work ready for the children so that they would be have something to do while she was teaching on group and or another class another group, and a Sister Anastesia Mellon had second grade she had over sixty children in there she was kind of on the stern people you know everything was did at task, and Sister Ann Seton was well more innovative I would say because she was younger, and so I learned a good bit from both of them and I had to do all the studying on my own to try to prepare things so things went pretty well. And then the following year I was appointed to have fifth and sixth grade and I was kind of un eerie about that because it was going to be my first year of fifth and sixth level. It was a double grade and I think we had fourth children in that room. Sister Erma Sullivan was sixth grade opposite of me we were down stairs in the basement of the school, and it was during that year, it was 1936 that the Pittsburgh you know the Saint Patrick’s day flood occurred the famous Saint Patrick’s day flood oh I’ll tell you that was some experience. I remember, we went to bed at night well into the evening because Mother Egnasha was a little bit you know upset, not exactly upset but she was I can’t think of the word Sr.M: Concerned? Sr.F.L: Concerned, she was concerned because the water was rising and there was a creek behind the convent and she could see that water rising, and she was concerned about the blessed sacrament being on the first floor where the chapel was. So we all went to bed and she didn’t say anything but it was late when we get up in the morning there was no bell ring and I said what’s the matter no bell look how high it is, and we looked out the window and here this water was way up high above the it was even with the convent porch which was high it was the old convent, and the fence across the street which was next to the Thady Seton School was covered with water the picket fence six feet high and it was covered with water. Every place you look and there was a woman across the street yelling and she says help help help from the second floor trying to get out, So first thing we did well I got dressed and so did we and we opened the cellar door and here was the water just about at the doorstep and we could see the cans up in the air floating tomato’s, beans, all these cans were coming out of the cupboards floating on top of the water ok, it was terrible. So we had to get out and the next thing I know a policemen came with three or four policemen in a boat, so we all got out and got into the boat and we went into the boat into a canoe all the way up to Stuben street if you can picture that that’s pretty high up we got out and went on Stuben street and we walked to the Devine Provence convent and they welcomed us somebody telephoned and said we were coming guessing Mother Ignatia did that or somebody and so they gave us breakfast and I remember specifically they gave us coffee and doughnuts and some cereal and some fruit they had apricots or what you know ready for us. Sr.M: Were they not flooded? Sr.F.L: They were not flooded because they were on a higher level ok so Sr.M: Do you remember the name of that convent Sister? Sr.F.L: Saint Martin’s, Saint Martin’s convent. Ok so it was there that Mother Ignatia had telephoned Mother Eveline finding out where we could go for the day. So we had to wait for about a half hour until everything was processed through and so they said well Hazelwood Saint Steven’s Hazelwood can accommodate five Sisters they don’t have heat, but they’ll take you ok there’s no heat in the convent but they’ll take you. So they decided to send Sister Veronica Scott, Sister Paula Moran, Sister Olivia Hamilton, Sister Ann Seton Boyle, and myself and they called us to find dionanies. And so we went to Hazelwood and Sr.M: In a boat? Sr.F.L: No, we went on a train and we got on the train and we went all across the city and you could see the water everywhere when we passed J & L steel building everything was flooded cars were covered and everything, it was terrible. So we finally got to Hazelwood going into the cold convent and Sister Mary Ann MacAfee was there and she was teaching there and some of the other sister, but I remember her because she was stationed her later at De Paul Institute. So it was the year after that that she came here. But so they accommodate us they serve us breakfast and everything and they had three tables in the dining room the place was cold but at least we had a bed to sleep in we were away from the water and we got our scripture reading there are our prayers and we served our meals and everything, so we were there for about a week, and then a telephone call came and said Mother Evalan called and said I would like Sister Ann Seton and Sister Francis Louise to go to Oakmont Saint… Sr.M: Now did they still carry on their school? Sr.F.L: Oh yes Sr.M: They had no problem with the flood? Sr.F.L: No, they carried on their school. Ok, and they didn’t have everybody because everybody wasn’t able to get there but they took care of the ones who came. Ok so then we went to Saint Irenaeau and Sister Ann Seton was told to do the CCD work after school and I was to do to take fifth and sixth grade because Sister Mary Albert Short was ill I believe she had scarlet fever and she would be away for at least three weeks. And they thought of me because I had fifth and sixth grade before at Westend. So when I got there, I didn’t have any problem and I thought oh gee this is nice this is small class in compared to Westend, and there’s no flood no water and I’m on in the safe land and its warm and it’s cozy and oh it’s nice and it was homey they only had about six Sisters on mission there Sr.M: What was the name of that convent? Sr.F.L: Saint Ireneaus where Sister Mary Anna Mcsherry was the principal and also the Sister servant. And so we slept upstairs and everyday I went to school and everyday Sister Mary Anna would peep in the window to see how things was going in the classroom. So after about three days, she said to me I can’t believe it she said she says this is the wildest class in the school and she says you have control over these kids she said I wish I could keep you and I said oh I have to go back to Westend when they’re ready for me I’ll have to go back there I said it’s not up to me to stay I said you know, so I just smiled and didn’t say anything and I know they seemed to be out of hand at first but I was very commanding in the very beginning because they warned me that it was a hard class but I Sr.M: How many children did you have? Sr.F.L: There must have been about forty not as big of class as I had. But anyhow, I found they to be very very nice. So after the week was over, after the week was over I went back to Westend but, we were not aloud to go down to the basement where my school classroom was we had to make they had to make changes no body was to use that room that place downstairs for children for the rest of the year. They had libe all over the place the board of health came around said no it has to dry completely and they had to make sure that there’s no bacteria no germs you know debree anything that might be contagious for the children. So we didn’t go down there and so we had to use the high school they emptied the library and the high school classes had to go in the library conduct some of their classes there and they vacated one whole room for Sister Erma and myself so we had she had sixth grade and I had fifth and sixth grade so we put the two classes together and that was over past sixth kids. So we worked it out that we’d you know go hand in hand we couldn’t have two teachers in the room but she took part of the time then I taught part of the time and so things went, we had to keep a record of everything and she was wonderful with me she said be sure you have everybody whose absent down and it’s a good thing I did because you know we had some wintery days and one boy whose name was David Lennon was in an accident after school he was sled riding and he accidently bumped into a truck or the truck bumped into him and of course the parents were wanted to have a lawsuit. So the next thing I knew some gentlemen stepped into my classroom and said hand me this note and said you’re ?? to court I couldn’t believe it and so then he explained this is all about David Lennon’s people wanting me to testify and so I went to Sister Erma immediately and she said oh Sister she said this is serious you’ll have to go, so then we told Sister Margret and Sister Margret said oh no you’re not going you not gonna go you’re not goin and Sister Erma said oh Sister we have to go we have to go or you’ll pay five hundred dollars. So we went Sr.M: Both of you went? Sr.F.L: We both went because we both handled him. So all I had to do of course was to take my register with me and testify the days they were absent and I had to say whether there was any preshable difference in his leaning you know capacity was he injured in any way that his leaning ability was you know demurred and of course I had to say that I didn’t see any difference in the child and so they won the case the family won the case, but I was very much unnerved because it was my first experience and I was a young Sister and I didn’t you know know what to expect. So it was hard on me but Sister Erma was very nice about it she went to the court with me I wouldn’t have gone alone you know which was nice. In those days we always went in two’s you never went by yourself you know you always went with a companion down the street or anywhere we just never went alone. Sr.M: Sister when the five of you went to Saint Eranas or Saint Steven’s where did the other Sisters from your house go? Sr.F.L: Well some of them went to Sacred Heart and some went different places ya I can’t remember just where they all went but Sr.M: And then you all came back together within a week Sr.F.L: Yes we did, yes we did. Then the following year Sr.M: What about um Sr.F.L: The following year we when the then there was a rumor that a flood was going to come back again you know the river was going to rise again but and it did rise to some extent but not like the Saint Patrick’s day flood. So father we had mass in the morning and Father Sheetie came over he’s the assistant pastor Father Gilman was the pastor at the time, but he was the assistant pastor and he said the rumor’s comin up you better get out and so we all decided to go somewhere while Sister Marie Ann to Sister Margret was in charge then and she said Sr.M: This is the second year? Sr.F.L: The year after 1938 ok no 1937 because the flood was 1936, 1937 it was the spring season and I can’t remember if it was in March or April but anyhow it was probably March. So they said they had room for three at De Paul Institute, so Sister Olivia and Sister Ann Seton and myself went to De Paul ok and the others went to different places some people went to Carnegie and some other people went I can’t remember all the missions they were, but anyhow we left. And some people went to Seton Hill I think, and so when I came to De Paul it was my first experience with deaf children I really didn’t know anything about De Paul institute I had heard of it but I didn’t know what it was like or what to expect. So I remember observing the classroom during the day while the children were in session Sister Elizabeth Ann Mahonie at the time was a teacher over in the primary school and I remember seeing her and observing, and Sister Olivia and Sister Ann Seton came along and we just sat and observed. The children were having reading and speech and ? training and matching pictures and everything. And I distinctly I saw a Sally lou Sister, she was just a little girl, she’s one of our teacher aids now you know and when she grew up she went to Sacred Heart high school and then she went to Mercy college but she didn’t finish, so then she came here and got a job and she was home economics teacher for a while now she’s a teacher aid working with Mr. Hope. But anyhow I was astounded at what the children could do you know I was very interested I couldn’t believe that they were doing and not hearing what the teacher was saying. So I said to Sister Elizabeth Ann would you not talk loud so she said alright ill talk without voice, so she did and she was saying the very same things that she said before but using no voice and the children were doing carrying on everything and that’s when I was convinced that they were really you know lip reading and I though isn’t that amazing I just couldn’t believe that. So I tried to talk to some of the children but I found it difficult to understand some of them because I wasn’t use to them but so after that then of course we were here for a couple days and then we went back to Westend and resumed our teaching you know everything was normal by that time but in the following June or I guess it was June, August when the mission list was read we all went to the Cecilian Hall and Mother Marie Benedict Monahaign was the Mother at the time and she read out the names of the Sisters for the various missions and you would have to listen very closely for your name you know as the mission was read so I was listening and listening and after it was all over I didn’t hear my name and I thought why I wonder where I’m going so after I started to go out to the end of the hall and I met Sister Margret and she said dearie where you going on mission and I said I don’t know I said I didn’t hear my name She said lets go to Mother and find out. Sr.M: Now this is Sister Margret Sr.F.L: Sister Margret McMan she was my Sister servant ok at Westend, so we went to the hall and Mother was talking with some Sister about Mother said you go to your mission go to your mission she said and you try it and if you if you contact me later that’s all I heard. So then Sister Margret says Mother where is this Sister going on mission and Mother looked at me and said oh she’s going to one of the Institutions and I thought well I’m not a nurse I can’t go to the hospital you know or maybe I’m going into and I going to send me to training or what so then I said you mean De Paul Mother and she said yes De Paul she said I want you come here she said now look she said I want you to try it for a year and see how you like it she says now that’s not for everybody and I know and she said everybody wouldn’t like that type of work but she said you try it and then next June she says you come back to me and you tell me, well I tried it for a year and I was thinking I was going to Seton Hill at the end of June like we always do all the novices went to Seton Hill you know course I was profess then I was a profess Sister and I expected to go to Seton Hill like everybody else and take classes and do all the things everybody else does get a charge out there and have recreation with everybody and do everything that you do in the summer time well, first thing I know Sister Regatta Fitzpatrick and myself were sent to Wane State University, teacher in training for the deaf so I never got Sr.M: Sister can I back up a little bit Sr.F.L: Yep Sr.M: into an incident that happened in the dining room you had said to me something about Sister Marie Antonio Mclenen was in the dining room eating with Mother Sr.F.L: Oh ya Sr.M: Was it mother Benedict Sr.F.L: It was Mother Marie Benedict yes Sr.M: and you were serving Sr.F.L Yes I was serving the dining room and I just heard a conversation saying oh that’s the one she’s the one I knew they were pointing to me but I didn’t know what the conversation was Sr.M: So this preceded your assignment Sr.F.L This preceded my assignment so I presumed that that’s probably what they were thinking about you know sending me there. Well I just don’t know whether that’s just ya Sr.M: Now who was the superior in the… Sr.F.L: Well then when I came to De Paul well then when I came to De Paul Sister Marie Antonio Mclenen was here she was the Sister servant and Sister Theresa Vincent Mahoney was the she was the Sr.M: Now what year was that? Sr.F.L: Was the principal, that was 1937 September 1937. So this is 1987 so guess what it will be fifty years in September. Well I had four years at Westend teaching and then I had forty nine years at De Paul in the classroom and so you add it up at it’s fifty three years in the classroom and while I was at De Paul I had many experiences many happy memories and I’ve learned a lot of things about the deaf and the children and from the very start I was you know asked to do teacher training and I there had been many many girls who have been here and one I cherish the most was Marlene Falco, she came from Connellsville and at that time they took the girls here and they resided in the school they slept here at the school and then they went on to Duquesne university for their education so they helped to teach during the day got their teacher training experience with the children with the with the model teacher supervising teacher and then they went to classes at night or after school you know at Duquesne and got their college credits that way. And so then after a certain number of years they were accredited to be able to go anywhere to teach you know they had got their certification from the state of Pennsylvania and so it was hard laborious work for them, but it was good for us too because we had somebody to rely on and they did a lot of things that we weren’t able to do because we had study hours and we had you know dining room you know duty we had to take care of the children while they ate their meals and there’s many activities, boy scouts, cubs you know brownies, and I had charge of the playmates Sr.M: And what were the playmates? Sr.F.L: They were a little group of children pre brownie group and we had Saint Agnes as out patron and I remember distinctly making the beanies they were made pink not flannel but pink felt and we make the beanies and then we had a lamb white lamb insignia to designate the patroness of Saint Agnes while was their patroness of the their playmate club and we had a playmate flag and it was pink and we had a big lamb on that also and periodically we had entertainment for the children and games and all kinds of activities for them plus health rules and citizenship rules all those kinds of things are necessary for little children and we dramatized the story of Saint Agnes and the children did that themselves one would be the Saint Agnes somebody would be the soldiers ect. So we use to use the stage in the what we use to call the boys hall and because we didn’t have Lady Victory hall then it wasn’t built yet. So we would invite the school and the children would participate from then on and I remember distinctly Mother Evan Fisher was living here at the time and when her birthday came around which was always around the feast of Saint Agnes she always wanted to see this play so we would put it on for her and Sr.M: How old were the children? Sr.F.L: They were six, seven, eight-year-old children they were growing really very active Sr.M: Now they would in those days those were the young children Sr.F.L: They were oh yes oh yes they were maybe younger than that. Our six years olds were called we called them the babies you know because they were just beginners and so well I have been working with the deaf children almost all the time I’ve been here except period in 1949 I distinctly remember that I was asked to learn the brail and so I was sent to Colombia University with Sister Justine for summer course and Ms. Madeline Lumis was the author of the text book and the teacher and so when I first arrived there I was the only people that applied for this brail course and so the sue provider said well I don’t think we can really you know ask you to take this course you’re the old pupil we couldn’t pay the teacher you know just for one pupil that’s not customary we usually have ten fifteen people in a class and he says where you from and I said Pittsburgh, what part? De Paul Institute oh De Paul Institute well that’s where Sister Theresa Vincent Mahoney’s from I said yes well you’re gonna stay and we’re going to provide a teacher for you because I visited your school and I remember that Sister and I will do that for you, so in the mean time this person Ms. Madeline Lewis was sick they thought she had appendix she really was having cancer but they didn’t know it they thought it was appendix so she had this operation and I had a substitute teacher and I had a hard time with her because I she I knew that she wasn’t as equipped as I expected her to be and the thing is… Sr.M: This is a continuation of an interview being conducted as part of the oral history program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister. Francis Louise Honeychuck the interview is being conducted by Sister. Marie Corona Miller at De Paul Institute the date is July 15th 1987 Sr.M: Sister you were talking about your training with the blind Sr.F.L: Yes, well at Colombia they coordinator of the program said that I could take the class so as I was saying I had to take the brail course and I was taught to use the slate and the stylus and that meant that I had to reverse the pattern in pricking the dots on paper which was difficult because it didn’t have the Perkins brail writer at the time we hadn’t purchased one yet this was all so new to me and so this was a six weeks course and after two weeks I was told that Madeline Lumis was ready to return when I was very happy to see her because everything was changed for me, she gave me a better understanding of this whole idea of brail and teaching blind children and I was thinking specifically of Ann Marie Jurard who was going to be our first blind student from Erie her mother had gone to Pittsburgh to consult with Bishop Derden to ask of it thee was any place that her child could be educated she wanted Ann Marie to have a Catholic education and there was no place provided in Erie there was no place in the Pittsburgh diocese and so Bishop Derden said well the only thing he knew that he could do would be Father Darley was building a new building our Lady of Victory Hall and he said maybe the Sisters of De Paul could provided education for her daughter and so in the meantime he consulted with Father Darley and said to specifically leave a classroom for the blind for the physical for the partially sighted and blind children and they mentioned Ann Maria Jurard so when I was taking the course I was thinking of her doing the slate and stylus and then I knew that when I got back to school that I would we would purchase a brail writer and all the things that we needed in the mean time Agnes Stone who was a graduate from Mount Mercy was a blind women who knew the brail very well and she lived in Oakland at the time and we hired her Sister Theresa Vincent invited her to come out and to work with me and she started Ann Marie some of the things on the brail you know slate and stylus and then she we started to she didn’t stay any more than a year or a year and a half and so then after she left and I took over the whole program and we had students starting to come in and we had then after I guess several years after that I can’t recall which years but it might have been probably fifty-two but I’m not sure 1952 Sister Angelica Little came so it was Sister Angelica and myself who really engineered the blind department she started the music with the children and provided the brail dots for them to read music notations so they could play we had important piano recitals and among those students were Earl Nixon and Thomas Burgander and Marita Matthews and Candy Deet, Cindy Cudis, Denise MCcrilin, Terry McMahons, Cathy Webber, and the Wisemen twins Larry and Jimmy, Larry Mahoney which was a grandnephew of Sister Theresa Vincent, Regee Sullivan, and Timon Jackson and there was another child who came later and I can’t remember his name but he came from the North side and he had a he had a tumor on the eye and when they operated he lost his sight but I can’t remember his name and I’m sorry that I can’t. So Sr.M: Sister in you and Sister Angelica could go to Catholic University? Sr.F.L: Well Sister did yes and I did too but I got most of my training my beginning training at Colombia at Colombia and then later on I went to Catholic University yes and I took some courses there eye in eye conditions and a few other things that you know was required. Then it was several years after that that Dr.Peabody came from Detroit and he was starting a program for the physically handicapped for the blind and partially sighted at the university so he came to visit our class room and he saw the children in their atmosphere, and he invited Sister Angelica and myself to attend the class so that he could begin teacher training so he wanted us to get pointers on what to do to teach the teachers in training so we went to class every week for six weeks and Dr. Mary Moral still lived with us and she was the person who was in charge of the United Presbyterian church who brailed material for us if we wanted anything done for the children she would get a group of women to do the brailing and Sr.M: Were these women blind? Sr.F.L: These women were not blind no and they did the brail work because it was impossible to use all the textbooks, we did the Catholic textbooks Sister Angelica and myself and we tried especially religion books, but they provided the other books and they schlack them on the other side so that dots would not rub out and then they bound them with a big string shoe strings or cut shoe strings and tied and they had the books were huge they were about seven by fifteen you know in size and they were cumbersome and heavy looking and thick and we had to provide story space for them in Lady Victory hall lockers and itemize everything everything we had . So we went every week to Pitt University and we offered our services and learned a lot too, and we had discussions about and these people came from the blind school and they came from other places that were going to start classes for the blind in the public schools just like they had classes for the deaf in public schools well it was unheard of to have deaf children then because this PL9142 wasn’t in existence then you know so after six weeks we finished our course but that was the beginning of the teacher training program at Pitt University we were invited to join in that you know work Sr.M: Sister I know that you had been very much involved in helping the children begin dressed for their production their theatrical productions here at De Paul. Can you tell us what you’ve been doing? Sr.F.L: Would you sake a theatrical productions Sr.M: Oh I think they’re theatrical Sr.F.L: Well Sr.M: What they can do Sr.F.L: Well anyhow Sr.M: Is marvelous Sr:F.L: It was a Christmas play well Sister Marie Stell and I both had a hand in that you know but lately I’d been doing most of it. In the beginning each teacher was responsible for getting her own costumes and sewing them and so I remember Sister Marie Michael Carol you know in years past needed a pair of pants for somebody and she just found two old pillow slips and sewed them together, but anyhow one point in time we had some material donated from the Altoona Silk Mills I can’t recall who sent them but we had boxes of them different colors of pinks and yellows and blues and you name it and it was boxes of that and I thought oh this would make nice costumes to make nice angel gowns and white you know would be nice for the angels you know Gabriel and so on and so after some time why we made you know people help make the wings and all kind of things and but recently I’ve been more or less commission to do the costumes for the cast so I guess the last six or seven years or so, maybe more than that. When the assignments were given to the teachers to dress the children you know each one had charge of certain groups, one would dress the soldiers and somebody else would dress Mary and Joseph and somebody else the Kings and somebody else the Shepard’s and so on, and Joseph and Mary and so I volunteered to dress them to prepare the costumes prepare the costumes so if any new costumes had to be made I went to the Altoona Silk Mill box and you know dug out some material and cut it up and tried to make costumes for the children, and we do preserve them from year to year and we try to use them over and over again so when they have to be laundered and pressed and everything and hemmed and re hemmed and re stitched or what have you or lengthened or shortened why I’ve always taken responsibility to do that. Sr.M: Sister beside Christmas play, I know the children did other kinds of plays that happened before I came. Now the one I know that has been mostly talked about was the play To Our lady of Lords now what Sister was in charge of that? Sr.F.L: Oh, that was Sister Larita McGorie and Sister Mary Linus Hoak, they did that their classes it was for the upper class children and that was really magnificent and the children carry candles and it was really really beautiful it was like our you know Lords. Sr.M: Sister when you were a young Sister starting out here at De Paul the pattern of the young sisters going to Seton Hill in the summer was not done by you nor those who were young like you here at De Paul can you explain why? Sr.F.L: Well every summer you see in order to be trained for the teacher of the deaf we had certain number of credits to get and so Sister Brugetta and myself went to Wayne State University for three whole summers and Sister Scholastica Joyce and Sister Ramada Manean taught me this also and it was three long summers and I remember it was eight weeks at a time and the last no ten weeks ten weeks and then the next summer was ten weeks and then the next summer was ten weeks and the last the third summer was eight weeks and in addition to that we had to get our thesis written and had to be in on a certain date and also I took classes at Duquesne University and I went to Pitt University and Catholic University and tried to get as many credits as I could in order to get my state certification so in the end I was certified as an elementary school teacher in the dioceses of Pittsburgh and also deaf education and hard of hearing and in addition to that sight handicapped and blind and then later I was certificated to be a speech correctionist so in all those areas I had my certification. Sr.M: So you almost continued to go to school. Sr.F.L: Yes, Sr.M: All the summers Sr.F.L: Yes, yes it was a continuation practically every summer and then when I wasn’t doing that we were working on curriculum. Now this present the past two years I’ve been working on the curriculum, and the team for that each there are coordinators for each of the teams and for instance Sister Justina Drysockend and David Williams and Thomas Hogue and myself were the language, reading language curriculum of which I was the coordinator responsible for accumulating all the material and seeing that it was done you know properly. This was a must from the state of Pennsylvania there were certain guidelines we had to do. We had to include our twelve goals of quality education and so we designed the curriculum the language reading curriculum so that any teacher coming in any person who wanted to learn about the deaf who expected to teach here at De Paul Institute would have something to have in hand so she would be able to follow in order to teach the reading systems, and we are presently using the Scott Forcemen series and we have been for sometime, we found them very valuable our children have scored very well in readings all the way up the line and they show progress so we know it’s a good program, and were not about to give it up and the Sister have preceded me have worked really very hard on that, Sister Helen Louise Connolly, Sister Florien Mcgorie and Sister Marylinus, and all those people and so I cant name everybody because there’s so many people involved but it just this year you know it has to be so in November were going to have an auditor is coming in and the state will evaluate our school, and so I’m not the only one this is not the only group we have to update our mathematics department, science Sister Jeremy has to do the science Sister Mary John is doing the mathematics they’re the coordinators of the speech Connie Mcgrogan and perception and all Sister Sara Marie and all the people down in the earlier you know preschool and readiness department they all have to do that. Sr.M: Sister now to go back a little bit further into at De Paul the community of De Paul would you just like you mentioned some of the Sisters who have come and are now gone many of the Sisters have died, like those in many other key positions other than teaching like I’m thinking of Sister Maureen Cogrus was here could you name some of them like some of the dieticians who were here who took care of the meals the nurses that were here. Sr.F.L: Well Sister Alice Elizabeth Nolan was here as a nurse Sister Equanatia Moore was here when I first came, Sister Ail Louise White took care of the laundry Sister Mary Louis Highland was in charge of the girls, Sister Benedicta and I can’t think of her last her family name she charge of the boys and Sister Lea Katy Mahallen was in kitchen she took care of the meals and we had other people also I can’t think of her their names Sr,M: Sister Theresa Marie Sr.F.L: Sister Theresa Marie Jenkins was in the kitchen, she came shortly after she had her hand cut you know she had an accident at Seton Hill and so she came here and I in fact I was her roommate at first over in the ? Sr.M: Well what about the laundry? Sr.F.L: Well Sister Mary Ali Louise White took care of the laundry she use to do my dusters for me and I never knew who ever took them so one day I found out that she was the one who was taking my dusters and washed them for me she was very kind. Sr.M: Well when did Swister come? Sr.F.L: She was always here, she was here when I was here you know she was here the year I arrived. Sr.M: Sister Rose Gazada Sr.F.L: Yes, ya Rosa Gazada. She talked an awful lot about Germany and periodically she’d get little candles from Germany and we’d have them for our peace days or Christmas we’d light them put them on the table have our peace days all day celebrations and one year she ordered a crucifix from Germany and so we all admired it some of the Sister said they would like to have one you know beautiful hand carved you know beautiful and. Sr.M: Sister what about some of the children who needed some extra help Sr.F.L: Well there were always children who need extra help especially in the summer time. I recall Mark Partridge came and who was now when I first got him in my classroom he could hardly speak in sentences at all and I was surprised the other day he came to visit and he’s present living in Florida and he’s attending NTID college for the deaf and he’s majoring in photography and I was amazed to hear his speech, he was talking as well as you and I beautiful clarity beautiful work beautiful speech but this past year this is Persvel Walker who has been our on auxiliary a member of the auxiliary club for many years at De Paul Institute and who’s son attended here earlier when he was seven years old I had him in the classroom he was a deaf child and recently he had some eye problems he was unable to see so the mother’s desperate and she asks what we could do he had gone to guild for the blind and Sister Connie Ball talked with him and she tried to get him interested in brail and he was very uncooperative and they exactly she called Sister Calamida one day on the phone and said they didn’t know what to do with Robby they didn’t know how to teach him because he’s deaf and so Sister Calamida talked with me and I said oh bring him out here I know Robby I’ll take him and I said it’s been years since I’ve had the brails but I said I’ll do what I can. Sr.M: How Robert Walker graduated in what year? Sr.F.L: Oh I can’t remember what year I can’t remember it’s so long ago probably the 60’s. And so anyhow he came with his father and his father’s now retired and the mother said that the father would bring him everyday for as many times as I would take him. So he stated in December December the fourth and we started out with brail and first he was in the beginning he was reluctant to learn brail because he just didn’t want to be bothered with it but then he began to see that he couldn’t to realize that he just couldn’t do without it because he can’t see can’t hear he can’t properly learn from talking books he can’t hear the talking book and he can’t see the television and he can’t read and so he was just desperate he just knew he had to have the brail. So he started and he came everyday during the month of December and we got started. In January he had to go to Boston for an eye operation and he saw a specialist there and it was really just a kind of preliminary to see what was what he could do and so after several weeks he came back and we resumed the brail lessons and I had him everyday I took him in the evening and I took him after school some days after school some days it was in the evening which ever time permitted on my schedule. So then during the month of May I didn’t hear from him they had gone to visit his sister in Long Island and they said they’d be away for a couple weeks, when they returned I called and said what happened and they said well there in the process of moving the mother and the father have felt that something has to be done for Robby and they didn’t they know they’re getting older and they didn’t want anything to happen to them without Robby being provided for so they decided to move to Richmond Virginia where they would be near her daughter. So if anything happened to the parents then the daughter would take over. And Robert is the type of person that was very clingy to his parents, he just can’t go without his parents and they realized that and so he’s very unsure of himself because this has happened to him. He was very outgoing in the beginning and he had a wonderful job as a proofreader in New York in Margs position and so it just the mothers just just crushed over this whole thing. So they broke the news to me that they were gonna move so I said alright I’ll take him everyday until he moves, which I did and he was getting along beautifully he began to read and was doing fine so then they had to leave and I said goodbye and I said I would keep in contact with them which I will, already sent a letter in brail to them and I guess it will be awhile until I hear anything because they have to get adjusted in their new home and moving and all that you know it takes time. So that’s that’s the present thing that’s happened. Sr.M: Sister would you like to comment as to the changes which the church as gone through since Vatican II and in turn our own community. How do you feel about those changes? Sr.F.L: Hmmm well when I think of Vatican II I think especially the liturgy. I really appreciate the liturgy in English it has been so meaningful to me. The epistles and the Gospels and the trend toward bible study, scripture, prayer meaningful to you to me to all of us. I have learned to be more spiritual in that area because I feel more prepared than I was at the time when we talked in Latin I mean Mass was in Latin and I am particularly happy to be at De Paul Institute for the liturgy because Father Convoy’s our present chaplain and he has certainly offered many many spiritual assets to our community by his homilies he always has very very touching homilies you know when you leave the chapel you always have something there. Although Fathers been with us so many years at least well I guess its thirteen fourteen years, and he has never repeated one ? and he everything is special when he’s estimation he takes each day as it comes liturgy and he plans everything. He also plans very carefully when we have parent days and also our facility meeting our facility mass meeting that’s at the school and he’s been very much of an inspiration to all of us and we’re very happy to have Father Convoy. And he certainly makes it very meaningful. As far as the clothing is concerned well I think I welcome the change. First I was reluctant to losing the habit and the rosary and the cap and all that but I can see it’s very beneficial in lots of ways you know Polyester can in to being and we had easier ways of taking care of your clothes and Sr.M: And you did you have done lots of sewing Sr.F.L: Oh yes Sr.M: In the meantime Sr.F.L: Lots of sewing for many people Sr.M: Helping them get into the tradition SR.F.L: Yes yes and ripping the old habits and I remember I ripped the old habit from scratch and made myself a modified dress in the beginning and then when polyester came in I grabbed the chance to do that because from you know stores on sales and to make my own clothes so I do make my own clothes I make my own suits everything my own caps and I offer to make caps for other people and Sr.M: You’ve always been generous Sister Sr.F.L: And so I you know I welcomed that because I liked to sew I’ve always I’ve been sewing a long time even since I’ve been a little girl. I would make baby doll clothes and Sr.M: Did you ever take a sewing class? Sr.F.L: No not really not really but I used to examine how things were made and I would read books and listen to people talking or you know one time Sister Shela was here and she talked about something and Sister Scholastica would talk about something and I’d be listening to them and pick up a lot of things like that and so you know it was more or less a hobby with me I feel relaxed when I sew it’s a hobby for me and some people have I like to do things with needle work too you know for instance last year I made craft work for the De Paul card party Noels for the Christmas items and God loves you, and Sister Mary Bazel Youngling graciously gave me the patterns and taught me how to do that. One day one December when I was on retreat I met her and I happened to spot something she was doing and she says come on and I’ll show you well after a few lessons I was able to do it and so she offered to give me the yarn and things I needed at the time and I recently I made a visit to Carnegie and she gave me some new patterns. So last November the first we had our De Paul card party and those items were presented at the party and you know on sale and so we expect to do some more this year. Sr.M: Sister what about the Sister dolls that you dress for the community Sr.F.L: Oh well Sister, Mother Victoria after the Vatican II changes and the habit she came here and visit me and she said I like you to do something for me she said could you consider would you consider dressing a doll that we could use for the archives and she said I know that you have done you have dressed many dolls for the Seton Hill festival and they use to raffle them off. Every year we’d have a doll raffled off Sister of Charity doll and I guess I did about ten of them and each year we would and I was in instrumental in getting these dolls through Sis Mrs. Cathy Mrs. Mrs. Webber she was the mother of of a blind student who was here years ago when I taught and she lives in the north side in Pittsburgh. So she would purchase the doll and I would get the material and I would try to get panama from our capes and discarded capes and aprons and anything that was up around anybody that wanted to offer anything were pretty good I would wash them and press them try to use them and so she would buy snaps for me she would you know then particularly remember the last doll that I did. She went to Currner’s especially to try to get a rosary that was long enough that had a preshable number of chains you know between the beads so it looked like our community rosary. So I remember particular that I I really put my heart and soul in it because I felt that was gonna be the last one that I would dress. Sr.M: This was still in the traditional habit? Sr.F.L: It is still in the traditional habit. And so I dressed that one and a woman from West end happened to be the winner at the festival, and she was delighted to be the winner and so she took it home and we never heard from her until last year or two years ago. Sister Sara Louise approached me while I was on retreat and said did you ever dress Sister of Charity dolls and I said yes I did and we laughed and she said well you know there’s a women at West end who won this doll at the festival and she’s had it for a number of years and she decided that she didn’t need it anymore and didn’t know what to do with it so she went to the Sisters of Saint James and asked what to do with it and they recommended that it be sent to Seton Hill so they directed it to me and Sister Sara Louise and here my name was on the outside of the box De Paul Institute it said. So she said would you consider you know she said I know that you dress a Sister of Charity doll for Mother Victoria, which is at the archives right now and she said the mother has gone through the trouble of making a special glass case for that and it stands on a stand and it’s covered so it’s preserved and she says Well Sister Sarah Louise said I know that you have you know dressed this doll for Mother Victoria Mother Victoria’s request now I would like to ask you if you would consider changing the black cap on this doll and putting on a white cap So we will have a white cap Sister of Charity and we’ll have a black cap Sister of Charity for the archives and I said ok I’ll do that I’ll do that. She Sr.M: Now did you already done that Sr.F.L: I’ve done it two years ago two years ago I made the white cap but I thought after I got the doll, I said I don’t even remember how to make the white cap it’s been so long since we wore a white cap and and I even Sister Agnes Theresa and those people around here don’t have any lose you know Sr.M: So what did you do? Sr.F.L: So I finally I didn’t have a pattern I didn’t have a pattern but I measured the head forehead to the back cross here to see how many inches I’d need across here and then I measured this part and I remembered that the pattern is cut into a like a an oval shape because you have to have more for over the ears ok so I cut it out of a piece of paper first newspaper and put it on her head and then put paper clips to hold it to the hair and then I started a pleat back there to see how it would go and I found out that I didn’t have enough over the ears so I thought this isn’t right I’ll cut more so I cut another pattern out and then I cut an old sheet and tried it on an old sheet first an old piece of muslin to see how that would work and I found it was gonna be workable. So then I got some white material and Sister Sarah Louise said do you need material and I said no I I’ll have something I’ll have something. So I made the white cap for her and then I took the sleeves out and I put new sleeves in it and I took the collar out and put a new collar in it made a new collar and then I took all the clothes off and washed them and pressed it so she was all done up freshened up and then I put her back in the box ah first I had her on the stand and I showed everybody and Sister Sara Marie wanted to take it to school and I said oh no you don’t the kids aren’t gonna touch this doll I don’t want it fingered I said it’s going to the archives. So so I sent it back to her and then I got a beautiful letter from Sister Sara Marie Sara Louise thanking me for doing that. So that was but I I I couldn’t do a doll anymore I just don’t have the patience and I don’t my fingers are not nimble enough to do the fine work that I’d like to do you know very tiny hems it’s really tedious work so that’s it. Sr.M: So Sister is there anything else that we left out that you want to tell me Sr.F.L: I think I’ve said everything I wanna say Sr.M: Well I really appreciate spending this time with you reminiscing about this the days here at De Paul and a lot of the things that I didn’t know that you went through before you came to De Paul. I just wanna say that community is very grateful for the time you’ve given and this will be a part of our archival collection for the oral history program. Sr.F.L: Thank you Sr.M: Thank you Sister God bless you A correction is needed to indicate Sister Francis Louise’s appointment for her first mission at Westend. Was given by Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers instead of Mother Marie Benedict Manahon. Sr.F.L: Correction also was given the date of reception of the habit was not 1934 it was 1932 June 1932. Another correction navicent sisters who were with me in the first year of the navicent Sister Alice Marie Crates instead of Sister Alice Marie Moran. Thank you Sister of Charity Oral Histories Interviewee: Sr. Francis Louise Honeychuck Interviewer: Sr. Marie Corona Miller March 19,2004 This interview is being conduced as part of the Oral History program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister. Francis Louise Honeychuck. The interview is being conducted by Sister. Marie Corona Miller at Caritas Christi. The date is March 19,2004. This interview is a revision of one given at DePaul Institute with Sister Francis Louise on July 15,1987. Sr.M: Good morning Sister Francis Louise Sr.F.L: Good morning Sister Sr.M: I am happy to be with you again so that we can do a revision of your history. So do you want to begin you personal history? Sr.F.L: Yes, I was born in Mount Pleasant October 23,1914 and baptized on November 1 at visitation church Mount pleasant PA. My name was given the given name was Emma Marie. My father died on October 12,1918 during the flu epidemic after his death my widowed mother and her six children Robert age 10, Andrew age 8, Laurence age 6, myself age 4, Helen age 2, and John who was born three weeks after my fathers death moved from Mount Pleasant to Scottdale Pennsylvania. It was my mothers responsibility with her great faith and trust in God her life in prayer to raise us together as a united family. My mother went to work each day cleaning offices taking in washings and whatever she could find to earn the money to support and provide for our home and needs. She insisted upon having a good education for each one of us. We were fortunate to be educated at Saint John the Baptist school Scottdale PA by the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. I attended elementary education at Saint John the Baptist school Scottdale PA 1921 to 1929. I also attended high school at Saint John the Baptist school until my junior year. I recall some memories before school age how I had to keep my Sister Helen and my little brother John sitting on chairs all morning until my mother came home from work each day. We never thought of going outside or leaving the door open at anytime or making any noise while we were at home. We patiently waited for our mother to come home. Walking one and a half miles to school in the morning and coming home for lunch and back again to school in the afternoon gave me the exercise and the fresh air that I needed to keep me healthy. On rainy days I rode the streetcar the fare was three cents for a ticket. I recall when I was young I became interested in trying to sew baby doll clothes I cut the patterns from newspaper to make to try to make the clothing fit my doll, I remember going to Millers big store on Pittsburgh street Scottsdale PA. I looked all the patterns that were for sale on the rack I wanted especially to know how to make a dress with a flared shirt for my doll. After at looking at all the patterns about a cent in my pocket I came home and cut out a pattern. Since I was too little to peddle my mother’s sewing machine I sewed everything by hand. On Christmas morning Santa brought me my own sewing machine later I heard that it cost about five dollars, I was happy to get it, but after several tries I found out that it really did not satisfy me very well. So I naturally turned to my mother’s sewing machine. When I was in high school I made a dress for my sister Helen and one for myself. On Saturday mornings I helped my mother do the cleaning at the Casket factory Scottsdale PA. My job was to clean the sinks the toilets and to mop the floor with soap and water while my mother did the same to the rest of the building. I recall picking up oodles of straight pins off the chairs, floor, anywhere. They had been dropped by the ladies who used the pins to make while silk lining inside the coffins. Since I had to take care of Helen and John at home, I was almost seven years old when I started to go to the first grade at Saint John the Baptist school in Scottsdale PA. All my teachers were the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. When I entered high school at Saint John’s I began to take my lunch because the lunch hour was shorter and I had to be in class on time. It was during my junior year that I began to consider what my vocation might be in the future. At age 17 I entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill navicent on November 25,1932 actually it was Easter Sunday March 27th because Good Friday fell on March 25th the feast of annunciation in the year and I was told to come on Easter Sunday. I became a posolant to receive the black lace cap to cover my hair and a simple black dress with a short with a black short-sleeved cape and of course black cotton stockings to wear there. After six months and making a silent retreat for six days, I received my long black habit including a black surged pleated apron and cape a white starch collar and white cap with detachable bows under my chin. I also received a long black rosary to be worn at my left side. A new name was given to me now I was called Sister Francis Louise. One year later I made another silent retreat for six days, at the end of the retreat I received my first black silk cap and bows, I also received a new black habit pleated surge apron and pleated cape. One year later I pronounced my simple vows of poverty chap obedience. I renew them yearly until years later I pronounced vows for life. I attended classes in preparation for navicent training as well as methods of teaching technique and remained a Seton Hill navicent until 1934. Then I was assigned to begin teaching third, fifth, and sixth grade students at Saint James school Westend Pittsburgh PA from 1934 to 1937. During the Saint Patrick’s day flood 1936 all the Sisters in the convent were evacuated by boat to Divine Provence convent, we were welcomed there to eat our breakfast. Mother Evan Fisher told us to get to any convent and they would be able to take care of us. I went to Saint Stevens’ convent with four other Sisters’ by train to stay until the flood stages were over. Within a week I was asked to go to Saint Iranians Convent Oakmont PA with Sister Ann Seton Boyle. I was asked to substitute teach students in the fifth and sixth grade because the teacher was sick. I stayed there for two weeks, then I returned to Saint James school Pittsburgh PA and taught students on the second floor near the library because the basement classrooms were not useable. After teaching third, fifth, and sixth grade in elementary education at Saint James school Westend in Pittsburgh PA, I went to the DePaul Institute in 1937 to being the service training for the hearing impaired students. During the years I worked with severely deaf students ages six to twelve with six or seven students in the class with emphasis on teaching speech reading lip reading from blind to facial expression lip reading and speech and language development using the oral no sign language method of instruction for all elementary subjects. Many of these students didn’t have the educational background needed for success namely because they were transferred from other schools or just didn’t experience personal achievement in their early education. The ultimate mission of De Paul Institute was to prepare students for success in a hearing and speaking world. Since I had some experience in teaching hearing students at Saint James School, I realized that quality education was needed for a student to transfer to a regular school. I had to provide guidance and direction to make the most of the gifts and talents of the students and to advance them to there fullest potential so that they would make the transfer successfully, it was a hard laborious job but it was very rewarding in time. Many students have attended high school and college and have successful careers. During the years 1949, 1970 a new direction came to my teaching career. Bishop Diren of the Dioceses of Pittsburgh had requested De Paul Institute to begin teaching blind and partially sighted students the history of these years can be found in the archives of the Sisters of Charity and also the De Paul Institute archives. I was asked to take a course at Colombia University and to become certified in transcribing brail using the perpins brail writer. There were a number of blind partially sighted students who attended during those years. Other teachers and especially Sister Angelica Little were involved in teaching these children. I recall the many years that students from the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania came for a period of six to ten weeks for their in-service training in education for the deaf. The students welcomed the opportunity to use their lip reading skills in a variety of experiences, in which the in service training of the teachers provided for them. The students always enjoyed taking part in Christmas plays singing Christmas carols and patriotic songs. They had the advantage of being taught everything that a hearing student could experience in a regular school program, even joining boy scouts and Girl Scout activities. They were always eager to put on their costumes that were prepared for them by the Sisters of De Paul Institute. They loved to display their talents to please their parents who were proud of their accomplishment. After full time teaching, I spend five years tutoring students at De Paul Institute. This was done on the private basses for students who needed special individual help for reading and language development to further their success in joining other students in daily classes provided by the De Paul Institute curriculum. The parents were grateful for their accomplishment. For the next two years I volunteered recording individual speech records for students during the school hours. This consisted of a grant at De Paul Institute the teachers were required to record the minutes of each student for speech analysis rating them I for improvement N for no improvement. Papers were collected each week and recorded. The total number of papers for each month were recorded and given to the schools psychologist and were sent to the state of Pennsylvania for evaluation. Money was granted for the results of this money and it was used for to buy computers and other equipment for the use of the De Paul students. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister Francis Louise Honeychuck Subject The topic of the resource Sister Francis Louise Honeychuck Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Francis Louise Honeychuck, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1932 until 2017. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller and was also partially self-taped. Sister Francis Louise Honeychuck - born Emma Marie Honeychuck on October 23, 1914 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in March of 1932. She received a bachelor's degree in education from Duquesne University in 1947 and a master's degree in education from Wayne University in 1955. She taught at St. James School in West End from 1934-1937 and at De Paul Institute from 1937-1997. From 1948-1970, she helped to develop and oversee De Paul's services for blind children. Having learned Braille through Columbia University, Sister Francis Louise submitted a Braille translation of the book Black Beauty in order to complete her program. She received a Volunteer Braille Transcriber certification from the Library of Congress in 1962. Sister Francis Louise died on April 29, 2017. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/07/15 1997/02/17 2004/03/19 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-65 Deaf Education DePaul Institute DePaul School for Hearing and Speech Duquesne University Pennsylvania Pittsburgh St. Jame's School West End Teacher Wayne University Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister James Marie Malone Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Harold Ann Jones Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister Harold Ann Jones Subject The topic of the resource Sister Harold Ann Jones Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Harold Ann Jones, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1940 until 2017. The interview was conducted by Sister James Marie Malone on July 8, 1987. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/07/08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-91 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/e725a185f9dd062d8053ae4b8aba2d8e.mp3 85c4950c9af9925cdd067e65e28b6574 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/d844b3680d667f921e6d0ba5f53f5b6f.mp3 db4c0f83a6d46d028b246cd331222e4d https://scsharchives.com/files/original/2d8bbcc2d8d2ba3a05e927cea84abf50.mp3 0d583b267b0f9d951401dd0156d6fb2d https://scsharchives.com/files/original/7a69fb9781939d953921e315f20291e4.mp3 ca6fe860e2bb8a20de081098671a02bc https://scsharchives.com/files/original/95d51d97b512dfb99f103ecb6112bec6.mp3 6c008017df9069ebae2aa89531ad68e6 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/f3374a77e83ab6d3f2dd336a62413a90.mp3 182a8b5c3587aea88528ac61e3ca7d34 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Ida Marie McCarthy Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:34 31:35 31:35 31:35 31:35 25:02 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister Ida Marie McCarthy Subject The topic of the resource Sister Ida Marie McCarthy Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Ida Marie McCarthy, a Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill from 1926 until 1989. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on October 8 and 21, 1986. Sister Ida Marie McCarthy was born on December 1, 1908 in Swissvale, Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of Jeremiah McCarthy and Margaret Loftus, Margaret Mary McCarthy entered the community on September 8, 1926 as Sister Ida Marie McCarthy. Sister Ida Marie taught primary schools throughout the Dioceses of Greensburg and Pittsburgh. The schools where she taught include Holy Cross, Youngwood; St. Anselm, Swissvale; Resurrection, Brookline; St. James, Wilkinsburg; Cathedral, Greensburg; St. Jane de Chantal, Bethesda, Md.; the Day Care Center, Greensburg, Seton Hill, Greensburg; and St. Edward, Pittsburgh. She also served as principal at St Jane de Chantal from 1953 to 1959, Mother of Sorrows in Murrysville from 1962 to 1965, and Holy Cross from 1965 to 1968. Beginning in 1974, she performed home visits to the elderly in the parishes of Greensburg and Irwin, before her retirement in 1984. Sister Ida Marie earned her B.Ed. in Kindergarten and Primary Education from Duquesne University in 1951. Sister Ida Marie McCarthy passed away on February 3, 1989 at the age of 80. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986/10/08 1986/10/21 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-46 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/310786e5adb3581e89bd132f40bdbbc4.mp3 c906ea34f295bd1f382826ff17685949 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Patricia Marie Stack Sister Rebecca Ann Espinosa Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister James Marie Malone Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 20:27 30:07 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister James Marie Malone Subject The topic of the resource Sister James Marie Malone Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister James Marie Malone, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1927 until 1992. The interview was conducted by Sister Patricia Marie Stack on April 23, 1983 and by Sister Rebecca Ann Espinosa on July 31, 1988. Sister James Marie Malone was born on August 31, 1908 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of James P. Malone and Ella Grace Cover, Mary Frances Malone entered the community on December 8, 1927 as Sister James Marie Malone. Sister James Marie ministered as a teacher at schools in western Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Arizona. She was one of the founding members of the Sisters’ SS. Peter and Paul’s School in Tucson in 1933 and taught there and at schools in Arizona, including Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Scottsdale and St. John Evangelist in Tucson, for over thirty years. Other schools she taught at include St. Anselm, Swissvale; St. Leo, Altoona; St. James, Wilkinsburg; and Sacred Heart, Glyndon, Maryland. Sister James Marie earned her B.Ed. in Mathematics with a minor in English from Duquesne University in 1947. In 1975, she wrote a history of the Sister of Charity’s missions in Arizona, which was a major source for this period of the Order’s history. Sister James Marie Malone passed away on August 30, 1992 at the age of 83. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1983/04/23 1988/07/31 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-51 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Brigid Marie Grandey Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Jean Frances Peters Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:56 31:55 31:56 31:55 26:14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister Jean Frances Peters Subject The topic of the resource Sister Jean Frances Peters Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Jean Frances Peters, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1931 until 1999. The interview was conducted by Sister Brigid Marie Grandey on October 16, 1987. Sister Jean Frances Peters was born on July 7th, 1912 in Yukon, Pa. Daughter of Otto Peters and Margaret Gillespie, Grace Mildred Peters entered the community on December 8th, 1931 at the age of 18 as Sister Jean Frances Peters. Sister Jean Frances was a primary school teacher for 5 years, an intermediate teacher for 15 years, and an upper elementary teacher for 20 years. She taught at Sacred Heart from 1952 to 1958. She also taught at St. Teresa, Munhall; St. Luke, Carnegie; summer sessions at SS Peter & Paul, Tucson, Arizona. She received her B. Ed. in Elementary Education from Duquesne University in 1949. Her Final Procession was on May 17th, 1949. Sister Jean Frances Peters passed on November 20th, 1999 at the age of 87. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/10/16 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-64 Duquesne University Peter & Paul Sacred Heart St. Luke St. Teresa Tucson AZ Yukon https://scsharchives.com/files/original/44e1430000c669409013eb2f3241a2f3.mp3 86cdc23482ef88c0a345efc4e5d0d5f1 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/f0743e66654b47eebe5343b8b40a22b7.mp3 ab0b692cce1c543b1da5d240b4cefb09 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/84c935c605c0116a7fadfe8da0aa85c3.mp3 ce4bbe4e496add5b568e468182fc6fe5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Mary Noel Kernan Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Jean Malloy Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 32:08 32:07 09:35 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister Jean Malloy Subject The topic of the resource Sister Jean Malloy Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Jean Malloy, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1945 until 2006. The interview was conducted by Sister Mary Noel Kernan on July 17, 1987. Sister Jeanne Malloy was born on September 30, 1926 in Altoona, Pa. Daughter of John F. Malloy and Erma M. Luther, Jean Elizabeth Malloy entered the community on September 8, 1945 as Sister Jeanne Malloy. Sister Jeanne served as a teacher in diocesan schools throughout America and Korea. In her American ministry, she served in schools in the dioceses of Altoona-Johnstown, Greensburg, and Pittsburgh and the Archdiocese of Washington. In 1961, she travelled to South Korea to serve at the Sisters’ new schools there and returned to teach in America in 1976. She returned to teach in South Korea from 1981 to 1991, and then returned to America to teach until 1994. From 1994 to 2006, she volunteered with the Senior Companion Program at the Blair Senior Service Center. Sister Jeanne earned her B.M. in Piano and Voice instruction from Seton Hill College in 1959. Sister Jeanne Malloy passed away on March 7, 2006 at the age of 79. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/07/17 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-97 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/da27dc053a9c74477794723019040980.mp3 94eedf322f0b7e18d9b28f2f5d266fec Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Joseph Louise Reilly Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:23 08:17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister Joseph Louise Reilly Subject The topic of the resource Sister Joseph Louise Reilly Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Joseph Louise Reilly, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1922 until 2003. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on April 13, 1987. Sister Joseph Louise Reilly was born on April 20th, 1903 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of Patrick J. Reilly and Catherine A Myron, Mary Agnes Reilly entered the community on December 8th, 1922 at the age of 19 as Sister Joseph Louise Reilly. Sister Joseph Louise taught upper elementary for 1 year and secondary for 39 years. She was an elementary librarian for 3 years and then 6 years for secondary. She was an administrator in elementary for 6 years and secondary for 6 years. She taught and administrated at Bishop Carroll High School in Ebensburg, St. Pancratius School in Lakewood, CA, and St. James in the West End. Sister Joseph Louise Reilly received her B.S. in Business and a Minor in History from the University of Pittsburgh in 1942. Then, in 1953, she received her Certification in Library Science from Duquesne Unversity. Her father was born in Ireland and her mother was born in England. Sister Joseph Louise Reilly passed on March 16th, 2003 at the age of 99. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/04/13 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-26 Bishop Carroll High School Duquesne University Ebensburg PA Educational Administrator Lakewood CA Librarian Pittsburgh St. James School West End St. Pancratius Teacher University of Pittsburgh https://scsharchives.com/files/original/52aadcdfe476479eafc1084d63d1eab1.mp3 570c6fe108f49920acfc52590dedd8dc https://scsharchives.com/files/original/fa99dd81a6e2c52a0e5b2b483ecfb6b3.mp3 c076406a2a518396e6a4caf111d90822 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/632d02e144e29d0dd222c4ee176da347.mp3 0d0e05c670372adfa6e865aa9caa54eb https://scsharchives.com/files/original/d690e8a90d304269dc482be6691860a1.mp3 f4f737c17f5c9582dbbb5e38746b2a84 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Jude Thaddeus O'Donnell Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:55 31:55 31:51 05:58 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound OH 79 - 1 Sr.Jude Thaddeus O'Donnell This interview is being conducted as part of the Oral History Program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sr. Jude Thaddeus O'Donnell. It is being conducted by Sr. Marie Corona Miller at Seton Hill College. The date is December First, Nineteen Eighty-Seven. SMCM: Good evening Sr. Jude Thaddeus. I'm happy to be with you this evening to have you share some of your personal history. SJTO: I was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania on December Sixteenth, Nineteen Fifteen. I was Baptized in St. Peter' s Church in McKeesport on January Ninth, Nineteen Sixteen. The priest who Baptized me was Father Danny Shields. My sponsors were my Aunt and Uncle, my mother' s brother and sister, John Conroy and Irene Conroy. My mother's name was Margaret Conroy O' Donnell. She died June Twentieth, Nineteen Twenty-Nine at the age of thirty-six. My father, Leo Francis O' Donnell, died November Fifteenth, Nineteen Sixty-Nine. My mother was born in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, and my father was born in McKeesport. There were seven children in my family. My name was Abigail Margaret, My sisters...Mary Agnes, now deceased, Peggy, deceased, Leocadia Catherine, deceased, my brother Leo is still living, and I have a twin brother and sister, Joe and Joanne, and they are both still living. They were almost six years old when I entered the Community fifty-four years ago, so that makes them sixty as of November eleventh. My Grandparents were Abagail McElroy O'Donnell. She died in Nineteen Thirty-Four. She was born in Ireland. My Grandfather, Michael O' Donnell was also born in Ireland. I don't remember the exact age that he was when he died. I think that I was nine or ten years old when he passed away. My mother's father was Michael Conroy. He died when my mother was a very young girl. He was born in Ireland. He was killed by a streetcar. My mother's mother was born in this country, but she was of German descent. Her name was Mary Ann Bear. She died in October of Nineteen Thirty-Six. It was the first family funeral that I attended after entering the Community. I attended (couldn't make out the name of the grade school) in Clairton, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Clairton High School. I went to Seton Hill College. At that time, it was required that we have a year's residence and study Bible. Father Reeves directed the program. It was far too many credits for a degree. I went into Duquesne University to complete my B.A. degree. However, when I got to Duquesne, I realized that it was going to take me too long to obtain a degree in Spanish there. We decided that I would finish in Education with an English Minor. SMCM: Sister, had you always liked the Languages? SJTO: Not particularly. My main interest has been Music, although I enjoyed French. SMCM: How did you get into Spanish? SJTO: Well, I was studying French in the College. One morning I went to a class in the Summer. Sister Martina Abbot was teaching the class at that time. She was waiting at the door and informed me that Mother M. Eveline Fisher, the Mother Superior asked her for the name or names of the Sisters who were doing well in French. She mentioned my name and another Sister's. The other Sister was meek and mild. Mother Eveline wanted someone to learn Spanish in order to teach it at the high school level. So, I became the victim. That's how I got into teaching the Languages. I went to Mother Eveline's office, and I thought that perhaps I was going to be sent on for further study in French. The thing that had me excited was that Sister Joseph Mary, who is no longer in the Community and Sister Paulina Glenn had just returned from France the previous May. So, I thought, well maybe I'm going to do something like that. However, she said: "I understand that you do well in French, Sister." SJTO: I said: "Yes, Mother, with all the pride of a young Novice." She said: "Well, dear, I want you to stop French and go into Spanish." My answer was: "But I don't know a word of Spanish." Then she said: "Then you'll have nothing to unlearn." That was the beginning of my career in Spanish. SMCM: Sister, how did you come about entering the Community of the Sisters of Charity? SJTO: Well, I really don't know. I knew that I didn't want-to become a Sister of Mercy because my Grandmother's sister had been the Mother Superior in the Sisters of Mercy. I was very much attracted to the Sisters of St. Joseph, because I loved their habit and their headdress. My Grandmother Conroy lived in Duquesne and I used to see them at Holy Name, the Parish Church. They were always so nice and friendly. So, I made up my mind that I would become a Sister of St. Joseph, even though I didn't have any other contact with them. SMCM: Were you still in high school at this time? SJTO: Perhaps it was my last year in high school. Then I went to see our wonderful Pastor, Father Joseph Lonergan, with this decision. He looked at me and said: "No, you want to be a Sister of Charity." I had never heard of the Sisters of Charity. However, Father said he would arrange for me to meet the Sisters of Charity. Sister Marie Stephen and Sister Pancratius Jablonski's sister was Father Lonergan's housekeeper, so he had her arrange for me to meet the Sisters of Charity. They decided that we would go to St. James in the West End to see Sister Pancratius. They were having a Play that afternoon in the high school. A very pretty lady, I thought, dressed ready to be part of the Play, answered the door. It happened to be Sister Sara Marie O' Hara. I thought that Sister was dressed to be part of the Play, and that she was one of the high school students. Noone said anything. I had never seen a Sister of Charity, and I was surprised when I saw these little bonnets with the bows under the chin. We went into the parlor, and then the thing for me to do was to meet the Mother Superior. It happened to be Mother M. Ignatia Flinn. Mother Ignatia came down, and she was dressed the same way. I thought now, there's something funny here, but I didn't say anything. It seems strange that an older woman is dressed in this manner. Sister Pancratius came dashing into the room, and it really dawned on me that these were Sisters of Charity. I thought: "This is not for me! I like the habit of the Sisters of St. Joseph." From there, we went to Roselia Foundling after the Play was over to visit with Sister Marie Stephen Jablonski. I met some of the other Sisters there also. I came back to see Father Lonergan, and told him that they were very nice ladies, but that it wasn't for me. He said he still felt that I should be a Sister of Charity. He wanted me to visit Seton Hill. Father went to Seton Hill too, but he drove his own car, because he didn't travel with the ladies. My uncle drove the car I rode in. Anyway, I don't know whether it was me or the Sisters, but something happened. This is probably where I am meant to be. Maybe I fell in love more with the place than I did the Sisters. Then I was introduced to Sister Theodosia Murtha, who was the Mistress of Novices. We talked for a while. I hadn't made any commitment, but you could possibly call it petitioning. Something terrible really did happen to me. They decided to take me to the Oratory to see a Sister who was laid out there. It was Sister Gaffney. The place was dark. There were no flowers, and everyone was chanting the rosary in a monotone. I think I was frightened to death, and was glad to get out of there! That was my first introduction to Seton Hill. In late June, I was talking to Sister Theodosia, who said how nice it would be ifl entered a day early September seventh instead of the eighth. There were only three of us, out of the twenty-two in the group who got this message. They were Ruth Dailey, Sister William Ann, Stella Weaver, Sister Miriam Weaver, and Abagail O' Donnell, Sister Jude Thaddeus. When the Novices heard that there was an Abigail entering, they couldn't wait to see what kind of a creature that would be! They still tease me about it to this day. The rest of my group said that I was carrying a stepladder when they arrived, and that I was bossing everyone around. That's about all I can remember about the entrance. SMCM: Sister, who all entered with you? SJTO: Sister Mary Aidan Geary was our senior, Sister Paul Gabriel Wilhere, Sister Sara Louise Reilly, Sister Agnes Joseph Hines, Sister Mary Donald Cusick, and Sister Rose Elizabeth Breen. I don't have it written down, but there were twenty-two of us I'll say entered on the same day, although three ofus came early. Out of the twenty-two, only four people left the Community. Sister Mary Alphonse. Sister Rose Bernadette, and Sister Mary Raymond all left as white caps. Then Sister Audrey, who was from Clarksdale, and a graduate of Seton Hill, left the Community several years later. We've had no deaths in our group. We are still eighteen. SMCM: Sister, what about your Novitiate days? Can you recall anything from them? SJTO: That would fill two books and five tapes, I think. Well, I can tell you, one of my first impressions was our first choir practice. Saturday evening, we were all sent down to choir practice. I didn't realize that we didn't have a choice, so I went down the first time to try it out. I had been very well trained in Gregorian Chant by Father Lonergan, and Professor Ottman, and Bishop Carroll at St. Pius Church where Father Lonergan was the Pastor. I used to sit holding the large Liber, the official chant book of the church when I was about five years old. They tell me that at that age I was holding it upside down. All the adult members of the choir nearly killed themselves laughing. We didn't know the names of the notes, but I could sing and conduct Chant. Thank goodness, Sister Ann Regina Sweeney was very humble. She was teaching the Dies Irae. She admitted to me and the Mistress of Novices that she was just starting this work herself. We started the Dies Irae, and it was not done the way I thought it should be done. We went up to the Novitiate, and of course I knew that Sister Theodosia was ready for me. We sat down, and she said: "Well, Miss O'Donnell, how did you like choir practice?" I said: "Well, if you call that choir practice, excuse me, but I'm not going back." You know how naive I was! I didn't know anything about Sisters. We didn't have any Catholic schools. I didn't really also understand the Mistress of Novices, and why she was hanging around the young people all the time. Fortunately though, Sr. Theodosia didn't say anything to me that night. She did explain it to me later. Sr. Theodosia went to Sr. Ann Regina and she said: "I have this postulant up there, and I just don't know how to handle this." She told Sr. Ann Regina exactly what happened. Sr. Ann Regina said: "Well, I'm sure you'll correct her in your own inimitable way when the time comes, but don't do anything to thwart her, because we'll be able to use her talent in the Community." A few years later, I believe in Nineteen Thirty-Five, when Bishop Guifoyle was coming to the Altoona Diocese, word came that we were to send someone who was well versed in Chant. I was selected to be that person, but I hadn't any formal training. It was decided that I would go to Pius Tenth School of Music in New York for Chant. Sr. Theodosia, knowing me, felt it was better for me not to have all this attention. She really opposed it strenuously. However, after her talking to me many times, numerous threats and warnings, it was finally decided that I would go to Pius Tenth. They could then tell this new Bishop that this Sister had been trained at Pius Tenth in Gregorian Chant. It was a very profitable Summer, enjoyed the experience. I didn't have to learn the technical names of the different notes and things like that. I was having fun, because I really knew the hard part. SMCM: Do you have any other stories to share SJTO: I tell this story to my students in Spanish up here at Seton Hill. I have to use the nominative case after the verb to be. Sr. Theodosia was always telling us that if we're not able to perform a duty, we must have someone else do it. That was a sign of a good Sister of Charity. No matter what came up, you were to take care of your duties. Sister Agnes Joseph and I did not go out on mission. I was kept home to study Latin, and Sister Agnes Joseph Hines and I believe Sister Alice Patricia Harvey were kept to obtain some college credits. Well, Sister Mary Fabian Rodgers was sent out to substitute at Sacred Heart in Pittsburgh. Before she left, she asked me to be sure to take care of her laundry, because in those days the clothes had to be categorized in separate bins. She also asked Sister Agnes Joseph. It just happened that some kind Novices brought my clothes with Sr. Agnes Joseph's clothes and put them on the bed. Neither one ofus thought about Sr. Mary Fabian's laundry. I came sailing into the Novitiate, which is now the Third Administration Community Room and Sister Theodosia was at her desk. It was characteristic of her to throw her cape over her shoulder when you were going to be repremanded, advised, etc. She said: "Just look at that." (Couldn't make out exactly what she was saying, but it sounded like Sr. Mary Fabian's laundry was all piled up at Sr. Theodosia's place in the Novitiate). Right away, I knew what was wrong, but before I could say anything, she said: ''Now, there's that Sister Fabian off to Sacred Heart. She didn't have very much time before she was sent on mission, but she took care of her duties." I said to her: "Oh, Sister, don't blame Sr. Mary Fabian. She asked Sr. Agnes Joseph and I to take care of it." Sister looked at me rather sternly and said: "She asked me." I was too stupid to know that she was correcting my grammar. So I said: "Glory be to God! Did she ask you too?" Even she had to laugh at that. That's the kind of thing that I did. Here is another story. This is the last one. I had charge of the fifth floor bathroom in fifth administration. At that time, there was a very fine, green, linoleum floor up there. The Sisters' clothes room was also up there opposite the bathroom. There was a large cupboard out in the hall where we kept supplies. We used to go down to the tunnel to get scouring powder. We filled a large can with the scouring powder, and we had smaller cans with holes punched in the top, and you put them on top of the larger cans ( I think that's what she is saying). However, if you spilled some, and you used a wet cloth to pick up the scouring powder, you had a large, white spot in the hall. We used to have to ask for permission to wax, and it wasn't too freely given for the fifth floor at that particular place because the Sisters were coming up and down there often going to the clothes room. Also, Sister Ignatius Loyola, who was quite elderly, had charge of the clothes room. I was upset about having to ask for permission all the time to wax this floor. One day, I went to clean the bathroom, and I saw this little white cap Novice down on the floor filling her little can out ofmy large can. She turned around and I said: "Well, you're the one who comes up and takes my scouring powder. You take it because you don't want to go to the tunnel to get some. You spill it on the floor, and then you don't seem to realize that when you wipe it up with a wet cloth, you leave a large white spot, and I have to go through Purgatory to get permission to wax it." She was very frightened. Well, I thought, she is impressed and probably won't do this again. All of sudden I heard over my shoulder: "Sister Alphonse, go to your charge, dear. Sister Jude Thaddeus, come with me." Of course it was Sister Theodosia, and so I had another long sess10n. SMCM: Before we leave the Novitiate, did any funny things happen? What did you do for recreation? SJTO: The older Sisters Community Room was directly under the Novitiate. Some of the older Sisters invited Sister Theodosia to recreate with them because she was spending all her life with the Novices. Anyhow, we decided that we were going to have recreation. It was like a simplicity night. We made sure that we were being noisier than we would have been with Sister Theodosia there. I can' t remember for sure, but I think it was Sister Agnes Teresa McLane who decided that she was going to teach us Little Peter Rabbit. SMCM: During your Novitiate time, do you remember the names of any older Sisters who were here? SJTO: Sister Aloysius Blakely, I believe was here, and Sister M. Claire Blakely. I can remember that they were two Sisters who were here for some time. At that time, they were part of the Infirmary, and I was serving trays on third admin. I remember little Sister M. Irene Taylor. She died when we were Novices. I remember being so disappointed because we had been taking turns sitting up with her at night and during the day. I knew that she was very low. I decided that I would spend the rest of the night with her because I had charge of serving her tray and feeding her. She was my Sister. Nevertheless, some Sister said to me: "Why don't you go, take your clothes off, get your bath, and you can come back." I went and took my bath in that little room which is right next to what is now the Community Room. I no sooner got in the tub when a Sister came and told me to take my time because Sister Irene had just died. She would have been the frrst person that I had seen die. Side Two of Tape I for Sr. Jude Thaddeus O'Donnell SMCM: Sister can you tell me about your experience when you received the habit? SJTO: We didn't have much of a ceremony in those days. The night before, we went to the Oratory. I believe that is was an Order priest there, possibly giving a retreat. The habits were all folded and placed on a table there. The priest picked up the habit, read the name (Baptismal name), and said what the Sister would be known as in Religious Life. I didn't know what to expect, because when we entered, you were to make three suggestions for the name you would like to be known as in the Community. I had a difficult time with my father at the time I wanted to enter. My mother was dead, and my father did not want me to enter the convent. In fact, I never went home or had relationships with my father until he became ill in nineteen sixty-one and wanted to see me. I never visited home except at the time of my sister's death. Noone except my grandmother, and some aunts, uncles, and cousins, came to visit me because my father did not want me to enter the convent. His remark was: "I was always welcome to come home, but he would never come to see me." So, I prayed to Saint Jude that there wouldn't be any trouble, because I was not twenty-one (couldn't get what else she said here). I promised St. Jude that if everything went alright, I would ask for his name. Sister Mary Thaddeus McManama was a Novice at the time. She said: "What name are you going to ask for?" I said: "Sister Jude Thaddeus, and I'll be in your family." She said: "Oh, there's no point in your asking for that, because I asked for that name, and it was thought to be entirely too masculine and so it wouldn't be given to me." I said: "I don't care. I'm going to ask for it. That's it!" We were always interviewed by the Mother Superior, who at that time was Mother Eveline Fisher. She asked me what name I would like to be known as in the Community, and I said Sr. Jude Thaddeus. Mother Eveline said: "Dear, that's a very hard name." I said: "I don't care. I promised St. Jude I would ask for it. If you don't want to give it to me, that's alright." She said: "Now, your name is O'Donnell, and you're Irish, what would you think about Sister Mary Sheila?" I just looked at her and said: "Would I remind you of a Sheila?" She just smiled. I said: "Let's just let it go. I'11 take whatever you give me." When we went back upstairs, Sr. Theodosia asked us about our interviews. She asked me what name I asked for and I told her what happened. She said to me: "You might be surprised if you get Cunegundus." I was very much surprised. Somehow, Sister Mary Thaddeus learned that I was going to get the name...Sr. Jude Thaddeus. She had a lovely medal of St. Jude, which she prized very much. She had the St. Jude medal pinned on the habit when I got it. The next morning we went to the Chapel where everything was done as usual. In the afternoon your family came. We had what were called visiting hours. SMCM: Who was your sponsor, Sister? SJTO: Sr. Pancratius Jablonski was my sponsor. As indicated earlier, Father Lonergan put me in contact with her. SMCM: Sister, did you go out on mission after you made first vows? SJTO: Yes, first of all I went down to St. Benedict's to teach some choir music. I was there for one school year and possibly part of a second year. Sister M. Juliana Trexler was the Principal. At that time, we had a little dining room on the ground floor of the school. Mr. Bear, who was the driver for the Sisters of Charity, used to bring a large basket down every day with our lunch in it. SMCM: Did you teach just Music? Also, do you remember the names of the other Sisters who were there at that time? SJTO: No, Sister Mary Richard Clark had to leave due to sickness in the family. I believe she went to Altoona. She had third grade at St. Benedict's, so I had to help there. I was sent primarily to teach the choir music. Some of the Sisters who were there are the following: Sister Mary Eymard Fleming, who taught the first grade, Sister Anna David Gibson (no longer in the Community), taught second grade, Sister Teresa Clare Kernan and Sister Paulina Glenn taught eighth grade. SMCM: What happened after St. Benedict's? SJTO: Next, I went to Cathedral in Altoona to teach Gregorian Chant per Bishop Guilfoyle's request to the Community. I was there for four years. During my four years there, Bishop Guilfoyle missed just four choir practices. We had choir practice every day at eleven o'clock. Some of the Sisters were not too happy that they had to dismiss the choir boys every day for this practice. They knew that the Bishop would be there and we had to just accept it. When I first went to Altoona, Sister Hildegarde Eichenlaub was the Sister Servant. Then, my last year there, Sister Agnes Josephine Brice was Sister Servant. SMCM: Did you have a large number of Sisters in Altoona when you were there? SJTO: Oh, yes. We had twenty some Sisters. I think we had two of every grade. Sister Alberta Sweeney had charge of the Altar boys there. The Sisters who taught in the high school traveled back and forth each day. I can remember Sisters Miriam Joseph Murphy, Sara Louise Reilly, and Mary Eudes Clougherty were there in the high school. I can't remember who the fourth person was. It seems to me that after being in Altoona, I went to Resurrection in Brookline for a year. Sister Maria James Cain was the Sister Servant. I taught Music in the school and also had charge of the choir. Father Quinn was the Pastor, and Father Carey, Sr. Mary Agnes Carey's brother was the Assistant. Then the next Summer I was called in by the Mother Superior and told that Father Lonergan had been made Pastor at St. Anselm's in Swissvale, so she was sending me there to teach Gregorian Chant for him. I said: "Oh, Mother, you don't know Father Lonergan. He would never want me." She said: "Father Lonergan was here yesterday and he requested that you be sent there." I still didn't really want to go there. I thought: "Oh my, the Pastor's pet, which may be thought by some." It all worked out. There's a funny little story about what transpired at the meeting in Greensburg between Father Lonergan and Mother Claudia Glenn. The first time that Father Lonergan came over to the convent to see me at St. Anselm's he told me. He said: "What did Mother Claudia tell you about it?" I said: "Nothing, only that you had asked for me." He said: "Yeah, that's right." I went in and Mother Claudia very graciously greeted me. She congratulated me on being appointed Pastor at one of our parishes, where the Sisters of Charity taught. She also said that I had done so much for the Community. So, I picked her up on that. I said: "Yes, when I was Pastor at Sutersville, I encouraged Sisters Marie Stephen and Pancratius Jablonski to enter your Community. Some years later, I encouraged Sr. Jude Thaddeus O'Donnell to enter your Community. So, in a sense, I've been a benefactor to the Sisters of Charity. Now I'm here today to ask you for a loan." Mother Claudia looked at him and said: "Well Father, just a minute." She picked up the phone and asked if Sister Anne Elizabeth Regan would please come in. I think that was the name. She was the Treasurer at the time. Of course, Father was getting a big kick out of this. He didn't know. He thought Sr. Anne Elizabeth might have had something to do with where the Sisters were missioned. Sr. Anne Elizabeth came into Mother.' s o ffice. Mother introduced them, and said: ''Now Father came to request a loan. This is rather unusual, but don't you think we could do something for Father?" Father said: "I just laughed out loud and said: "Hey, what kind of a loan do you think I want?" Then he said that he told her that he just wanted to borrow you for a while to teach Gregorian Chant because I taught you and knew that you would teach it correctly. Then I went to St. James in Wilkinsburg during the year of nineteen forty-four through nineteen forty-five, I think. I was there for just one year because Monsignor Walsh, the Pastor wanted someone to start a Choir there. At this time, I had completed my work in Spanish, and was sent to Johnstown Catholic High School. I taught Spanish in Johnstown Catholic High, which is now Bishop McCourt I was there for ten years. SMCM: Would you say that all of your experiences in Spanish were being especially valued and appreciated by you? SJTO: Oh, yes. I got to the place where I really loved Spanish, although in the beginning I was upset as previously mentioned because I was taken out of French and put into Spanish. SMCM: Sister, where did you live when you taught at Johnstown Catholic High? SJTO: We opened Visitation Convent in Johnstown. They wanted Catechetical work done there. We lived there. When I first went there, Sister (I can't understand the name of the Sister that she is giving here). Anyhow, this Sister was the Sister Servant and taught in the High School. Sister M. Eugenia Hileman taught History, Sister Paulina Glenn taught French, and I taught Spanish. We lived in the new house on Liberty Avenue (I think that's what she said). We taught CCD on Wednesdays evenings after school and on Saturdays. Once again, I had charge of the Choir. SMCM: Sister would you backtrack and tell us where you got your education in Spanish? SJTO: First of all, I had some credits from Seton Hill. When we discovered that my work was not complete, I went to Duquesne University. After that, I went to Seton Hill and Sister Serafina Mazza tutored me in Spanish. The College gave me credits for this until I had the equivalent of a major in Spanish. Sister Serafina had studied at Columbia University in New York, and she wanted me to get my Master's Degree there. I went to Columbia University for two Summers and then I was supposed to stay there for a year to do seminar work on campus. I was living at Johnson Hall and Mother Claudia heard that there had been considerable trouble during the year at Johnson Hall. So she decided that I shouldn't stay in Johnson Hall at Columbia University for a year by myself. She told me that I was to discontinue my work at Columbia University, and that I could continue my work the next Summer at any University of my choice. She strongly recommended Notre Dame because she had studied there. I went to Notre Dame, I believe the Summers of Nineteen Fifty-Two and Nineteen Fifty-Three. I received my Master's Degree from Notre Dame in August of Nineteen Fifty-Four. I also went to Middlebury in Connecticut to study some conversational Spanish. The Community educated me well in Spanish. SJTO: After I left Johnstown, I went to St. Luke's High School in Carnegie for two years. I taught Spanish and the Glee Club. Sister Mary Henry Hanse was the Principal at that time. Then I went to St. James in West End for five years. After that, I went back to St. Luke's. This time, Sister Mary Agnes Schildk:amp was the Principal. Sr. Mary Agnes went West, so Sister Mary Bernard O'Brien was then the Principal. In the meantime, while I was still at St. Luke's, the Mother Superior called and said that I was to come to Seton Hill to teach Spanish in the College, because Sister Mary Agnes Carey had volunteered to go to Korea. Then it was decided at the local level, at St. Luke's, by Father Kernan, who was the Pastor, and Sr. Mary Bernard that I should finish out the school year because St. James, West End was closing, and they were going to invite students from St. James to complete their education at St. Luke's. They felt that since I had taught at West End, that it would be an incentive. This was presented to Mother Claudia, who was Mother Superior at the time, and she gave permission for me to stay at St. Luke's and complete the school year. The school closed in nineteen sixty-two. I did then go to Seton Hill. SMCM: Sister, can you tell me anything about your experience teaching at Seton Hill? SJTO: Well, since Sister Thomas Aquinas (Sr. Mary Agnes Carey), hadn't been here for two years, the Spanish department itself was not functioning as a department. They did hire someone to teach Spanish at the elementary level, and the intermediate level, which would take care of the College requirement. We really didn't have any Spanish majors. When I came however, there were a couple of students who had planned to become Spanish majors, and had taken the intermediate courses. Anyhow, I began working with theses two or three students and eventually the Spanish department did flourish. It was a slow beginning. One of the first things I had to do was to strongly pursue getting a Language Lab as we didn't have one as such. Mark Hoffman, the electrician at Seton Hill had set up what was a very primitive Language Lab in what had been an Oratory on Third Maura. It made it possible to communicate from one tape to another, but certainly did not meet College requirements. So, I went to see Monsignor Ryan. He was very receptive to the idea. He said to me: "You're the one who is going to have to fight for the space." I then had a meeting with Mother Claudia about it, who said she would think about it. At that time, Sister Ann Michaele Reilly was the Treasurer, and I talked to her regarding it. She was very open to the idea, and we talked about what I might use for space. Monsignor Ryan offered money from a small Grant....about Seven Hundred Dollars. At least we had something to start with. He also indicated that we would need furniture.....chairs, etc. He said: "I have a friend in the furniture business. I'll make sure that the furniture is donated." We started in what was a very narrow passageway. The people who published the "Setonian" used to use this space for storage. Then we were give what had been the "History" classroom. We always referred to it as Sister Stanislaus's classroom. This room was large enough for thirty booths for students. They also converted a bathroom and a kitchenette on third Maura into Language Lab space. Tape II Side 1 SMCM: This is a continuation of the interview which is being conducted as part of the Oral History program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister Jude Thaddeus O'Donnell. The interviewer is Sister Marie Corona Miller. It is taking place at Seton Hill. The date is December First, Nineteen Hundred Eighty-Seven. SMCM: Sister, you were telling us about putting in the Spanish Language Lab. SJTO: Well, it's really for all the languages. At that time, we had four modem languages in the College. We had Spanish, French, German and Russian. We no longer have the Russian and the German on campus. Any student who wishes to take Russian or German takes the courses at St. Vincent's. We had Gray (sounded like) Communications come from Pittsburgh and install the Lab. There were thirty booths, which gave the possibility of recording, listening, The communicating between the console and the instructor. They were reel to reel tapes. Years later, I would say in nineteen eighty-three, we decided we had to modernize the Lab. Gray Communications was going out of the Language Lab business, and we were having considerable difficulty having costly repair work done. We applied for a Grant, which we did receive. We installed a modem Language Lab, a computerized console with thirty student booths. One big advantage is that we now have cassettes. Now, the student can record the tape and take it home to practice there. They can't do comparative work at home because in the Lab we set up the recording on two tracks. The Lab we now have was installed by "The Education Media Incorporated" in Oklahoma City in Oklahoma. We're fortunate to have on the faculty, B.J. Burma, a gentleman who is able to make any minor repairs which are needed. SMCM: What about the percentage of students today who are studying Spanish? Has it increased or decreased? SJTO: We had a period when it increased greatly. Then, it fell off as far as majors is conceme but we discovered that it was due to the job market. Spanish or French is an asset for going into any occupation that someone is pursuing. However, they sometimes have to take a second major. For example, we have several who are in business, and they will take either a French or Spanish rmnor. SMCM: Sister, what else can you tell me about the College since you've been here? How many years has it been now? SJTO: Well, this August, I will have been here for twenty-five years. I came to the College in August of Nineteen Hundred Sixty-Two. SMCM: And, are you head of the department? SJTO: No, I was Chair of the department, I believe, for nineteen or twenty years. We are really supposed to rotate every four years, but it didn't work out that way. The other teacher working with me felt that she didn't want that responsibility while she was working for her Master's Degree. She also had responsibilities to her family. Finally, the Dean decided that she would have to take it on because of the policy we had. So, she was the Chair person for four years. Then, she went on for her PIID, so I became the Chairman until she received her PIID. This year, I went on part time. I'm teaching two full courses, helping to supervise the Language Lab, and tutoring three students. SMCM: Now Sister, in your work with teaching Spanish, have you had any occasion of having any experience with the Spanish people? SJTO: My first experience, oddly enough, was when I was studying at Notre Dame. We worked with the Legion of Mary. Father Borestrau (if that's how it's spelled), one of the professors at Notre Dame, took on that responsibility. He used to ask the Sisters who were in the Spanish department if they would volunteer their services. For the three Summers that I was at Notre Dame, I worked with the Migrating Farmers. I worked at a place called "Gunsbob" (again if the Spelling is correct, and it sounds like that is what Sister said). It was an orchard where peaches are grown. The migrants came to that area to work. They lived in wooden shacks with no windows. A square piece of wood was cut of the building and a screen was put over the opening. They had petroleum hot plates for their meals which I suppose they placed over the heat of the stove. If it rained, we had to go into their houses to teach Catechism, which we taught in the morning as well as in the afternoon, and again on Saturdays. Then on Saturday afternoon, we would go out to take the census and visit with the people. While I was at "Gunsbob", there were five families who stayed throughout the year. They all worked on the farm. I know there was one family who also had a store. Very often the children you had one particular Summer did not return the following Summer. There was a Polish church which permitted Father Borestrau to come from Notre Dame and say Mass for the people occasionally. Once in a while other people , would come to this Mass, but it was mostly the migrant farmers. We celebrated receiving your First Holy Communion every Summer, and Confirmation every other Summer. You never saw children so well dressed for anything in your life. I was the only Sister of Charity there. One Summer, there were two Sisters of St. Joseph from Baden, a Franciscan Sister from Iowa, who was a native Spanish speaking person and was there one year, and there were two Dominicans. I believe there were seven of us. We usually tried to keep it at about seven or eight. SMCM: Did you all go to the same place? SJTO: No, the Franciscan Sister and I went to "Gunsbob", and then there were two other farms. The first farm that I went to, I tried, but couldn't stay there because different farms specialize in different things. The first Saturday I went, I was very sick because they had a mint and onion farm. The odor from the ground was beyond my endurance. Then Father gave me a choice of going to a peach or potato farm, either of which was acceptable, so to the peach farm I went. I did this for three Summers. One other thing, on Wednesday evenings, when we were preparing them for their First Communion or Confirmation, The Legion of Mary would transport them to the Grotto at Notre Dame, so that they didn't have to stand in the back of the truck. The Legion of Mary also provided a box lunch for them. I have a cute story that occurred when I was teaching those in the First Communion class. I also taught singing, so for First Communion, taught a Spanish hymn to Mary. Well, they would sing the first verse with gusto, but no matter what I did or said, there was no way they would sing the second verse. Finally, one Wednesday evening when we were practicing there was a woman beside me who also sang the first verse with gusto, but didn't sing the second. I proceeded to tell her ofmy dilemma, and she said: "That's not the second verse." I said: "Well, I'm reading it from the bilingual catechism we were given." She said in Spanish: "Permit me." She started what was the second verse, and you could have heard it three blocks away. They sang what they knew as the second verse, and they were not going to sing what I thought was the second verse. The Mexican women were very kind and receptive. The Mexican men are somewhat anti­ clerical. They didn't bother too much. One day, Father Borestrau said to me: "They will listen to a Sister, but not a priest." When Father wanted the men to receive a message, he would ask the children to bring their Father, and then I would convey the message. SJTO: I think it was in Nineteen Sixty-Nine, that the College gave me the opportunity of going to Spain. I wasn't going there to study, but wanted to travel, to try to get some conversation and learn some first hand information about their customs, their language, and their country in general as I was teaching Spanish. I left Greensburg at the end of May, and returned at the end of August. I covered all of Spain, with the exception of the northwestern comer. While in Spain, I was traveling in a car to a Bookstore to purchase some books to mail back to Greensburg, as I was told it would be less expensive and also possible to find these books. As we were going to the Bookstore along the Main Avenues (portion of this I couldn't get because Sister was speaking too fast), we had an accident. The traffic light was green on both sides. I have never seen this happen. There was a Sister in the car telling me about a statue of the Medici Family (think that's what she said). Luckily, the men coming the other direction were going very slowly, or we would have been killed. Our car was a Fiat. My head went through the windshield. I had a large and small cut on the forehead, and a cut on my nose. All I could see was this blood gushing. The traffic cops in Spain stand on a little pedestal, and they wear white gloves. The traffic cops, of course, came down. The men in the other car were babbling on and on. I kept saying in Spanish that I wanted some help. Finally, they put me in an ambulance and took me to a cop station (she used a term for it, but couldn't understand). It was the equivalent to a First Aid Station. They take all your vitals, bandage you, stop the bleeding, and then ship you off to a hospital. They took me to a Catholic hospital. We had to cross the scene of the accident in order to get there. In the emergency room, they were babbling back in forth in Spanish. I was able to determine what they were saying. The gist of it was that they weren't going to keep this Nun at this hospital, because there's too much problem with the Insurance in getting paid. So, then they took me across town to the Anglo/American Hospital. It was a very small hospital. The doctors for the Air Force are the ones who took care of the patients there. Because ofmy being a Nun, they didn't know what to do with me. There was one room with a vacancy. There was a young woman in this room who had had an abortion, and I suppose that they were hesitant about putting me in with her. I did get put in the room with her. Julie was her name, and we became friends. She had this Spanish boyfriend. It was just unfortunate that she had this trouble. Then they wanted to know if there was someone that they should contact about my being in the hospital. I said no, that I would take responsibility for 13 ffl'lfemmate that sh@ had this tretiale. 'f.hen-they-wanted..toJcnaw..if-theF@-Was-s9ffieet1e-that they should contact.aha eing in the hospital. I saia n&,-that-l-w.o.uld.tak poftSibilrty for whatever. They agreed that I was not in any immediate danger due to my injuries. Tape II Side II SMCM: Sister there's just one more thing I would like to ask you. Do you have any comments about the changes in the Community? SJTO: To be very truthful, they really haven't bothered me. In the beginning, I decided that I would go with the modified habit, and I really didn't expect that both sides of the issue would get along as well as they did. I've been at Seton Hill the whole time, and I haven't suffered in any way due to the changes. I found out that I just live, and let live. I believe that I'm the first one to compliment a Sister who wears a new contemporary dress. SMCM: Did you have any problem with changing to saying the Office? SJTO: No, absolutely none. I feel the same about any other changes which may occur in the Church. I think that we just have to go along with it. SMCM: Sister, is there anything else that you would like to tell me? SJTO: No, I can't think of another thing, and I've rambled a lot, more than I expected to. SMCM: I really appreciated your time today. I know that you are tired after a day of teaching. This tape will be kept in the Archives of the Community at Caritas Christi, where it will be part our heritage as Sisters of Charity. Sr. Marie Arthur: I completed the transcription of the oral history for Sr. Jude Thaddeus O'Donnell on Wednesday, July Seventeenth, Two Thousand Thirteen (2,013). Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister Jude Thaddeus O'Donnell Subject The topic of the resource Sister Jude Thaddeus O'Donnell Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Jude Thaddeus O'Donnell, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1933 until 2006. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on December 1, 1987. Sister Jude Thaddeus O'Donnell - born Abigail Irene O'Donnell on December 16, 1915 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in September of 1933. She received a bachelor's degree in education from Duquesne University in 1947 and a master's degree in Spanish from the University of Notre Dame in 1955. Sister Jude Thaddeus taught in the Pittsburgh-area schools during the fifties and sixties, notably at St. James Elementary School in West End from 1953-1959 and at St. Luke High School from 1959-1962. She then began teaching Spanish at Seton Hill College from 1962-1984, serving as an assistant professor of Spanish. Sister Jude Thaddeus O'Donnell died on January 16, 2006. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/12/01 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-79 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sisters Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Agatha Proctor Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:56 23:30 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Agatha Proctor Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Agatha Proctor Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister M. Agatha Proctor, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1935 until 1990. The interview was conducted by Sisters Marie Corona Miller on July 3, 1987. Sister M. Agatha Proctor was born on December 10th, 1905 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of William Proctor and Wary O'Brien, Helen Josephine Proctor entered the community on March 25th, 1935 at the age of 29 as Sister M. Agatha Proctor. Sister M. Agatha was an elementary teacher of grades 3 through 6 from 1937 to 1979 at various places: St. John, Tucson AZ, Sacred Heart, Holy Innocents, St. James Wilkinsburg, St. Kieran, St. Teresa Munhall, and Carnegie Catholic. She received her B. Ed. in Elementary Education from Duquesne University in 1949. Sister M. Agatha Proctor passed on May 15th, 1990 at the age of 84. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/07/03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-85 Carnegie Catholic Duquesne University Holy Innocents Munhall Pittsburgh Sacred Heart St. James Wilkinsburg PA St. John the Evangelist School St. Kieran's School St. Teresa Teacher Tucson AZ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Agnita McCall Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 20:31 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound Sisters of Charity Oral Histories Interviewee: Sr. M. Agnita McCall Interviewer: Sr. Marie Corona Miller September 22, 1986 This interview is being conducted as part of the Oral History program of the Sister of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister Agnita McCall. The interview is being conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller at Marian Hall the date is September 22, 1986. Sr.M: Good morning Sister Agnita Sr.A: Good morning Sister Sr.M: I’m very happy to be here with you today Sr.A: And I am delighted to be with you. Sr.M: Would you like to tell me something about your life as a Sister of Charity? Sr.A: I’ll try. I was born on the 23rd of June 1900 4. One I am the youngest of 14 children. They’re all deceased except my dear self. I was born on a school picnic day. I was told that my mother had loaves of bread ready to be put into the pans when she knew it was time for me to come into this world. My oldest sister Mary a most happy memory then took over charge of the bread etc. My parents came from Ireland in 1860 and to start a business, which was the coke ovens. They borrowed $200 from Mr. Quigley father of our deceased Carmelita Quigley. The ovens were on Main Street close to Saint James church in West End but the convent and school were located on Steuben Street. At that time very few people had telephones so that the Sisters would come down to my father’s office to make their calls. He loved the Sisters. On Monday morning when he would see a Sister stretching out the clothesline, he would hurry to help her. He like my mother were great church workers. What influenced me to become a Sister of Charity from the time I was very young, I would pretend I was a Sister, you know how we use to get dressed in long clothes and have a rosary hung on our belt. I suppose to hearing my parents talking about respect and love they had for the Sisters was another thing that influenced me. When I started to school, it was even easier for me to see the love and concern the Sisters had for their class their classes, 125 children in the first grade. I entered the community on March 24, 1921 just in time for supper. Sr.M: Sister? Sr.A: Fried eggs and lettuce served by the whitecaps Sr.M: Sister before you go on there can you remembers any of your teachers at Saint James? Sr.A: Oh sure Sr.M: Can you just give us some of their names? Sr.A: Ok, my first grade teacher was a Sister who left the community, I can’t remember her name. Also I had Sister Leanor, Sister Recarda, Sister Marsclene, Sister…. oh I can’t remember the others just now. Sr.M: Thank you Sr.A: I enter on March oh I did say that. That was Holy Thursday; we had adoration of the Blessed Sacrament all night. Our dorm went to the chapel at 1:00 how delighted I was, I suppose it was for sperber. My earliest recollection of my community life were buried, we had our ups and downs, but for, they were alleviated by the kindness and understanding of our senior novices and our senior profess Sisters. I can look back to those days and recollect the help that was given to us as we tried to do our best. I could never enumerate all the happenings of our early days, but I know there were many interesting incidents. I recall this one, the day I received the white cap a senior Sister asked me “What is your name?” I said it is Sister Agnita said she “You shouldn’t have that name, that means little Agnes and you are too big for that” So I still hear, I still have my name and I still am big. Then when I worked in the butter house, I let fall a large tray of butter chips plus the butter, I did the same thing when I worked in the Priest dinning room. I broke a tray of beautiful glass finger bowls you can imagine what Sister Mary Lenard said, but bless her, she was always most forgiving. On December 12th 1923 my first assignment was to Saint Mary Magdalen School in Homestead. I arrived at suppertime to face 25 sisters who were in the dining room. I didn’t feel at ease at first but soon that wore off. The following day, Mother Mary Joseph a magnificent principal took me to my class 50 in the second grade, didn’t’ say a word to me, but handed me a register and that went on for about a week. After that mother came in each day and what help she gave was the foundation of my teaching career. To which to this very day I am most grateful. May mother rest in peace. I always enjoyed teaching I miss children very much and I think I played a part in the field of education by one method I always employed. Always find something good in each child that would encourage him to do better work. The saying a spoon full of sugar will carry more flies than a barrel of vinegar. I forget what saint said that. I taught in the schools in Pittsburgh, Altoona, and Tuscan many happy a days. I think I always related well to both religious and lay faculty. My last assignment was at Holy Innocence for 16 years for 6 years. On June 11, 1979 after 56 years of teaching I came to assumption hall, a little strange at first but it didn’t take long for me to adjust to the work I was about to begin. What am I doing now, what are my assignments they’re varied too. I work in the guild office writing names on menu slips, cutting and soaking stamps, visiting the sick, writing Christmas cards, and of course praying and reading. As to major changes in the community I have tried to corporate as far as I can. May the lord bless all who hear this tape and trust that your life will be as happy and blessed as mine. Please remember me in your prayers. Sr. M: Well thank you sister that was an interesting life. Sr. A: Ya but nothing spectacular. Sr.M It doesn’t have to be spectacular, honest. Sister can you just tell me who was the Mother Superior when you entered. Sr.A: Mary Joseph Sr.M: Mother Mary Joseph Sr.A: A huh, and then she that was her last year in office Sr.M: Oh I see Sr.A: See then when I went to Homestead she was my first principal Sr.M: Oh I see, I see. Who was your mistress of novices? Sr.A: Sister Hildegard Eichenlaub and Mother Mary Joseph Mother Mary Francis for a short time. Sr.M: And Sister did Sister Mary Lenard that you mentioned was she Sr.A: She was in charge of the priest dining room. Sr.M: Oh I see Sr.A: Very everything had to be just so. But as I said she was most forgiving. Sr.M: Well Sister thank you very much is there anything else you want to tell us? Sr.A: No Sr. M: No nothing else, okay Sister thank you very much God bless you Sr. M: Sister Agnita Sr.A: I’m here! Sr.M: I think we forgot to hear a couple stories that you had to tell us, would you like to share that, those stories with us? Sr.A: Yes, One time when I was in Homestead Sister Rose Xavier and myself shared the same bedroom. One Saturday afternoon we did not hear the bell for reading which was at two o’clock so naturally we had to report to Mother Mary Joseph that we missed the reading said said she will go and go and get your reading. We went to our room and Sister Rose Xavier opened the book, which said, it is good for us to be here. Sr.M: (laughing) very appropriate huh Sr.A: A huh, and I remember two more of my teachers, Sister Patricia for whom I took that name for my confirmation name therefore my name is Rose Helen Patricia. Another Sister was Sister Agnes and Charles Regina. Sister Charles Regina, I that’s all I can remember. Sr.M: Sister when you entered you were by yourself. Sr.A: A yes and Sister Mary Lucy entered a week before I did. Sister Michaela and Clarisa entered on the first of May Sister Rose Xavier and Mary Josephine on the third on June and that was our group plus some ahead of us that are dead and some below us that are dead. But I was one of those young ones that entered. Sr.M: You entered right after High school Sr.A: No before that even, I was only I was only 16 I celebrated by 17th birthday in the community. Sr.M: Oh I see. Now Sister Agnita there is another story that we would like to hear about your sister who also entered our community what was her name? Sr.A: Her name was Bernadette, then 28 years of age, entered the Sister of Charity in 1928. During her novitiate time, she was asked if she would go to Scottdale and be a nurse for Father Lambing. Sr.M: What was her religious name Sister? Sr.A: Her religious name was Mary Jude. Father Lambing had two Sisters in our community Sister Grace and Sister Ildephonse. How long Sister was over in Scottdale I don’t remember. Maybe you do not know this, but Sister died on Christmas day in 1943. One thing I can remember most visably about her is her great love for senior Sisters and perhaps the younger ones too but I know the Senior Sisters told me many kind things about her. In the community one time, she had a mastoid and when the doctor operated, the nerve was severed and her face was drawn to one side for a few years, then it was decided that she would go to Eye and Ear hospital for another operation. They took a nerve from her ankle and transplanted it in her ear her face became straight. But it didn’t last too long in the next year she went to God. Sr.M: Sister what about your mother you told me Sr.A: At the time of this mastoid operation, my mother was losing her sight and the last one of the last things that she saw was Mary Jude’s face crooked then when it was straighten then that was then my mother became totally blind and the memory of that crooked face was in her mind, but of course we told her about the operation and she seemed contended. Sr.M: Well that’s good, and after Sister died then what did you tell me about our present Sister Mary Jude? Sr.A: oh Sister Mary Jude died in 43 December 43. Sister Mary Jude McColligan was to receive the habit in April of 44. Mother Claudia called me and asked me if I would mind if my Sisters name would be given to somebody else and I was very happy to say I will be glad for that. Sr.M: Well thank you Sister for sharing this with us. Sr.A: You’re welcome This is a correction of the interview with Sister Agnita McCall. Father Lambing had one sister. Sister Ildephonse Lambing. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Agnita McCall Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Agnita McCall Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister M. Agnita McCall, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1921 until 1998. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on September 22, 1986. Sister M. Agnita McCall was born on June 23, 1904 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of Michael McCall and Margaret Fullerton, Helen R. McCall entered the community on March 25, 1921 as Sister M. Agnita McCall. Sister M. Agnita received teaching certifications for elementary education in 1922, 1944, and 1968. She worked as an elementary school teacher for grades 4, 5, and 6, and taught for 56 years until her retirement in 1979. She taught at various schools in the Pittsburgh area, including St. Kieran, St. Philip, St. Stephen, St. Anselm, St. John the Evangelist, Resurrection, and Holy Innocents, as well as a brief career at SS. Peter and Paul in Tucson, AZ. Upon her retirement, she led the Assumption Hall Guild from 1980 to 1988, and provided a variety of volunteer services for her fellow sisters. Both of her parents were born in Ireland, and she was the youngest of 14 children. Sister M. Agnita McCall passed away on December 19, 1998 at the age of 94. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986/09/22 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-21 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/84e8ddcc3f345908132bdc26c7b4d5a2.mp3 234018e68ba37ca949d6d08473aff8aa Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Alberta Sweeney Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:01 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Alberta Sweeney Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Alberta Sweeney Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister M. Alberta Sweeney, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1923 until 1999. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on January 15, 1987. Sister Mary Alberta was born on March 10th, 1902 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of Thomas D. Sweeney and Mary E. McNertney, Margaret Mary Sweeney entered the community on November 1st, 1923 at the age of 21 as Sister Mary Alberta Sweeney. Sr. Mary Alberta taught at the upper-level in education for 30 years. She taught at St. Phillip, Sacred Heart, St. Stephen, St. Anselm, St. John the Baptist, and Resurrection Schools in Pittsburgh. She was an administrator in elementary education for 12 years, serving as Principal for Saint Anselm from 1951-1955 and 1957-1963. Sister Mary Alberta Sweeney received her Bachelor's of Education from Duquesne University in 1933. Sister Mary Alberta Sweeney passed on January 19th, 1999 at the age of 96. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/01/15 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. 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For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Baptista Madden Location The location of the interview St. James Convent, Apollo, Pennsylvania Ennis Hall, Greensburg, Pennsylvania Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:53 31:55 31:50 31:52 31:53 31:51 31:53 31:45 31:44 20:35 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Baptista Madden Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Baptista Madden Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister M. Baptista Madden, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1944 until 2005. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on January 21, 1989 and March 15, April 5, June 20, August 15, and September 11, 1998. Sister M. Baptista Madden was born on June 17, 1919 in Youngstown, Ohio. Daughter of Joseph E. Madden and Helen F. Lothamer, Mary Helen Madden entered the community on September 8, 1944 as Sister M. Baptista Madden. Sister M. Baptista did some work in stenography and secretarial service before entering the community. She began her ministry teaching at schools in the dioceses of Pittsburgh and Altoona. She served as Assistant Dean of Women at Seton Hill College from 1948 to 1958, and as Dean of Freshmen at Seton Hill from 1958 to 1964. She served as Director of Initial Formation for the congregation from 1964 to 1969 and served as General Secretary of the congregation from 1969 to 1977. She served two terms as Major Superior of the community, the first term from 1977 to 1981, and the second term from 1981 to 1985. After she stepped down in 1985, she served as a pastoral associate for Saint James Parish from 1985 to 1998, and as a volunteer for Jeannette District Memorial Hospital from 1998 to 1999. Sister M. Baptista earned her B.A. in U.S. History with a minor in Latin from Seton Hill College in 1955 and earned her M.A. in Guidance from Catholic University in 1965. Sister M. Baptista Madden passed away on January 25, 2005 at the age of 85. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989/01/21 1998/03/15 1998/04/05 1998/05/05 1998/06/20 1998/08/15 1998/09/11 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-106 Mother Superior Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Bridgetta Fitzpatrick Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Location The location of the interview DePaul Institute Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:33 31:34 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Bridgetta Fitzpatrick Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Bridgetta Fitzpatrick Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Bridgetta Fitzpatrick, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1930 until 1998. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on January 24, 1987. Sister Mary Bridgetta Fitzpatrick - born Helen Mercedes Fitzpatrick on March 17, 1908 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in December of 1930. She received a bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1945 and a master's degree in special education for the deaf from Wayne State University in 1945. She also took a course in Braille at the Catholic University of America. She served at DePaul Institute for the Deaf from 1943-1994, serving as Principal from 1963-1969. Sister Bridgetta died on August 3, 1998. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/01/24 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-60 Catholic University of America Deaf Education DePaul Institute Principal Teacher University of Pittsburgh Wayne State University https://scsharchives.com/files/original/2a13ffbbd6262729a6d87e8fa9725f94.mp3 41fc1687ff88c4abd4cdb7347db8f081 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/728ad8717c5dcd112da30ca8023534e2.mp3 c89c502f51c5092115318e1d65bb7cfb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sisters Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Callista McChesney Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:56 25:13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Callista McChesney Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Callista McChesney Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister M. Callista McChesney, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1931 until 2007. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on April 17, 1988. Sister M. Callista McChesney was born on June 28, 1912 in Sharpsburg, Pa. Daughter of John McChesney and Elizabeth Katchey, Mary Elizabeth McChesney entered the community on February 2, 1931 as Sister Mary Callista McChesney. Sister M. Callista worked as a store clerk and telephone operator before entering the community. Over the course of her ministry, she taught primary education at schools in the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Greensburg, and Altoona-Johnstown as well as the Archdioceses of Los Angeles and Washington. Among the schools she taught at were St John Baptist, Scottdale; Holy Innocents, Sheraden, St. Philip, Crafton; St. Irenaeus, Oakmont; St. James the Greater, Apollo; St. Anselm, Swissvale; St. Pancratius, Ca.; St. Joseph, Tucson; SS. Peter and Paul, Tucson; and St Jane de Chantal, Bethesda, Md. She also taught elementary-level catechetical classes at Most Holy Trinity Parish, Huntington from 1968 to 1975. Later in life, she was the Coordinator of the Greensburg Central Catholic Faculty House, and then performed volunteer work at Saint Pius X Convent, Mount Pleasant. Sister M. Callista earned her B.Ed. in Education from Duquesne University in 1956. Sister M. Callista McChesney passed away on July 15, 2007, at the age of 95. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988/04/17 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-67 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Camilla Lasher Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:23 19:51 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Camilla Lasher Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Camilla Lasher Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister M. Camilla Lasher, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1918 until 1988. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on April 13, 1987. Sister Camilla Lasher - born Cecilia Dorothy Lasher on February 5, 1900 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in December of 1918. She taught at a number of Pittsburgh and Greensburg area schools, including St. Benedict School - later known as Cathedral School - from 1944-1945, 1948-1953, and 1957-1967. She also taught at St. Paul School and St. Bruno School in the mid-fifties and at Cathedral School in Altoona from 1967-1971. From 1971-1977, she volunteered at the Seton Hill College bookstore. Sister Camilla died on July 19, 1988. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/04/13 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-14 Cathedral School Sacred Heart Elementary School Seton Hill College St. Anselm Elementary School St. Benedict School St. Bruno School St. Paul School Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Caroline Lager Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:02 Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz 96kHz Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Caroline Lager Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Caroline Lager Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister M. Caroline Lager, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1910 until 1990. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on June 9, 1986. Sister Caroline Lager - born Emily Catherine Elisabeth Lager on March 28, 1887 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in December of 1910. She served as an elementary school teacher in Pittsburgh area Catholic schools. Locations she taught at include Sacred Heart Elementary School in Pittsburgh from 1943-1957, St. Theresa School in Munhall from 1957-1961, St. Mary Magdalen School in Homestead from 1961-1962, St. Luke Elementary School in Carnegie from 1962-1967, and St. Philip School in Crafton from 1967-1972. The in-house dental center at Assumption Hall in Greensburg was named after her. Sister Caroline died on January 18, 1990. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986/06/09 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-3 Sacred Heart Elementary School St. Luke Elementary School St. Mary Magdalen School St. Philip School St. Theresa School https://scsharchives.com/files/original/8c2424fe98a7abb027ead5eac6ab6f9a.mp3 bb5f08a57b0cbf90f515555404783b3a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister James Marie Malone Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Editha Springer Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 41:32 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Editha Springer Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Editha Springer Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister M. Editha Springer, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1926 until 1997. The interview was conducted by Sister James Marie Malone on June 25, 1987. Sister Mary Editha Springer was born on May 26th, 1906 in Carrolltown, Pa. Daughter of Thomas P. Springer and Elizabeth C. Reig, Delrose Frances Springer entered the community on September 8th, 1926 at the age of 20 as Sister Mary Editha Springer. Sister Mary Editha was an intermediate teacher for 10 years and an upper elementary teacher for 10 years. She taught at St. John the Evangelist in Southside of Pittsburgh, St. James School in Wilkinsburg, Sacred Heart in Shadyside, St. Paul School in Greensburg and the Tucson Dioceses. She taught history at Seton Hill College in the summer sessions from 1940-1944, 1950-1952, and 1955-1960. She received her B.A. of English with a minor in Social Studies from Duquesne University in 1940. She received her M.A. of American History from Duquesne in 1950 and then went to Seton Hill College in 1952 for Fundamentals of Art. In 1968, she received her Elementary School Librarian Certification from St. Francis College. She was an administrator in elementary for 16 years and was an elementary librarian for 2 years. Sister Mary Editha Springer passed on September 3rd, 1997 at the age of 91. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/06/25 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-48 Arizona Duquesne University Educational Administrator Librarian Pittsburgh PA Sacred Heart School Seton Hill College St. Francis College St. James School St. John the Evangelist Teacher Tucson AZ Wilkinsburg PA Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Ethelreda Merz Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 18:37 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound OH 50-1 Sr. M. Ethelreda Merz This is a part of the oral history program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Sister Ethelreda Merz died on January twenty-ninth, nineteen eighty-five. In her memory, Sister Mary Guido McMillan will share her thoughts on Sister Ethelreda. This interview is being conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller at St. Anselm's Convent. The date is October thirteenth, nineteen eighty-seven. Sr.Mary Guido McMillan... Sister Ethelreda was born in nineteen hundred nine, I think, in Pittsburgh. Her earlier years were lived in Homewood on Brace Street. Her father and mother had an older girl named Helen. Two years later they had Sister Ethelreda, who was known as Mildred. The family called her Midge. She was a dear little girl, but I did not know her in those days, because her mother died, and her aunt raised them for a while. Then her father remarried a woman, whose name was Eichenlaub. She had one daughter...Madge. They moved from Brace Street in Homewood to Hutchison Avenue in Edgewood. Sister Ethelreda went to Divine Providence Academy and so did I, where we met in high school. Sister Margaret Frances Coogan, Sister Mary Bernard O' Brien, and Sister Ethelreda Merz were all freshmen, while I was a sophomore. Sister Ethelreda and I became very close friends. The fact that we lived in the same neighborhood, she on Hutchison Avenue, and we lived on Saunders and Lancaster Avenue in Regent Square, we often traveled home together. Then, when Sister decided that she wanted to enter, she came to me and told me of her intention. I remember well the night when she was up at our house. It was in the summer time and we were having watermelon. My father came in and he teased her. He said: "Well Mildred, by the time you enter, there won' t be any names left, so what do you want me to call you, Sister Soapsuds or Sister Applesauce?" Well, we all giggled at that. From then until my dad died, he always called her Sister Soapsuds. We came to Seton Hill in November. She petitioned and Mother told her that she could enter on December eighth. At that time, I was stationed at Holy Innocents in Sheraden. I brought Mildred up to Seton Hill where she signed the papers to enter. I entered on May third, nineteen twenty-five, and Sister Ethelreda entered on December eighth, nineteen twenty-six. If my memory serves me correctly, Sr. Ethelreda was assigned to Holy Cross as her first mission. Then I think she went to Sacred Heart for a year. When Saint Peter and Paul opened in Tucson, Arizona, Sister Ethelreda was one of the pioneers. She loved the West. She hoped to go further West, even to California. Even as a child, she and her sister, Helen used to talk about California from reading their geography. Helen married a man from out in California. He owned a wonderful grape arbor there. Sister went quite often from Tucson in the summer to visit them. They had one son, whom I think is dead now. Then Sister Ethelreda' s sister Helen died several years after Sister had been in Tucson. In the meantime, her father and mother had moved to California to be close to Helen. Her Sister, Madge, remained in Pittsburgh where she married a man by the name of MacAleer. He was Doctor MacAleer' s brother. He too is deceased now. Sister Ethelreda, at this time, was sent back to Pittsburgh for a couple of years. Her neck was giving her a great deal of trouble. She had an operation at St. Francis hospital, but it was not too successful, because her neck continually turned, and she had to hold her head even to eat. Sister was a very private person. She never complained. After this, Sister Ethelreda went back to California when her father became very ill. The father died there in California, as did the mother about a year later. Then Sister Ethelreda stayed on in California at St. Pancratius. She took care of the patio, answered doorbells and telephones, etc., as she had been out of school for ten years. When she became ill, Mother requested that she come home to the East. Sister Ethelreda then came to Assumption Hall where she was for twenty three or twenty-four months. She was a beautiful character. She loved pink and also loved butterflies. Sister Ethelreda was a very prayerful woman, and everyone loved here. Sister died very suddenly one evening. She was listening to her television, which she always turned off about nine-thirty PM. The night nurse heard the noise of the television about eleven-thirty and went in to check on Sister. She turned the TV off. Then, going out, she patted Sister ' s forehead to find that it was cold. She turned the light on and there was Sister Ethelreda with a beautiful smile on her face sleeping the sleep of death. I'm sure Sister is happy in heaven with God, her'fe latives; and the Blessed Mother whom she dearly loved. Sr. Marie Arthur Hamilton: I completed the transcription of Sr. Mary Guido McMillan's memoirs of Sr. Ethelreda Merz on Saturday, January fifth, two thousand thirteen...2013. Sr. Marie Corona Miller: This is a part of the oral history of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Sister Ethelreda Merza on January twenty-ninth, nineteen eighty five. In her memory, Sister Adxam Bronchain will share her thoughts on Sister Ethelreda. This interview is being conducted by Sr. Marie Corona Miller at St. Columkille in Imperial. The date is: February third, nineteen eighty-eight. SAB: I didn't know Sister Ethelreda until I went to St. Pancratius in Lakewood, California. I went there to teach the eighth grade. I was there from nineteen seventy-one until nineteen seventy-six. In those five years is when I really got to know Sister Ethelreda. At that time, Sister Ethelreda·was just doing part time work in the school office...mostly taking care of the milk program for the lunch children. There, they don't have a cafeteria. The children bring a bag lunch. They eat out on the patio, so her job was to order the milk, take care of the tickets for the milk, and all that was entailed. She also did odd jobs in the office for Sister Mary Giles Brandt, who was Principal while I was there, and she also became a very good friend of Mrs. McGaffm, who was the school secretary at that time. Mrs. McGaffin's daughter had several children. I know that Sister Ethelreda was very much interested in them and in fact I still think they kept in contact after Sister Ethelreda left. I was the Sister Servant at St. Pancratius. Sister Ethelreda had a nephew who died in La Hoya, California. It was after that, and because of the situation that I got to know Sister Ethelreda very closely. I guess in the beginning I was too caught up with being the Sister Servant and school work.....being the eighth grade teacher. When you get all caught up in those things, you don't always think about the people living with you, which is not a good way to be. She struck me very forcefully by her quiet way. You had to really know her to realize that she was suffering. She never complained. Her attitude, her manner was always one of a quiet joy. After I got to know her, I learned of her great love of nature. She took care of the beautiful patio we had at St. Pancratius. It was walled in. There was a lemon tree. She had the Bird of Paradise flowers there. They were native to the area. She had other flowers there too. Amoµg them were the Jphnny Jump Ups, which are something like a Violet or a Pansy. When they first came up in the Springtime, she would surprise me by having one of those in my bedroom because she knew that I shared her love for flowers. She also had a few plants on the Patio table. Again, they were of the exotic kind. That was the way she kept herself busy besides working in the school. She also liked to read. Every night I would go into her bedroom and massage her neck. Her neck caused her a lot of pain. She could not look ahead. She had to hold her head in order to be able to do this. She loved "Snoopy" from "Peanuts", so we had a little "Snoopy" dog. That brought her a lot of joy. Any time I sent her a card, I always tried to find one with something related to "Snoopy" on it, especially after I returned to the East and didn't live with her anymore. Another thing, to show our deep relationship, when I was leaving California in nineteen seventy-six, she went to the airport to see me off. I know that must have been a great price that she paid, because it was hard for her to travel. I was very touched at her doing this. She also gave me a card, which wasn' t to be opened until I boarded the plane. I still have that card. She was a great inspiration to me just because of her quiet, gentle, manner, her joy and her patience in suffering. I will always remember her. When she died, I was not able to go to the funeral. The weather did not permit it. At that time, there were hazardous driving warnings being given, but Sister Sebastian Jellison, in her kindness, knew I was a good friend of Sister Ethelreda, and she gave me her statue of Mary, some flowers, and her little crib set, which I still have. When I came back East, I went to Blairsville, and often went to Assumption Hall to visit Sister Ethelreda. SMCM: Sister, how do you feel that Sister Ethelreda adjusted to coming to Assumption Hall after spending many years in the West? SAB: I would say she did very well. She had been in the West for many years. Knowing Sister Ethelreda, she would make the best of it no matter how difficult it might be. That was true to her nature. That's the kind of person that she was. SMCM: You could pick this up when you visited her at Assumption Hall? SAB: Yes, because she was still her cheerful self. She wasn't bemoaning the fact, and she just seemed to be the way that I knew her in California, as far as her attitude, her personality...try to make the best of it. SMCM; Thank you Sister Mary Adrian. Sr. Marie Arthur Hamilton: I completed the transcription of Sr. Mary Adrian' s memoirs of Sr. Ethelreda Merz on Wednesday, January ninth, two thousand thirteen...2013. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Ethelreda Merz Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Ethelreda Merz Description An account of the resource An oral history conducted in honor of Sister M. Ethelreda Merz, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1926 until 1985. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on October 13, 1987 and February 3, 1988.Sister Ethelreda Merz was born on January 14, 1908 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of John F. Merz and Mary Ellen O’Connor, Mildred Merz entered the community on December 8, 1926 as Sister M. Ethelreda Merz. Sister Ethelreda did office work for two years before entering the community. She taught in elementary schools and performed catechetical work in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Ca., and the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Pa. and Tucson, Az. Among the schools she taught at were SS. Peter and Paul, Tucson from 1943 to 1955, St. Pancratius, Ca. from 1955 to 1963 and again from 1967 to 1982, and at Sacred Heart, Pittsburgh from 1964 to 1967. Sister Ethelreda had a certification for teaching elementary education at a diocesan level from the city of Pittsburgh. Sister Ethelreda Merz passed away on January 29, 1985 at the age of 77. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/10/13 1988/02/03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-50 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/a0700b1ec99005938e38488d88fa1359.mp3 13a59c787c217a743ba9a130515143fd https://scsharchives.com/files/original/375bb2a7f1df81b100b05e00bceb64cc.mp3 c0e62196a5214b08565fda63d1f5f6a7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Eugene O'Donnell Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:51 27:02 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Eugene O'Donnell Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Eugene O'Donnell Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister M. Eugene O'Donnell, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1932 until 2007. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on March 16, 1988. Sister M. Eugene O'Donnell - born Gertrude O'Donnell on November 21, 1913 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in March of 1932. She received a bachelor's degree in English and German from the University of Pittsburgh in 1943 and received a master's degree in religion from Providence College in 1953. She taught in the west at Salpointe High School from 1950-1959; she then taught in Pittsburgh-area schools, including at St. Anselm Elementary School from 1959-1961, Holy Innocents School from 1961-1966, and at Sacred Heart High School from 1966-1968. She then served as Religious Education Coordinator in the Diocese of Greensburg for a number of years, concentrating on adult religious education. Sister M. Eugene O'Donnell died on April 19, 2007. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988/03/16 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-66 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/3a40556bfc8c7b49f9abfebb0565f981.mp3 cda535ead810757d93044abbeba18fa1 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/06fb3afa0edadd18c98b967da1277183.mp3 282b929b2548bd020edd90de1b34781f https://scsharchives.com/files/original/74235fb25ec425ec58da09ccce4a3296.mp3 b965d342e6c3e50847f1045a0db4db36 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/09581e80d3030d11d938c9a9dc1370ac.mp3 6a9d3a441ce53180329e5de7bb0289c4 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/d64d02d0829c035a1754aabb52303732.mp3 432ff993a806f9a575cfd858f43a0ec6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Germaine Helwig Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Location The location of the interview Greensburg Faculty House Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:35 31:35 31:34 31:34 31:36 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Germaine Helwig Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Germaine Helwig Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Mary Germaine Helwig, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1933 until 2010. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on April 4, 1987. Sister Mary Germaine Helwig - born Mary Elizabeth Helwig on November 29, 1915 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in September of 1933. She received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Seton Hill College in 1949 and a master's degree in chemistry from Notre Dame in 1959. She taught at several Pittsburgh area schools, most notably at Bishop McCort High School from 1953-1965 and 1966-1980, as well as at Greensburg Central Catholic High School from 1965-1966 and from 1980-1988. Upon retirement, she tutored students at Geibel High School and at Seton Hill College. In 1993, SHC President JoAnne Boyle honored Sister Mary Germaine with a Volunteer of the Year award. Sister Mary Germaine died on March 4, 2010. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/04/04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-78 Bishop McCourt High School Geibel Catholic High School Greensburg Central Catholic High School Notre Dame University Seton Hill College https://scsharchives.com/files/original/b5ddd736a3ce5a950d3a6500afbea3a0.mp3 6216c8def08d5e31986e65ce7a48be62 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Paulina Glenn Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Honora Steiner Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 07:09 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound I OH 33 - I Sr. M. Honora Steiner The following interview is conducted as a part of the oral history program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. It is taking place at Assumption Hall on October the twentieth, nineteen hundred eighty-two. The interviewee is Sister M. Honora Steiner, and the interviewer is Sister M. Paulina Glenn. SMPG: Sister Honora, tell us something about yourself. your early life before you came to Seton Hill. SHS: I was born on January eleventh, nineteen hundred two in Germany( I couldn't make out the name of the city). My father was: Mr. Honora Steiner, and my mother was Theresa Steiner Wickerman. I had three brothers. Two of them were killed in the first world war, and my brother, Tom, died at the age of twenty-two. I had four sisters: Francesca, Barbara, M(couldn't determine), and Theresa. Theresa is still in Germany. The first three went to heaven. I came to Seton Hill in nineteen twenty-three to become a Sister of Charity. SMPG: Why did you leave Germany? SHS: One day I went down to the Villa to a meeting. (I believe this was with the Pastor). The Pastor asked me ifl had decided to become a Sister and ifl had chosen the Community. I said yes that I wanted to become a Sister, but had not chosen the Community. He then asked me if I would like to go to America? I said I will think today about it and later gave him the answer, yes. SMPG: Did you know any Sister of Charity? SHS: I knew about Sister Maria Francesca Umauer. Sister Maria Francesca's father and brothers and sisters I have known, so I thought I would know someone at Seton Hill. My parents gave me permission to go. They were happy that I wanted to be a Sister. My parents wrote to Seton Hill and asked if they would accept German girls in their Community. The answer was "Yes". So, Sister M. Margretta Bernlohr, Sister Maria Gratia Burgmaier, and Sister Rose Gonzaga Wieland and I came to Seton Hill in nineteen twenty-three. We were very happy. Sister Maria Francesca, Sister Margretta, Sister Maria Gratia, and Sister Rose Gonzaga have all gone to heaven. I'm the only German Sister still living in the community. SMPG: Did you ever return to Germany? SHS: Yes, I was allowed to go home three times to visit my sister and their families. Sr. Rose Gonzaga and I went in nineteen fifty-one, for the the first time. We were very happy to make the trip. SMPG: What work have you done in the community? SHS: After I completed my college education, I became a teacher. I taught German, History, Religion, and (I couldn't make one subject out). My missions were: St. Luke's, Carnegie, St. James, West End, St. John the Baptist on Liberty Avenue, and Elizabeth Seton High School in Brookline. I was very happy to be a teacher. 2 SMPG: When did you come to Assumption Hall? SHS: I came to Assumption Hall in nineteen eighty-one. I now am in the Apostolate of prayer for the sisters who are still teaching and nursing. I also am involved in the Apostlolate of canceled stamps. I am glad that I became a Sister of Charity. God has been very good to me, and I thank Him for all He has done for me. SMPG: Thank you, Sister Honora. Your life has been a very full life as a Sister of Charity. Sister Marie Arthur Hamilton: I completed the transcription of the oral history of Sister M. Honora Steiner on November fifteenth, two thousand twelve (2012). Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Honora Steiner Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Honora Steiner Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister M. Honora Steiner, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1923 until 1985. The interview was conducted by Sister Paulina Glenn on October 20, 1982. Sister Mary Honora Steiner was born on January 11th, 1902 in Uttenweiler, Wurttemberg, Germany. Daughter of Honor Steiner and Theresa Weggenman, Anna Marie Steiner entered the community on December 8th, 1923 at the age of 21 as Sister Marie Honora Steiner. Sister Marie Honora taught German, Latin, history, and religion at St. James West End from 1950 to 1952. Then, from 1952 to 1958, she taught Latin, history, and religion at St. John the Baptist, Pittsburgh. At Elizabeth Seton High School in Pittsburgh, she taught Latin and religion for 10 years from 1958-1968, then taught German and Latin from 1968 to 1974. She then taught for five years at Sacred Heart from 1975 to 1980. Sister Marie Honora received her degree in German, Social Studies, and Latin from Seton Hill College in 1941. She attended SHC in the summer session of 1964 for religion an then in the following year, in the summer session of 1966, she attended the University of Scranton for German. Sister Marie Honora Steiner passed on February 9th, 1985 at the age of 83. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982/10/20 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Oh-33 Brookline PA Elizabeth Seton High School Germany Pittsburgh Sacred Heart Seton Hill College St. James West End St. John the Baptist University of Scranton https://scsharchives.com/files/original/10f382439a3f7ebe23360d80a6eaaa17.mp3 9de13e0d3b84f18dd500c7b1866e42f0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Immaculata O'Donnell Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:34 22:09 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Immaculata O'Donnell Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Immaculata O'Donnell Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister M. Immaculata O'Donnell, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1928 until 1989. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on February 5, 1987. Sister M. Immaculata O'Donnell - born Mildred O'Donnell on April 29, 1907 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in December of 1928. She received a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Duquesne University in 1955. However, much of her work was done in medical settings; Sister M. Immaculata was a medical technician at St. Francis Hospital from 1924-1928 and at Pittsburgh Hospital from 1936-1950. She then taught in elementary schools in the Pittsburgh area from 1950-1962 (most notably at St. James Elementary School in Wilkinsburg) before combining her areas of expertise as Director of Admissions at Pittsburgh Hospital School of Nursing from 1964-1977. Sister M. Immaculata O'Donnell died on March 5, 1989. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/02/05 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-54 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Jeannette Weisman Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:54 31:52 31:59 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Jeannette Weisman Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Jeannette Weisman Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister M. Jeannette Weisman, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1934 until 1989. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on August 23, 1987. Sister M. Jeannette Weisman was born on July 8th, 1914 in Mt. Washington, Pa (Pittsburgh). Daughter of Leo Weisman and Jeanette Kane, Mary Josephine Weisman entered the community on March 25th, 1934 at the age of 19 as Sister M. Jeanette Weisman with her Reception of Habit on July 1st, 1934 and her Temporary Procession on June 28th, 1936. Sister M. Jeanette was a speech therapist at Roselia Hospital in the Diocesan Child Center from 1956 to 1963. She then went to De Paul Institute from 1967-1970 as a speech therapist. Receiving her bachelor's degree in education from Duquesne in elementary education, she went on to Seton Hill College for a bachelor's degree in secondary education. Then, she received her master's in speech pathology from Marquette University. Sister M. Jeanette was baptized on July 19th, 1914 and her Final Procession was on May 15th, 1949. Sister M. Jeanette Weisman passed on June 1st, 1989 at the age of 74. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987/08/23 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Oh-82 De Paul Institute Diocesan Child Center Duquesne University Marquette University Roselia Foundling and Maternity Hospital Seton Hill College Speech Therapist Weisman https://scsharchives.com/files/original/631fef2e331065dd17d765960fe1526e.mp3 d4cabd54de91d0460d59679ea410f6fb https://scsharchives.com/files/original/aadede479a54cbc82ca0784aa993e6ce.mp3 570a5904f860eb666794b2b3ced0cdfb https://scsharchives.com/files/original/9ae23e9139466f90e8cc7c7e46d611fe.mp3 2feea42add78b3e93ed1aa30557b9799 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/1886a79f097e45a2041407381a0d9bc4.mp3 9c6c719a69bb7ad882209e94ef680d49 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Michaele Keenan Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:00 31:02 31:01 24:28 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound OH 22 1 Sr.Michaele Ke·enan This interview is being conducted as part of the Oral History Program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister M. Michaele Keenan. It is being done by Sr. Marie Corona Miller at St. Luke's Convent in Carnegie. The date is November Fifth, nineteen eighty-six. SMCM: Good morning, Sr. Michaele. I'm very happy to be here with you today to talk about some of the things regarding your personal history. Would you like to tell us? SMK: I'll be glad to do that. My father was Joseph Keenan. My mother was Mary Lane Keenan. They were married in St. James Church in the West End by Father Price. My father died in nineteen seventeen. My mother died in nineteen thirty-one. SMCM: Did you have any brothers or sisters? SMK: My mother had eight children. Six of them died at an early age. My brother and I lived. We moved to the West End when we were very young. I attended St. Francis de Sales School in McKees Rocks from First Grade through the Commercial Course in High School. I went to St. Francis de Sales all my life before entrance and was taught by the Sisters of Charity. It was the example of Sister Alice Marie Barron that influenced me to become a Sister of Charity. I kept in touch with her when she went to the different missions. I entered the Community on May First, nineteen twenty-one. My Novitiate was under the guidance of Sister Hildegarde Eichenlaub, who was very stem. SMCM: Who entered with you, Sister? SMK: Sister M. Clarissa Cunningham entered with me. She was from Scottdale. She also was influenced by Sr. Alice Marie Barron. Sr. Alice Marie was changed from St. Francis de Sales in McKees Rocks to St. John's in Scottdale. Sister Clarissa became very close to Sr. Alice Marie. She was a lovely lady. We both entered on the same day. We met at the bottom of the Hill. She pushed me in first because I was the oldest. Now, I will tell you about some of my years in the Community....where, what I taught, etc. The first place lwent to was down to St. Benedict's in Greensburg. I taught three days a week at St. Benedict's. The other two days I went to another school, but can't remember exactly where. It was also in the Greensburg Diocese. From there I went to St. Stephen's in Hazelwood for one year. After that, I was sent to Saint Simon and Jude in Blairsville. I was the first young Sister to go to Blairsville. They were all senior Sisters. SMCM: Who was the Sister Servant? SMK: At one time it was Sister M. Mildred Stephen. Then Sister M. Conrad Auth became the Sister Servant. I was there for eight years. They couldn't figure out why a young Sister was sent there. The people of the town thought I (couldn't get what she said). The Pastor, Father Haw (if correctly spelled) was very kind. Before I left Seton Hill, the Sisters in the Novitiate all said: "Oh, the steps are the tombs from the dead!" They all said you'll be afraid to sleep because people haunt you. It wasn't the Convent but it was the Rectory that was haunted for a number of years. The Pastor used to walk the streets at night. When he came back, he would go into the Church where the candles were already lit, but not by him. I often said to the housekeeper: "Aren't you afraid?" She said: No, I've gotten used to it. When Father Haw died, Father Carlin was sent. Father Carlin tore down the inner part of the Rectory. There was a big hall upstairs where the bedrooms were located. That was torn down, because that was where the trouble came. People wouldn't believe it. They had a Mission there. The Priest had to leave. He said that his bed was elevated at night. He couldn't tolerate it. SMCM: What was the cause of all that? SMK: No one seemed to really know. They thought that someone lacked having Masses said. SMCM: Did the Sisters ever experience anything like that? SMK: No, nothing ever happened in the Convent. SMCM: What Grade did you teach? SMK: No Grade. I taught Piano Lessons. SMCM: Sister, where did you get your background in Music? SMK: I received training in Music at St. Francis de Sales from the Sisters of Charity. Then, in the Community, I went to Duquesne University where I received my College Degree. SMCM: Do you remember who some of the Sisters were who were with you in Blairsville? SMK: There was: Sister M. Evarista Donovan, Sister Marie Francis Curran, Sister Alexandra McQuade, and Sister Jane Joyce. SMK: When I left Blairsville in nineteen thirty-five, I was sent to St. Luke's in Carnegie. It was lovely. I'll never forget Carnegie. They had their first flood on March seventeenth, nineteen thirty-six. The police came to the door with boats. They asked Sister Agnes Marie Reuber if they could take us. She said: "Anyone who chooses to do so, may go." No-one went. We had another flood in nineteen forty-two. SMCM: Did you have any damage from these floods? SMK: The damage was confined to the basement. It didn't come up into the upper part of the house. The cellar is situated in a different place now. They put the statue of the Blessed Mother at the top step. SMK: The flood in nineteen forty-two was caused by heavy rain, which made "The Washington Dam" ready to burst. Before it burst, they opened it. Therefore, we had more flooding. They notified men working in Mills, but they didn't notify Schools. They had to carry things from the High School over to the Convent. It was a terrible flood! They don't worry about floods now because of some preventive measures which have been taken. I can't actually say that there have never been any more floods, because after I left Carnegie, I was told that there had been flooding in the basement which caused damage to the Sisters' trunks SMCM: Sister, can you tell us anything about the nice things which took place at St. Luke's? SMK: Just living there was great! There was a High School there and so they had enjoyable events...plays, concerts, etc. SMCM: Did you teach Piano Lessons there? SMK: Yes, I taught Piano Lessons in the Grade School and High School. I taught Singing in the Grade School. It got so big for me that I had to ask Mother M. Claudia Glenn for help. She sent a Music teacher. I especially remember Sister M. Annina Fox. We worked well together, and had programs. We had a Piano Concert down at the Library. She said: "Sister Michaele, I could never have done that if you hadn' t been here to do it." I had to get money for the children so I had to have some events. SMCM: Was this at the Public Library? SMK: Yes, it was. The High School had things there too. For a while, we had things in the School, but as things became larger, we needed more space. SMCM: Sister, when you taught Singing, did the children come to you, or did you go to the classrooms? SMK: The High School students came over to the Hall in the Grade School. I went to the individual rooms in the Grade School. Ifwe had Choir Practice, it was in the Hall. SMCM: Sister, how many Sisters were there with you in nineteen thirty-five? SMK: In nineteen thirty-five, there were fifteen Sisters. When I was leaving St. Luke' s in nineteen fifty-five, there were twenty-eight Sisters. SMK: Nineteen fifty-five brought a big change in my life. I was sent to be the Sister Servant at St. Simon and Jude' s in Blairsville. When Mother Claudia informed me of this, I said: "You know Mother, I'm not Sister Ann Michaele Reilly, I'm just Sister Michaele." Father Mueller, the Pastor had a history of making it difficult for Sister Servants. SMCM: How many Sisters did you have with you? SMK: We had eight Sisters. They were very nice. It was a different situation. I was the Sister Servant, Principal, charge of the Music, etc. It's a wonder I didn't die! I had Postulants, Novices, and Professed Sisters. The one helping thing about it was that I had been there before. I knew the School. That was a big help. I knew the parents of the pupils. They would all ask: "Do you know my name, Sister? Do you know my name?" I was there for six years. It was quite different! I wouldn't want to go through it again. As far as being the Sister Servant. they weren't unkind to me, but it was hard, especially if you' re a young woman and it isn' t your forte in life. I had lots of visits from Seton Hill anyway. Each year someone would come and say: "One more year. One more year!" SMK: When my time was up in Blairsville, I was sent to Resurrection in Brookline. I was there for four years. When I went into that School, I thought it was the whole world because it was so large. SMCM: Were there a lot of Sisters at Resurrection? SMK: Yes, a good many. I forget who the Sister Servant was. There were, I believe six of every Grade.There was letters A, B, C, D, E, and F to indicate each. I was up on the second floor. Later, when St. Pius Catholic School was built (now Brookline Regional Catholic) I was on the first floor because we lost about two hundred students to St. Pius. So then we had four fourth Grades. Sister M. Clarasita Wolk had A, I had B, and the two seculars had C and D. I'll never forget Sister Clarasita. She was so kind. SMCM: Sister, what about your Music during those years? SMK: I taught Piano Lessons in the Convent after School. I didn't have very many because my teaching and other duties wouldn' t allow for it. After that, we went to different Schools for a year at a time. SMCM: Sister, I would like to ask you a question about Resurrection. Did you live in what was the new Convent? SMK: I must have because they were building that Convent in nineteen fifty. I went to Resurrection in nineteen fifty-five. It was a lovely Convent. There were many Sisters there. I was sorry to leave there. I was there for four happy years. I also liked the School. The last School I went to was Holy Innocents in Sheraden where I taught fourth Grade. I was there for a couple of years. From there I went back to St. Luke's in Carnegie in nineteen seventy. There was no High School at that time. It had closed after Canev,in: High School was built. I taught Singing in the Grade School and Piano Lessons. Then I was at St. Luke's from nineteen seventy until nineteen eight-six. I was here for twenty years the first time I was here. Sister M. Emily Miller was here for six of the years I was at St. Luke's. She was the Principal of the Grade School. In the High School Sister Mary Henry Hanse and Sister Mary Blanche Stokes seemed to take turns being the Principal of the High School. Sister Emily was a wonderful Sister, but she did not want to be disturbed when she came to School. That was her Reading time. They got her a big Rocker. She brought the Post over everyday to read. She was the nicest Sister, but they say that in her early days, she was a bit crabby. The enrollment was very low in the years when Sister Ann Patricia Barkin was the Principal. Sister Louise de Paul Burke was the only other Sister in the School. SMCM: Sister, what about the present Convent? Is it the one you lived in when you were there before? SMK: No, it's a new part. They built it while I was here. It's about twenty-five years old. It wasn't the Pastor, but the Assistant said that it was against Canon Law for more than one Sister to be in a bedroom. Previously, we had one Bathroom for about fifteen Sisters, big dorms for multiple Sisters. Monsignor Kernan was here for the finalizing of the building. There are lots of beautiful things about Carnegie. The people are good to us. At Holiday Times, they always bring you something. They do this for the entire group, not individually. When the various fruits and vegetables are harvested we receive strawberries, large amounts of tomatoes, etc. They're older people, and they think that the Sisters are special. When Sister Mary Alban Fitzgerald died, they were really upset. SMCM: Can you tell me anything about Sr. Mary Alban since you were with her for many years? SMK: Sr. Mary Alban came to St. Luke's in nineteen seventy-one. She was with me for just a short time the frrst time I was here. She came from being at St. James in the West End. She had a great deal of sickness. She was diabetic among other things. She didn't like going to the Doctor. She was nice to live with. SMCM: Did she teach? SMK: She did until her health got too poor. Then, she did special work. She worked up at John Kane with Sister Jean Frances Peters for a while. She was very active with the Senior Citizens Group in Carnegie. She packed to go to Ireland with the group, but died before getting to Ireland. That group was very upset. They knew however, that Sister probably lived beyond what her health would warrant. She didn't want to die, but eventually became reconciled to it. SMCM: Where did Sr. Mary Alban come from? SMK: She came from Hazelwood. She didn't have any immediate family. All of them were deceased. Her brother was the last one to die. She had nieces and nephews. SMCM: So, you're the Senior Sister at St.Luke's? SMK: I've been the Senior Sister since nineteen seventy. Sister Jean Augustine asked me if perhaps I should think about going to Assumption Hall, and Sister Sebastian Jellison, by way of invitation wondered if I would like to go there. I taught Sister Sebastian Piano Lessons when I was in Blairsville. I feel this way about going to Assumption Hall. If you're active, why not stay, because to live in one room, I'd lose my head. I would get senile right away. At the same time, I don't believe in waiting until you have to be sick in bed. I don't dislike Assumption Hall, but I don't have feeling for it. I think it's because I have lived so long at our Missions. Unless they close the School, I'll still be here. There are many charges which have to be taken care of here at St. Luke's. SMCM: What are some of the things you are responsible for doing? SMK: The kitchen needs to be kept in order....dishes done, garbage emptied, etc. I have charge of the Dining Room. I do the towels. The Dining Room is quite large. We have a woman who comes once a week to do the bigger things. I also take my turn getting breakfast. My day is Friday. SMCM: Sister, could we backtrack a bit? When you entered in nineteen twenty-one, who was your Mistress? SMK: Sister Hildegarde Eichenlaub was the Mistress. SMCM: Were you in the group who were Novices for five years? SMK: Yes, we were Novices for five years and three months. We had Sister Hildegarde for about three years. We had another Mistress, Mother Mary Francis McCullough. It was like from the ridiculous to the sublime! Sr. Hildegarde stood over you like you never knew how to scrub or do other things. Mother Mary Francis treated you like a woman. SMCM: What was your charge as a Novice? SMK: Most of the charges were on the first floor of the Administration Building. You moved around doing the various things in the Kitchen and Dining Room. Then there were some charges on other floors upstairs e.g. the Community Room. SMCM: Where did you live? SMK: We lived on the fourth and fifth floors of the Administration Building. SMCM: Were there many in the Novitiate? SMK: Yes, there was a large number of Sisters in the Novitiate with me. It was very strict. When I wrote home to my Mother about the cemetery, because I didn't know what else to say, I was criticized. The letter was given back to me. SMCM: So, your parents were still living when you entered? SMK: My father was deceased. My Mother died when I was in Blairsville in nineteen thirty-one. My Father and Mother both were killed, not together. It was between Christmas and New Year's. My Mother and I had influenza. My Father said that he was going to West End to wish his parents a greeting to ring out the old and bring in a New Year of happiness. In those days we didn't have a car. We traveled via streetcar. He got off the streetcar at Steuben Street to walk up to his parents. (She says something here about a streetcar and train stop possibly intersecting). Noone saw my Father being hit or killed. His body was pulled over to Main Street. My Aunt knew that my Father was coming, and she went out on the porch and said: "Oh, Joe must have gone up to my Mother's Mother place." The next day, a child came to my Grandparents house to see their Christmas tree. You know how children talk: Well, this child said: "By the way, there was a man killed last night." My Mother had called my Grandparents to see if they had sickness as my Father had-not .c ome home all night. My Aunt called the Morgue, and the man who answered said: "Yes, there is a man here,and his Son has come to identify him. My brother, John, who was a Western Union employee had been at work there. My Aunt called and asked the gentleman to put my brother on the line. My Aunt said: "John, is something wrong?" He said: "Yes, my Father died on his way to the hospital." John came home to my Mother and me. He said: "Well, Pop is dead!" My Father was laid out at home. (Sr. Marie Arthur...They had to have the Coroner, but there was loud crashing on the tape, so I couldn't get what she was saying). SMCM: What hit him, Sister? SMK: We think it was a train, but we're really not sure because of the circumstances. After that, my Grandmother went to bed and never got up again. That was in nineteen seventeen. He was forty-five years old. SMK: My Mother was killed on the bridge that goes across the Allegheny River in the West End. It was during Lent and Sister Mary Basil Jungling and I came in from Blairsville to visit our Mothers. It was the only available weekend that we could do this. Sister Mary Basil's Mother lived in Sheraden.. My Mother didn't know that I was coming. I went shopping with my Mother and then we went home. That's the last time I saw my Mother alive. My Mother said that she would take me over to Sheraden to be with Sister Mary Basil for the return trip to Blairsville. When my Mother was leaving Sheraden I asked if she was going directly home, but she said that she was going to Church. It was Friday. I never got to leave Sheraden that day as the call came that my Mother was in St. Joseph's Hospital because she had been hit by a driver from Sheraden. Anyhow, the Sister Servant (whom she didn't name) told her to stay over if her Mother wasn't going to live, but to come home if she lived. Sister Alberta Sweeney went with me. SMK: Another gentleman who witnessed the accident got her to the hospital where she eventually lost consciousness and died due to a serious head injury. She was fifty-four years old. Tape II Side I 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 Sister Michaele Keenan. The interview is being conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller at St. Luke's Convent in Carnegie. The date is November sixth, nineteen eighty-six. SMCM: Sister, we were talking about Sister Sister M. Clarissa Cunningham. She entered with you. Could you share some things about her with us? SMK: Yes, Sister Clarissa entered from Scottdale. Her Father and Grandmother reared them as children. She graduated from the Catholic School in Scottdale. She entered the Community on May First, nineteen twenty-one. She taught at St. Benedict's in Greensburg for many years. She was at Sacred Heart in the East End, I'm not sure how long. She was at Blairsville for just a year. Most of her teaching was in the eighth Grade. She was a very fine teacher and was also strict. She was held back from making Vows for a while. When I heard it, I went to Sister Hildegarde and asked her why Sr. Clarissa was being held back from Vows. She said: Well, she is sick." I said: "Well, if anyone needs to be held back, you can hold me back because Sister Clarissa is really looking forward to making Vows. Again, Sr. Hildegarde said: Well, if she doesn't get better, we'll have to send her home." Sr. Hildegarde further said: She was asked to help with a mattress, but said she couldn't because her arms were not strong enough." The person called her a baby. Another time she was in Pittsburgh Hospital. Her Father went to see her and told her he was going to take her home. We often laugh about it now. She made her Vows the following year with Sister Rose Xavier Garrity and Sister Mary Josephine McClory. I made Vows with Sister M. Agnita McCall and Sister Mary Lucy McDermitt. Sister Clarissa was very good in Latin, but I don't know if she ever taught it. SMCM: Sister, getting back to your Novitiate. What was it like when you were young Sisters? SMK: We had good times. I'll tell you who else was in our group Sister Florence Marie Scott. She was full oflife. Sister Veronica Scott, Sister to Sr. Florence Marie Scott was in the Novitiate then also, but she wasn't as wild as her sister. One time, we were over at the Bakery and we stole a pie. We took the Curtis method in Music. Miss or Mrs. Curtis was coming to visit us. Sister M. Angeline Jackson, Sister Mary Eleanor Frederick, and many other Sisters had to take the Course. Sister Helen Cecilia Dwyer wouldn't take it. Her hands were perfect. Mrs. Robinson was the regular Music teacher for the Summer. She took all of the Piano Teachers together in Sullivan Hall. Sister M. Angeline and her girlfriend Sister Mary Eleanor played. We were in the audience. It was time for the Class to end. The bell rang before it was time to go. I said to Sister Veronica: "Veronica, I'm leaving." Veronica said: "Okay, I'll go with you." Before we could breathe the second time, we were reported. We met Sister Helen Cecilia who said: "You go to Mother Claudia because you have been reported." I said: "What for?" She said: "For leaving class." Veronica said: "Well, Michaele, I'm not going." So, I walked over to see Mother Claudia. On my way in, Sister Mary Eleanor was on her way out crying. I said: "Mother, did you want me?" She said: "Yes, I'm surprised at you walking out of Class." I said: "The Class was over." She said: "The time was over, but the teacher wasn't finished with you." I said: "Well, she didn't do anything with us. She took two other people." She was lovely with me, but she knew I was right all the way through. She said: "Well, you get Sister Veronica, and you go and apologize to that teacher." We went and apologized. Mrs. Curtis was wonderful with us. She took us to the pianos and heard us play. In fact, her cab was there to take her, but she had the driver wait until she finished working with Sister Veronica and me. Tape II Side 2 SMCM: Sister, how did you choose your name? SMK: They said I looked like the Sister Anne Xavier Keenan who died. I didn't want the name Anne Xavier. Someone said I should ask for Michaele. I guess I shouldn't have done that because her Pastor is Michael. First, I didn't like the name, but I've grown to like it now. Every time I go to the Doctor, they say: "How do you spell it?" I say:" Michael with an eon it at the end." SMCM: Sister, is there anything else you would like to tell us? SMK: No, I think that I have told you enough. SMCM: How do you feel about the changes that have taken place in the Church and in the Community? SMK: It has been difficult, but I don't fight against the changes. I do what I can do. I don't relish the changes, but they are something which you have to go through. SMCM: Sister Michaele, I want to thank you in the name of the Community for giving your time and providing us with so many interesting stories. Our Community is very enthused about the Oral History Program, and are very pleased when the Sisters take part in it. Sr. Marie Arthur Hamilton: I completed the transcription of the Oral History for Sister Michaele Keenan on Wednesday, March twentieth. Two thousand thirteen.:.2013. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Michaele Keenan Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Michaele Keenan Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister M. Michaele Keenan, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1921 until 1989. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on November 6, 1986. Sister M. Michaele Keenan - born Elizabeth Keenan on June 18, 1902 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in May of 1921. Sister Michaele received a bachelor's degree in music education from Duquesne University in 1944. She taught at St. Luke Elementary School from 1943-1955 and again from 1970-1985, offering private music lessons in the later years. She also taught at SS. Simon and Jude School in Blairsville from 1955-1961, at Resurrection School from 1961-1965, at St. Mary Magdalen School from 1965-1967, and at Holy Innocents School from 1967-1970. She primarily taught music, though she also served as Principal, Vice Principal, and Sister Servant at various points throughout her time of service. Sister Michaele Keenan died on November 7, 1989. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986/11/06 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-22 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Oral histories of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights to this recording belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH Description An account of the resource To listen to an oral history, click on the record or search by the sister's name. Look under "Other Media" and click on the desired mp3 file to open the oral history. Multiple files indicate a continuation of the oral history. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sister Marie Corona Miller Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister M. Naomi Walsh Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 96kHz Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 31:54 31:54 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral History: Sister M. Naomi Walsh Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Naomi Walsh Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister M. Naomi Walsh, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1932 until 1994. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on March 12, 1988. Sister M. Naomi Walsh was born on December 2nd, 1909 in Lackawanna, NY. Daughter of English immigrants, John Walsh and Esther Ainsworth, Mary Walsh entered the community on September 8th, 1932 as Sister M. Naomi Walsh with her Reception of Habit on January 1st, 1933 and her Temporary Profession on January 1st, 1935. Sister M. Naomi was a librarian at Elizabeth Seton High School from 1950 to 1951 and 1958 to 1960. She was a librarian at Sacred Heart High School from 1952 to 1956 and 1960 to 1967. Sr. M. Naomi was also a librarian at Seton Hill College from 1967 to 1971 and at Greensburg Central Catholic from 1971 to 1981. Then, she was a librarian at St. Bruno Parish from 1984 to 1989 and then at St. Bruno Rectory from 1989 until 1993. Receiving her B.A. of History from Seton Hill College in 1932, she pursued her B.S. of Librarian Science from Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1936. Sister M. Naomi Walsh passed on December 14th, 1994 at the age of 85. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988/03/12 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights belong to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Audio cassette tape Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-70 Carnegie Institute of Technology Elizabeth Seton High School Greensburg Central Catholic Librarian Sacred Heart Seton Hill College St. Bruno