17 25 573 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/fe47664ac1c7177665923b280173d1ab.mp3 2172c45c5034a1ec8ba0fa1fe8d87c9d https://scsharchives.com/files/original/3ec741bc98e21f6479aa2525b5aaa22e.mp3 5c923c1a30c7af66ecade9151a68b267 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 Mary Guido McMillan 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.) 31:02 27:59 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound OH-23 SMCM: This interview is being conducted as part of the oral history program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister Mary Guido McMillan and the interviewer is Sister Marie Corona Miller. The interview is being conducted at St. Anselm's convent. The date is January 14, 1987. It will be kept in the community archives at Caritas Christi in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. SMCM: Good morning, Sister Mary Guido. I'm very happy to be with you today to have you tell us about your history. Would you like to do that? SMGMc: Yes, I would be happy to do that. I was born April 23, 1907 in Belleview, Pennsylvania. My sister Betty was also born in Belleview. Shortly after my sister's birth, we moved to Richmond, Virginia where my brother, Billy, was born. A year and a halflater, my mother died at the age of twenty-nine. I was six, my sister five, and my little brother one and a half years old. In the meantime, my mother's aunt took care ofus. Several years later, my father married Margaret Bettet (that's what it sounded like. I listened several times). She was a catholic. Therefore, we became catholic. My sister and I were baptized on March 23, 1917. Prior to that, we went to the Southern Baptist Church in Richmond. My mother is buried there in the cemetery connected with the church. At the beginning of the First World War, when my father married my stepmother, we had to move to Philadelphia because my father was exporting lumber to England. We had to be near the Chesapeake Bay. We started school, I believe I was in third grade at a school where the Sisters of St. Joseph taught. My stepmother caught the flu. My father didn't have anyone to care for us, so he asked the sisters for suggestions as to where he might send us. This happened to be the sisters boarding home in Marian, Pennsylvania. We were there for a year. After my stepmother recovered, we moved to be with my .Grandmother McMillan in Pittsburgh. My grandmother was furious that we had become catholic. She wouldn't permit us to go to church, even though St. Lawrence's Church was right on Broad Street, where she lived in Garfield. Meantime, my father being a devout catholic, arranged for me and my sister to go to Ursuline Academy. My brother, Billy, went to DePaul Institute, not as a pupil, but as a child to be taken care of. The Ursuline Academy didn't keep summer boarders. My stepmother was unable to take care of us. The sisters in Ursuline Academy advised my father to send us to the Sisters of St. Joseph in Ebensburg, PA for the summer. We stayed in Ebensburg for the following school year. My stepmother had a nervous breakdown, but she recovered enough for us to come home. We moved to College Avenue in the east end of Pittsburgh. We lived on the first floor. I came home to help her. My sister and brother came home also. My sister and I went to Sacred Heart School. We were both in the same grade. Sister M. Zita Ryan was our teacher. It was seventh grade. My brother went to Sacred Heart also. The following year, my dad moved to Wilkinsburg because he had started a new lumber business on Trenton Avenue. We went to St. James School in Wilkinsburg. In the meantime, my father had a large house built in Regent Square on Lancaster Avenue. From here, we went to Divine Providence High School on Larimer Avenue in East Liberty. I didn't complete High School. At the end of my second year, I entered the Sisters of Charity. I didn't really know the Sisters of Charity very well because my stepmother gave everyone the impression that she was marvelous. You've heard the term "Street Angel, but a House devil." Well, the term surely described her. She gave us the gift of faith, but she was really mean and cruel to us. I don' t want to go into this as it makes me very upset. So, I'll tell you how I became interested in becoming a Sister of Charity. When I was a little girl in Richmond, Virginia, grandpa came one time and took me to a movie. All I can remember about it was there were two Sisters of Charity from France. They were going along the street when they heard what sounded like a baby' s cry. They lifted the nearby garbage can lid, picked the baby up and took it to their Orphanage. I was so entranced that I said to grandpa: "Who are those ladies, and what are they doing with that baby?" Grandpa said: "SH!" I'll tell you when we leave the movie. So, he told me that they were Sisters of Charity and that they do a lot of good. He said that in China, baby girls are thrown away and sometimes these sisters are able to find the babies and take care of them. I told my grandpa that I knew what I was going to be when I grew up...a Sister of Charity. When we were in high school, the Sisters of Divine Providence were talking about vocations. I didn' t say anything then, but I managed to ride out to Greensburg to see the Motherhouse. I told the Mother Superior, who was Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers that I would be interested in any literature that she could send me. A week or so later, I received a letter from Mother Rose Genevieve telling me that Mother Mary Francis McCullough would be happy to meet with me at Pittsburgh Hospital or at Seton Hill. So my stepmother took me to Seton Hill on March 17th to meet with Mother Mary Francis McCullough As we stepped inside the building, a peace and calm came over me. I knew this was where I wanted to be. SMCM: What year was that Sister Mary Guido? SMGMcM: That was March 19, 1925 because Mother Rose Genevieve had Sister Marie Augustine Witt show me around. I was thrilled with the beauty of the place. When we came back to Mother Rose Genevieve's office, I knelt down and signed the papers which said I would be coming to Seton Hill to become a Sister of Charity. In those days, you could enter at any time, so Mother Rose Genevieve told me that a girl was coming on May 3, 1925, and I could come with her. I was surprised to hear that her name was Ruth O' Brien, who had also attended Divine Providence High School. She was a year younger than me. I have never regretted the decision I made to become a Sister of Charity from that day through today. When Mother Mary Francis put the postulant cap on my head she asked me who my sponsor was. I said, what do you mean, and she replied, who encouraged you to come to the community? I told her that my only contact with the Sisters of Charity was when Sister Zita Ryan taught me in the seventh grade at Sacred Heart, and when Sister Jane M. Joyce taught me at St. James in Wilkinsburg. Well then said Mother Mary Francis, I'll be your sponsor. Sister Marie Augustine was there, and she also said she would be my sponsor. So, that's the way it was. I had two sponsors. SMCM: Sister, who was Ruth O' Brien? SMGMcM: She was Sister Mary Bernard. The other sisters who were in my group were: Sister Ethelreda Merz and Sister Margaret Frances Coogan. I hadn't finished high school, so I did this by attending the Normal School and attending other classes at Seton Hill. SMGMcM: The frrst charge I got was the coffee. Sister Mary Bernard was also on this charge. Then I was given Sister Marion Stephen who was in the Sister's Infirmary to take care of. She was a precious, beautiful character. She had what was then called rheumatic rheumatism, which today would be called arthritis. When I got Sister, she was in a wheel chair. She was able to use her hands to crochet and make rosary beads. She could also sew by using her knee to operate the sewing machine. Sister Mary Bernard would come at night and help me put sister to bed. I took care of Sister Marion during my entire canonical year. In November of 1926; I was sent out on mission to Holy Innocent's School in Sheraden to do substitute teaching for Sister Margaret Clare Collins. When I returned to Seton Hill in the summers, I again took care of Sister Marion Stephen. When I first went to Holy Innocents, it was to be for just two weeks, but this didn't happen. Sister Amata Brennan asked mother why I was being left in school as I was promised I would go into nurses training with Sister Mercedes McMahon and Sister M.. Nathaniel McNamara at the old Pittsburgh hospital. Mother said:" We need good teachers as much as we need good nurses." Therefore, I never did get to be in nurse's training. Instead, my sister, Betty McMillan, went into training in the very class I would have been in. She went on after graduation to New York and became a pediatrician nurse. She met her husband in New York. I didn't see too much of my sister. In the meantime, my stepmother had another nervous breakdown. In those days if there was any mental illness in your family, you couldn't be admitted to vows. Since she of course was not related in any way, this didn't hold true in my case. My family was concerned about this as they knew how very happy I was. My father informed me that my stepmother had left him. Unfortunately, dad had signed over everything to her...the insurance, the house, the car, everything to her. He was afraid because of the war situation, the economy, and the fact that he was in business for himself, that ifhe didn't sign everything over to her, he would lose everything. It was sad, because dad had to start out from scratch. God was good to him. He was an excellent salesman, so it didn't take him long to build up a rather large list of customers. My brother, Billy, went to the University of Pittsburgh. He did graduate. However, his eyes were so bad that he was unable to do anything for a year My sister invited him to New York where he met and married his wife, Sophie Sappharo. He also found work in New York, as he was not able to find work in Pittsburgh. In the meantime, I was the only one in Pittsburgh to visit and be of any help to my dad. I didn't see him very often. I stayed at Holy Innocents in Sheraden for five years teaching second grade under the guidance of Sister M. Josepha Lee, who was a wonderful primary teacher. When she was sent elsewhere, I was put in her first grade. Sister Josepha was the one who told me that rabbits are a symbol of the Universal Church because they can be found anywhere in the world. She told me many other little things like this which were very helpful to many of my students. I was very happy in Sheraden. Sister Mary Giles Brandt, who was the principal and sister servant would send Sister Regina Mary Murphy and me out after school at times to visit the sick. We used to say the rosary on the way home. In 1931, I was transferred to Sharpsburg for three years. I taught first grade there also. In 1934, I was sent to St. Irenaeus in Oakmont. I was there at the time of the flood in 1936. That's where I met my dear friend, Sister Mary Alfred Sharp. I would go home with Sister Mary Alfred to visit her parents, both of whom were very ill. Her mother was a semi-invalid. From St. Irenaeus, I think I went to Sacred Heart for several years. Then I went to St. Kieran's for a short time, but then I went back to Sacred Heart. I taught in the primary grades all of these years, mostly in first grade, which I loved. Every summer I went back to Seton Hill to work in the Infirmary. I took care of Sister Marion Stephen for seventeen years. In the meantime, Sister Mary Bernard O' Brien would be assigned to help me care for Sister Marion. However, Sister Mary Bernard was afraid to touch Sister Marion because of her large (Sr. Mary Bernard's) size. So she took care of things in Sister' s room such as the large fish bowl Sister had in her room. She also had a radio and was simply amazed that you could hear voices from that "box." One time sister had never been in a car. Her sister died, and she requested to go in to Pittsburgh to pay her respects. We rode all the way to Pittsburgh in an ambulance. I knelt beside Sister Marion, even though she was tied in to prevent any mishap. Her sister was laid out in Bellevue, and she was very happy to have gotten in. Sister Marion contracted her illness after teaching for just nine years. The Community sent her to some facility (Sr. Mary Guido couldn' t remember the name) to get some help, but Sister ' s condition just kept getting progressively worse until she was confined to a wheel chair. SMCM: Sister Mary Guido, when did you make your first vows? SMGMcM: I made first vows on August 15, 1927. Sister Mary Bernard (Ruth O' Brien) also professed her vows on August 15, 1927. We were in chapel the evening before, and it was announced that Ruth O' Brien would be known as Sister Mary Bernard, and Virginia McMillan would be known as Sister Mary Guido McMillan. I took the name Guido because my father who was a convert had made a retreat at St. Paul's Monastery which was given by Father Guido, Passionist. My father was forever impressed by this retreat, and he and Father Guido became close friends. My father was very pleased that I had been given the name, Guido. Three years later, on August 15, 1930, Sister Mary Bernard and I pronounced our fmal vows. My novitiate days were happy ones. I didn't get to spend as much time with the sisters because of my duties in the infirmary, especially caring for Sister Marion Stephen. I taught from 1926 up until 1975. I only missed three days during the entire time. Then, in 1975, my silver jubilee year, I went on half day teaching at St. Anselm's in Swissvale. I helped the little children who needed help in Phonics and Reading. In 1980, I retired from teaching and visited the sick and shut-ins. The hardest thing for the elderly is being lonely...having no one to talk to. Sometimes, they don't hear another voice from one end of the week to the other. Sister Pancratius Jablonski was marvelous in doing this work. She began this work after she retired from her work with the choir boys and teaching Singing in the classrooms for many years in St. Anselm' s grade school. Sister Pancratius had done this ministry with the elderly for ten years before I joined in working with her. We would go out visiting together many times. Sometimes, we separated and went via foot to visit some shut-ins. When I had to physically cut back on some ofthis visiting, I would call some elderly people on the phone. If the weather was decent, I went out to visit at the hospitals and nursing homes. At times, I went to see Sister Beatrice McQuade' s mother who was at a nursing home residence in Homestead. Mrs. McQuade was very happy and contented there. From there, the driver would take me down the street to see a little hunchback. In the same area, it was possible for me to visit a person with multiplesclerosis. SMCM: Sister, do you remember anything else about some of our senior sisters in your experiences as a young sister? SMGMcM: Well, when I was in the infirmary, I would have to pass trays. One time, Sister Mary Cecelia Schwab had a tracheotomy tube which she coughed up and lost. I had to get down on my hands and knees to find it, which I did. Then it had to be sterilized and reinserted. It was only a few years later that sister transferred to an enclosed Order. Sister Generosa was my superior at Sheraden for one year. She also became an enclosed Dominican in Texas. I keep in touch with sister several times a year. She became known as Sister Mary Michael. She was age ninety-three and a half at our last correspondence and asked me to pray for her as she knew she was coming to the end of her life here on earth. Our deceased Sister Marie Monica Blickenstorfer was also a good friend of Sister Generosa and corresponded with her over the years. I also took care of Sister Ambrose Walsh in the Infirmary. She was a heavy set sister and I recall that when she had to go to the hospital, she wouldn't permit anyone but me to go with her in the ambulance. I would serve trays, and when I was finished Sister Grace Barr would ask me to fill in where help was needed. Sister Ambrose became a good friend. SMCM: Now, was Sister Grace Barr the Infirmarian? SMGMcM: Yes. There was a Sister M. Julia Byrne in the infirmary who was always saying: "Pray for me, pray for me, I'm afraid to die." One day I said to her: "Sister Julia, why are you afraid to die? You've been a sister for sixty five years, have taught and done many good things during your lifetime?" She said maybe I haven't done enough for God and I said if you haven't done enough, what about us who are just starting out? I understand that she did have a very peaceful death. There was another old sister...Sister Mary Inez Cronin. After Sister Marion died, I used to take care of Sister Mary Inez and the other infirm sisters by cutting their toe nails, finger nails, hair etc. I did this in the evenings. They were the days when we had night silence. I felt that I had to distract the sisters somehow, especially when doing their feet, so, of course I would talk to them. One evening, Mother Maria Benedict Monahan approached me and said that she understood I was breaking night silence. I told her that if she meant my talking to the old sisters, that I had checked this out with my confessor, because I was concerned about this, and he told me that I was doing a good thing by talking to the sisters, relieving them of any nervousness or anxiety related to my tending to the aforementioned needs. You can see that throughout my life, I've always taken care of the old and the young. I will continue to do this as long as God gives me the health. SMcM: Sister, I understand that your sister paid for a tour to Lourdes to celebrate your Silver Jubilee. Would you like to tell us about that? SMGMcM: Very briefly, I will. My sister in Florida saw an article in their paper stating that Cardinal Spellman was conducting a thirty-six day Mediterranean cruise to Spain, Greece, and other places of interest. This was in 1957. My sister, Betty, wrote to me inviting me to go on the tour with her. She had a heart condition and didn't want to travel this far by herself, but wanted to go to Lourdes which was one of the places scheduled on the tour. I was still living at Holy Innocents in Sheraden at the time. I showed the letter to Sister Vincent de Paul Baker who was our senior sister. I told Sister that this was probably an impossibility. Her reply was:''Nothing ventured, nothing gained," and said that Mother Claudia Glenn was coming in two weeks and I should present the situation to her. Well, Mother Claudia said that if I could get a teacher to take my place during the time of the tour that I had her permission. I was missioned in August to Resurrection school in Brookline, so it was here that I needed to get the teacher. When I told Sister Caroline Joseph Wilson, who was the principal at Resurrection, about the tour, she told me that she had a very good primary teacher who could cover for me while I was on the tour. I got all of the seat work duplicated and wrote lesson plans from September the eighth, the day of departure up until October thirteenth, the day of my return. There were twenty-seven school days during that time. When I came back, I found the children to be well instructed, in fact maybe even better taught than ifl was there. I bought each little child a medal from Lourdes and a holy card from Fatima. In my class was a little boy, named James Whalen, who later became Father Jim Whalen. He became a priest for the diocese of Pittsburgh. He invited me to his ordination. I went to his ordination at St. Paul's Cathedral in Pittsburgh, but was unable to attend his first Mass, so I told Sister Mary Louise Molchan to inform him of this, and tell him that I would see him sometime in the near future. Little did I realize that I would see him soon afterward at St. Anselm's, which was his first assignment, going in to say the noon Mass, which I was going to attend. We both got a good laugh about this. He was stationed at St. Anselm's for five years and then was sent to St. Lawrence O'Toole's parish in Garfield. Now he is in charge of the retreats at Gilmary Center. I'm sure that he will be instrumental in bringing many vocations to the church. Going back to my trip with Betty. We were only on our way out of New York Harbor a day when I met Cardinal Spellman who asked why I was the only sister on the trip.I said: "Because it's school time, Cardinal. I was very fortunate that my sister, Betty, paid my way and also paid for a substitute teacher for me for the twenty-seven days (school days) a substitute teacher was needed in my place. When we reached Lourdes, there were twenty-eight tour buses there to take care of us. The entire ship was given over to the tour. There were thirty-six stairwells blocked and altars set up making it possible for thirty-six priests to celebrate Mass. There were seven hundred thirty six people on the pilgrimage. All of the books were removed from the library so that a chapel would be available. The stations were erected as was a crucifix. You were free in the morning to pray..say the rosary, make your adoration, etc. Then in the afternoon at four o'clock, we had Benediction. It.was beautiful. My sister and I always went to the eight AM Mass in the theater, because it was Bishop McConnell who said the Mass. Bishop Cook, who was secretary to Cardinal Spellman gave the homilies which wer-e excellent, especially the ones on the Blessed Mother. I told him that he should compile a record of these homilies, especially the ones on Mary because they were so beautiful. When we got to Lourdes, we stayed one night. There was a candle light procession. I didn't go into the baths, nor did my sister. She wasn't well enough. We did get a supply of Lourde's water which we brought back to the states and gave to different people. From Lourdes we went to Fatima. Every night we got back on the ship which would go from one point to another. Every evening we returned to the ship for dinner. The seating for the evening meal was rotated so that everyone had an opportunity to sit at the Cardinal's table. We had our picture taken with the Cardinal. At Fatima, there were no finished streets as I'm sure there are now. We were able to walk along these streets in Fatima because the weather was nice. We sang hymns as we walked up to the beautiful basilica in Fatima. From Fatima, we went through the strait of Gibraltar. We went to Greece to the top of the mountain where St. Paul preached. I had my picture taken there. We saw other points of interest in Greece, for example Pompey. Next we went to Spain. At St. James Church in Spain, they have a very heavy relic of St. James. ( I tried to get what sister was saying about this relic, but couldn't). It was suspended somehow and swayed back and forth over the people, blessing them. I believe she said that the practice had been terminated as it took six men to take care of this procedure. No matter what country we entered, we didn't need our passports as the Cardinal's name was sufficient identification. When we entered France, two men got on the ship and checked our passports, but that was the only place. On our return to the states, we got word that Pope Pius XII was very ill. We knew that he was ill all summer because we could not have a private audience with him. He was suffering from choking spells. He came out on the balcony above a courtyard where we assembled. His message to us was: "Know your angels, pray to your angels because they are the ones who will some day take your soul to God." This was the theme of his homily as it was the month of October when we especially honor the angels. This was Friday. Sunday evening, we received word that the Pope was dying. He had in fact had a stroke. We kept perpetual adoration on the ship. The Cardinal got word on Friday that the Pope had died. The ship turned around and went to the Azores where the Cardinal was met by some Americans who flew him to Rome. The day after the Cardinal left ship, we got into a terrible hurricane. We didn't realize that it was as bad as we were later told. We thought it was just a bad storm. Actually, we were told that there was fear of the ship breaking in two. We did, however, arrive safely in New York. Then it was that Father Gray (I think this is whom she said) gave me the Pope' s Zuchetta because Cardinal Spellman had told me that he would give it to me when we got to New York. He did this because there were many women who would have liked getting it. He gave me the last one which the Pope had worn, because he said the Pope took it off his head, handed it to the Cardinal and said: "God bless Sister." When we returned to the states, I sent the Pope's cap to all the schools in Pittsburgh for the children to see. I kept the zuchetta myself for about a year after it had been shown to the children in the various schools. Then I thought to myself how foolish of me to keep it personally...that it belonged in our Archives in Greensburg, so I sent it there. I feel in my heart that some day Pope Pius XII will be canonized. My sister did not receive a physical cure, but spiritually she felt very peaceful and happy because of the tour. Betty worked as a nurse in the hospital in New York for a few more years, but she contracted whooping cough and the doctor advised her to move to Florida. Her husband took a six month leave from his work and went with Betty. He liked it so well that he stayed there. My sister was never able to have children, but she and her husband adopted a boy when they moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where she and her husband lived happily for thirty­ five years. Betty died from a stroke in 1969. Then my brother felt that he should take over where Betty left off. He took me and my friend, Rosie, on a lovely Carribean cruise for ten days. This was for my Golden Jubilee. It was sad to see the difference between how the rich lived on one side of the island as opposed to how the poor lived on the other side. The little children were constantly begging for money. We were cautioned not to give them any, but I gave them some anyhow as I felt they needed it. The last trip that I had with my brother, was with Rosie to Ireland. The only way my brother would go is if someone went with him. So I feel that in my lifetime I have been blessed getting to see many things that other sisters have not seen. I am very grateful to the Lord for all His blessings over the years. SMCM: Thank you, Sister Mary Guido, for sharing so many things about your life. This tape will be kept in the Archives at Caritas Christi in Greensburg. Sister Marie Arthur Hamilton: This oral history for Sister Mary Guido McMillan was transcribed from cassette tapes by me. It was completed on March 29. 2011. 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 Mary Guido McMillan Subject The topic of the resource Sister Mary Guido McMillan Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Mary Guido McMillan, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1925 until 1995. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on January 14, 1987. Sister Mary Guido McMillan was born on April 23, 1907 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of William McMillan and Jessie Castner, Virginia Helen McMillan entered the community on May 3, 1925 as Sister Mary Guido McMillan. Sister Mary Guido served as a teacher and administrator in Catholic schools throughout western Pennsylvania for 52 years. She served her entire teaching career in schools within the Diocese of Pittsburgh, except for one six-year term as principal of Sacred Heart, Greensburg. Among the schools she served were Holy Innocents, Sheraden; St. Joseph, Sharpsburg; St. Anselm, Swissvale; St. Irenaeus, Oakmont, St. Keiran, Lawrenceville; Sacred Heart, Greensburg; Sacred Heart, East End, Pittsburgh; Resurrection, Brookline; St. Philip, Crafton; and St. James, Wilkinsburg. After she retired from teaching, she helped care for the elderly. Sister Mary Guido earned her B.Ed. in Elementary Education from Duquesne University in 1946. Sister Mary Guido McMillan passed away on November 9, 1995 at the age of 88. 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 1987/01/14 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-37 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/335220ca5d2595b0008f44123331e21c.mp3 a0ba874e349ea1d53be503426107bc21 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/b7ff03ca961c42a40edf87320ac2d1c2.mp3 41d7ffe8286236078d3d82bbc3de5606 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 Mary Janet Ryan 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 31:56 20:57 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 Mary Janet Ryan Subject The topic of the resource Sister Mary Janet Ryan Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Mary Janet Ryan, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1935 until 2017. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on May 11, 1988. Sister Mary Janet Ryan was born on May 31st, 1918 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of Alexader Ryan and Josephine Dalton, Jeannette Ryan entered the community on September 8th, 1935 at the age of 17 as Sister Mary Janet Ryan. Sister Mary Janet taught intermediate for 3 years, upper elementary for 15 years, secondary for 12 years, and college for 7 years. She was a History Professor at Seton Hill College from 1965 to 1979. She taught history in the summer sessions at SHC in 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958-1960, 1962, and 1975. She taught in Louisiana Schools as well as in the Pittsburgh Diocese. Sister Mary Janet received her B. Ed. in Secondary Education from Duquesne University in 1947. Then, in 1953, she received her M.L. in Geography from the University of Pittsburgh. Sister Mary Janet Ryan passed on September 15th, 2017 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 1988/05/11 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 Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral history Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-88 Duquesne University Pittsburgh Professor of History Seton Hill College Teacher University of Pittsburgh https://scsharchives.com/files/original/4f6e96ef20a6e459e099f0ed8bcfcacf.mp3 4aa7d883657e315892a18e1b68ed31c9 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/a7fb8efa97391d887c7e17da125bdac3.mp3 06587ec3b4c09e9867bb7736f30a01b2 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/1e1be1393a97552742a68c8430ab5218.mp3 04503eb2e3cfc7de0a75f9156e239b81 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/a4f9d81b1910462131d6db562fdf5333.mp3 95a46b118b07f66fcad05f31a892a5b9 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/a0b7318c881b79822313b602bb9b1616.mp3 f32d60cd1418f62883d205cf43b9ea1e https://scsharchives.com/files/original/f59e37d881b500177c6551941b9e82e9.mp3 b9cc60b027bf1445ce3376eb29da4594 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/d7e008b30b4455b3b6837488caa571df.mp3 0fdeabd968c1aa85469be4f1c1e3e814 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/36d6d84d2ccf03f24c28468dd5162b1c.mp3 d7a73743fb296e555de907f21fc1a542 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 Mary Noreen Lacey 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.) 31:28 31:31 31:34 31:33 31:32 31:32 31:32 31:33 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 Mary Noreen Lacey Subject The topic of the resource Sister Mary Noreen Lacey Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Mary Noreen Lacey, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1944 until 2009. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on September 23 and 24, 1986. Sister Mary Noreen Lacey - born Mildred Patricia Lacey on February 7, 1927 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in September of 1944. She received a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Seton Hill College in 1957. She was one of the first four Sisters of Charity to be missioned to Korea in 1960 and taught at St. Joseph School in Kang Tjin from 1961-2002. She died in Korea on November 12, 2009 and is buried there. 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 1986/09/23 1986/09/24 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-96 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/e72b0287e40906e9b365d30b27fedb9b.mp3 8439499b2f9a424fe714b5afac6e2456 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/4f7be74bc18a8bc4a619297b1ae51f7d.mp3 e447e5f527a0750aa39a49d874143d7e https://scsharchives.com/files/original/ac728f427d9846fc37063cf2506cfa35.mp3 1b8360c1b6ad88b44bc4610cc21abdb8 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 Jean Ann Wilburn Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Mary Rebecca Kelsey 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.) 31:33 31:34 31:56 20:01 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 Mary Rebecca Kelsey Subject The topic of the resource Sister Mary Rebecca Kelsey Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Mary Rebecca Kelsey, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1928 until 2001. The interview was conducted by Sister Jean Ann Wilburn on November 1 and 7, 1987. Sister Mary Rebecca Kelsey - born Mary Dorothy Kelsey on October 4, 1910 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in September of 1928. She received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Pittsburgh in 1941 and a master's degree in education from Loyola University of Los Angeles in 1958. Sister Mary Rebecca served as a teacher at St. John the Evangelist School in Pittsburgh from 1930-1935 and at Sacred Heart Elementary School from 1935-1936, going on to teach at Sacred Heart High School from 1936-1940. She then taught at St. Luke High School from 1940-1942, returning to Sacred Heart High School from 1942-1952, 1956-1957, and 1963-1969. In the early fifties Sister Mary Rebecca was missioned out west, teaching at Salpointe High School from 1952-1956 and at Seton Catholic Tri-City High School from 1969-1974. In later years, she served as Seton Hill College Treasurer and as an assistant in the library from 1975-1985. Sister Mary Rebecca Kelsey died on May 14, 2001. 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 1987/11/01 1987/11/01 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-53 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/f89ca69d10c9582569e49d7342010f31.mp3 99d68c76393a3a97447ed9a4f43fd8ed https://scsharchives.com/files/original/744acef3c0a7d586172cbb6621699fa3.mp3 6cd01f978aadf5545bf2c810675d8910 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 Mary Robert McManama 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.) 31:59 31:58 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 Mary Robert McManama Subject The topic of the resource Sister Mary Robert McManama Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Mary Robert McManama, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1933 until 1994. The interview was conducted by Sister Brigid Marie Grandey on October 31, 1987.Sister Mary Robert McManama was born on December 24, 1908 in Gadsden, Alabama. Daughter of Robert W. McManama and Clara Rose Martin, Clara Rose McManama entered the community on March 25, 1933 as Sister Mary Robert McManama. Sister Mary Robert ministered as a high school teacher of math and English and as a librarian at schools in the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Altoona, and Phoenix. Among the schools she taught at were Cathedral High School, Altoona; St. Luke High School, Carnegie; Elizabeth Seton High School, Pittsburgh; Sacred Heart High School, Shadyside, Pittsburgh; Holy Innocents High School, Sheraden; anSt. Mary, Chandler, Az.; St. Anselm High School, Swissvale; Bishop Boyle High School, Homestead; Mon Valley Catholic High School, Monongahela, and Seton-LaSalle High School, Mt. Lebanon, Pittsburgh. Upon her retirement, she worked as a librarian at Assumption Hall. Sister Mary Robert earned her A.B. in English with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1948 and earned her M.Ed. in Library Science from Duquesne University in 1960. Sister Mary Robert McManama passed away on April 27, 1994 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 1987/10/31 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-74 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/8d0dec69571dbb275e333114bd6fc698.mp3 dcfb9a6b6e9bba236abd813305fb8736 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/f4c75adaf174682933dec115cfb45728.mp3 3a2a1acd7f5a2da2a567c1f8867ea1ec https://scsharchives.com/files/original/b72b2cd3e1bb7a8790ca2a131b32d0bd.mp3 f3a15bae36c4b8cb571edf7ce5ef582d 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 Miriam Jane Hollowood Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Mary Schmidt 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.) 27:04 28:25 26:45 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound OH - 81 Sr. Mary Schmidt Side I of Tape marked I and II OH I and OH II SMJH: This interview is being conducted as part of the oral history program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister Mary Schmidt ,formerly known as Sister M. Thecla, and the interviewer is Sister Miriam Jane Hollowood. The interview is being conducted at Seton Hill College on July tenth, nineteen hundred eighty-four. SMJH: Sister Mary, will you tell us something about yourself before you came to Seton Hill? SMS: I am the oldest of six children. · My father was Henry Schmidt, who was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. My mother was a teacher of Speech, what they then called Elocution, Unfortunately, I didn' t imbibe any of the things my parents had specialized in. I went to Sacred Heart Grade School and High School. I'm sure that's where I got my greatest feelings for the Sisters of Charity . SMJH: Who were some of the Sisters that you knew at that time? SMS: I suppose the ones I had in high school were the most memorable. I had my name from the marvelous Sister M. Thecla Carroll, who was a Latin and Mathematics teacher. Sister Thecla died very suddenly at the age of forty-four when I was a sophomore at Sacred Heart. This was my first experience with death. At that time, Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers knew I was going to enter and she said she would like to save that name for me, so she did. The person who was ' most influential with me at Sacred Heart was Sister M. Claudia Glenn, who later became Mother M. Claudia Glenn. She taught English for the four years I was at Sacred Heart High School. She was really the first to note I am sure that I was going to become a Sister of Charity. When I was twelve or thirteen, a freshman in high school, I remember one day of being struck beyond words when Sister Claudia said: "Mary, I know that you are going to be a Sister." I said: Well, how did you know that?" I realize now that she could see it. Those were the two people who were most influential. Of course, there was a teacher, Sister Rose de Lima Henry, whom I had the pleasure of having for Latin for four years. There were others. However, if you are asking for the highlights, those are the highlights. SMJH: When Mother Claudia said that she knew you were going to be a Sister, did you know? SMS: Yes, that's why I was so surprised. It was just around that time when I was in the eighth grade going into high school that I simply realized that I was to be a Sister. At that time I thought it was rather glamorous, but I also knew that it was a way of devoting my entire life t·o some thing. This may sound naive, but I always knew that I had to devote my entire life to something. It couldn't be any less. That's why I didn't want to marry, not meaning anything derogatory about marriage. I remember how I was very drawn to praying in Sacred Heart Church. They had Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Fridays when'I was in grade school. I was always running back and forth between the church and home. We didn't live very far away. I also kept saying to mother: "I won't be away long. I'll be back soon. She of course didn' t mind. Then fortunately, or unfortunately, I realized that I wasn' t in any big hurry. My father, of course, just took it for granted that one went to college. I had no problem with that. I was delighted to go to college. Obviously, I went to Seton Hill. I had studied piano with my father for a number of years. He was very interested in my not being very good at it. He said: "If you are really interested in becoming a religious, I don't want you to become a piano teacher." He had seen too many of them who didn't have enough to do but listen to little children. I had nothing to do with it, but I have always been grateful to him since. He said: "I don't want you to learn any more piano if you are determined to do this." Before I went to college, that was the idea. It is also true that my first preference has been English, both reading and writing it. I really don't think I ever had any trouble with anything. I had an extraordinarily happy childhood and home. I look back on that as being very helpful to me. My mother was a convert, and had no great feeling for my wanting to be a Sister. She also had some problems with some of the sisters when my brothers were altar boys and choir boys. That wasn't important. She came to be very happy with the whole thing. That's pretty much in a nut shell what my early years were like. SMJH: Now, you said your Father was a Music Professor. Didn't he also teach at Seton Hill College? SMS: Well, he did along with his teaching at Carnegie Mellon. He didn' t teach at the college while I was a student. I know he was here while I was a white capped novice. He never left Carnegie Mellon. He only came up to Seton Hill College two days a week. This was during depression times when the younger students at Carnegie Mellon and at Seton Hill were not so numerous as they had been, and consequently he was able to condense his work at Carnegie Mellon into three days a week and teach at Seton Hill the other two. He was here for four or five years. I remember that Mother M. Evaline Fisher was the Mother Superior and also chair­ man of the Board of Directors for Seton Hill College. She wanted to get my father to be chair­ man of the Music Department, hoping that the connection with Pittsburgh might be influential in getting more students to come to the college. My Father and Doctor Reeves were great friends, and my father enjoyed his time at Seton Hill. I believe that it was difficult for my father and he should only have been at Seton Hill for a short time. Anyhow, he went back to Carnegie Mellon until he retired. All of his friends were there. It was like in the Henry James era. If you wanted to study music a lot, you went to Europe, and so he did. Many of his friends went to Europe also and when they came back they were the pioneer faculty of the Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University. This was about nineteen hundred ten. We were faculty children, and we went to the swimming pool and music classes, and Dr. Baker' s Christmas parties for faculty children. That's my recollection of it. It was kind of a nice thing. We enjoyed it. SMJH: That' s good, and he got to be part of our faculty at Seton Hill. You graduated from Seton Hill with a Bachelor's degree in English and then went to Pitt to obtain a Master' s degree in English. SMS: Yes, I graduated from Seton Hill in nineteen thirty-two, and again wasn't in any hurry to leave home, so I went to Pitt and graduated with a Master's degree in English in nineteen thirty­ four. My father was also in favor of this. He thought it was better for one to get as much college work as possible, as he had some insight to some of the problems people had. SMJH: So, you entered the Community then in nineteen thirty-four. What was the Community like at that time? I'm sure it was different for a woman entering with a Master's degree, which was not common at that time. SMS: It was difficult. I was the first one. People thought that you might become a snob. I was a great substitute in the fourth grade, about which I knew nothing, and I have never to this day set my foot inside a high school as a teacher. I understand this. It was the mentality of religious life at that time, and it would not happen today. I knew that here I was, I belonged, and never doubted for one second. I was extremely happy in the community. The first thing I did when I didn't let them decide was to go to Altoona to teach the seventh grade. Where upon I fell with a terrible case of scarlet fever. That ended my career as a mission sister after a few months. They really wanted someone as a seventh grade teacher. They felt that you would know so much more because of having a master's degree. Then I came back to Seton Hill. I was a black cap novice. For a time, I was not doing anything as the scarlet fever left me with a heart involvement, which evaporated later on, but I had it then. It was Christmas week. I had not made my vows yet. Behold, Sister Victoria Brown, who was an English teacher took a trip to the hospital and was retained for a while. So, here I was with a Master' s Degree in English. There must have been a great commotion among the powers. about my doing anything. Some of them felt it was the kiss of death for me to do anything. There they were, and here I was with this degree, so anyhow I did it. I became a part time teacher in the college the Spring Semester of . nineteen thirty-six. Somehow, I got a much better feeling for the sisters than what I had when I was in college. They seemed so much better. I didn't come to the community because I thought the sisters were marvelous. I came because I knew that was what I had to do with my life. I was presumably destined to be an English teacher. Sister Victoria, who was the treasurer decided that I should go to Oxford University in England for a degree. They didn't give a doctorate, but they gave a Master's, which they feel is superior to our American Doctorate. I was indeed supposed to go. All preparations were made. In the late summer of nineteen thirty;.e ight; there was a big scare in this country that the war was immanent. Well, it was decided that it wouldn't be good to send a young sister off into a war. So everyone said: "We' ll wait·until next year. War was declared on September fourth of nineteen thirty-nine, so I never went. At that same time since I was already to go somewhere, they packed me off to New Haven, Connecticut in September of nineteen thirty-nine. I was there until January of nineteen forty-three, which was four years. I stayed with the Sisters of Charity in New Jersey. They were near the University. They were so nice, but didn't understand what on earth I was doing. I enjoyed that life, that scholarly life I guess you would say, very much...being on my own. However, I knew I belonged in the community, so I hurried back to Seton Hill. SMJH: What did you do your dissertation on? SMS: I did my dissertation on Sir Thomas Moore. It turned out to be a very small subject within a great field. I knew that ifl was going to spend a year or year and a half on anybody, I wanted it to be someone I could feel some sympathy for. I wanted to take someone who had a religious mentality. I thought ifl took Alexander Pope or somebody like that for that length of time, I couldn' t take it! So, even though I had no course work in Tudor English, I took it on.....Sir Thomas Moore. I enjoyed it very much ...going through books, transcribing in black letters which was the way it was then. It has only been in the past twenty-five years that things were printed in ordinary letters. During all this time, the war was going on. I still wonder now why I didn't know more about the war, even though I read the New York Times every Sunday. I still want to know why I didn't know more. I think you become very engrossed and very selfish in a way while during library work. It' s very demanding! There were only four women working on their graduate work, but they too were talking about their work, and not the war. Men were at the age where they were drafted into the war. I'm certainly no expert on the second world war. SMJH: No, but you' re an expert on Thomas Moore. You have published some papers on Thomas More. SMS: Yes, I also have a very good experience of the generosity of this Community. When I finished there, I had all sorts of things that I came across while I was doing my dissertation. The dissertation on Thomas Moore was recognized on Thomas Mooore's use of St. Augustine as his English polemical work. It was certainly nothing anyone should be bored to death by reading it. But, while you are doing this you run across fascinating things which you want to pursue. So, it was the most natural thing in the world to want to write about these things, and.I did. I had many summers, one after the other when I went back to New Haven and did this writing. I got it into print, not anything marvelous. The first thing I had printed was an essay on St. Patrick because that was enlarged in nineteen forty-five shortly after I was back. SMJH: Why did you do St. Patrick? SMS: Well, again, there was a large group of women, possibly from the A.O.H. They wanted a speech, and I was asked if I would give this speech. They wanted something relative to the pious nature. It was in March, and I was asked to speak about St. Joseph or St. Patrick. I knew little about St. Joseph, and I knew that.St. Patrick had a lot of historical things. I made this great discovery that Patrick was a staff (couldn' t make next word out) character. So I got together some of these things and gave my speech. They were things that perhaps they had heard, but claimed they were all news to them. I got this speech sent to the magazine "America" for publication. Then after that I did other articles like St. Thomas Moore , The Medieval Devil and other funny things like that, which were also published in "America", and "The Catholic World". In those days, they were the only magazines that would print things with background, at least that I knew of. There was one article published in the "Scholarly Journal" and others were published in different places. (She didn't name these places). SMJH: Did you also have some poetry published? SMS" Yes, some short ones, which were also published in "America". SMJH: Did you want to say anything about coming back to Seton Hill and being on the Faculty? SMS: Yes, those years when I was teaching were probably the best years of my life. SMJH: That's great, and we'll continue this interview sometime later! SMJH: This is a continuation of the oral history interview with Sister Mary Schmidt. (Sr. Miriam Jane didn't give any date here). Sister, when you returned from Yale University, you became a full time member of the English Department at Seton Hill. What were some of the courses that you taught? SMS: Well, I taught Writing. We all of course taught Freshman English, and I happened to like that very much. I also enjoyed teaching Writing. We also had a course in "Advanced Composition" we called it. English Majors were required to take it. At least they did. Then I taught Shakespeare, Literary Criticism, and sometime later, I'm not sure exactly when, but I taught Twentieth Century English Literature. I never was an American literature person. I didn' t have any advance work in it and didn't have a feel for it. As I recall; we , especially young teachers, took for granted that we taught whatever.needed to be taught. It didn' t matter how many hours it happened to be. One became the advisor for the publications that would be corning in and for the "Quarterly," which at that time was a rather active thing. It came out three times a year and included a commencement issue. Many marvelously talented girls whose things I value very much, and have never thrown out were printed in it. The other thing, of course, was that you were appointed to be a class advisor, as I was, pronto, by Sister Victoria Brown, who was the young Dean at the college. I wanted to write and do all these things, but I became a class advisor immediately. So, the class came in the Fall of nineteen forty-three (some of what she said here is disconnected for want of a way to put it), right when I was getting started. I was the class advisor for the class of nineteen forty-seven. I put on the Freshman show " Anne" of? (couldn't understand what she said). ·The Freshman show had something to do with frogs. I don't remember what it was. A lot of the people laughingly remember some of the songs in it. I do remember how desperately hard it was to get the girls together to get the show together, while at the same time having many other responsibilities. You still had large charges. SMJH: When you say you had large charges to do, what exactly does that mean? SMS: You had a lot of manual stuff which you had to do. You were responsible for cleaning one of the classrooms. You did this for quite a number of years. Some of my dear friends used to come and help me clean. It was in Room 236. They would shove the chairs around, etc. SMJH: Was that your weekly charge? SMS: You cleaned the blackboard every day. Only once a week did you do the marvelous pushing the mop around. These are funny little things, but as faculty members, you were expected to do all these things. You were primarily a good sister, and after that a faculty member. I don't say that with any bitterness. It was just a funny situation, and that's the way it was! Even the chairman of our department, Sister Electa Boyle felt this, and she had done the same. So, there wasn't anything the matter with this. She had no feelings as to the number of things people had to do. You see, it all came through alright. I don't think I became any less the teacher. I think you're young enough. You rise to the occasion! You have good health, and it's expected. SMJH: In addition to your full time teaching, advising, and doing all these other things, you were also responsible for all your community activities. You took time out to go to Quarter Prayers, and did you go to recreation with the community? SMS: Why of course! I skipped recreation as often as I could. There were many evening meetings which I had to attend. I was never very fond of recreation. I think it was a contrived thing! It wasn't really recreational. However, you did all those things. You rose at five-fifteen AM even though you lived on the floor with the students and were responsible for them. I distinctly remember that when Mother Maria Benedict Monahan was confronted with the fact that the college sisters were not getting enough sleep because we had charge of the floors. In other words, they were supposed to be quiet, but not until eleven o'clock. If they weren't quiet, you took care of it, but you still got up at five-fifteen. Mother Maria Benedict said of course that this was fine because we could always catch up on sleep during the time we had between classes. I think that this was her sincere view of the matter. I remember getting very exhausted, and was relieved once I no longer had this responsibility. I really never enjoyed floor duty. SMJH: Did you say that the girls were to be silent at eleven o'clock? SMS: They weren' t silent. They just weren't supposed to shriek, etc. I slept on Fifth Canevan next to a floor of double decked beds. SMJH: Double decked beds? SMS: Yes, they were all double decked beds. We had more students than we had room for. We didn' t have Brownlee or Havey then. They would merrily jump from top to bottom and laugh and laugh. Of course, I made some of my best friends that way too. The only thing is as I think back on it was that it was an arduous life. I don't think it made me a wretched teacher. I think you rise to the occasion , and you can do it. However, I would not ask anyone else to do it. SMJH: As adviser to the Setonian, you probably kept late hours too. SMS: Well, I suppose so. I don't seem to remember much about whether I did or not, but probably did. SMJH: When you were adviser to the Setonian, who was your Printer, do you remember? SMS: Yes, Mr. George Berrry. He had been Adviser to the Setonian when I was Editor during my years in college. He was such a dear man, and a wonderful friend. I remember when I was a Senior, he brought the paper into my house in Pittsburgh. It had just come out . It was during the Summer. I suppose there was a change in Printers. I don't have any recollection of when George Berry died. I didn' t keep the Setonian for years and years. I had it before I went to Yale, and sometime after that. The other thing that I began to do was "The Alumni Quarterly", so every vacation that you had, you're down in the office typing up the news for the next "Quarterly." Here again, with all my ambitions to write, and here I was typing class news. However, I did go away many Summers , and this provided me with opportunity to write. I have never loved anything so much as being a teacher in the classroom. Consequently, it was announced to me in February of nineteen fifty-seven ,by Mother M. Claudia Glenn , that I would not be teaching any longer. This was a great blow to me. I was very unhappy about this. SMJH: Now, you were not to teach any longer, and for what reason? SMS: It was because I was to be in the President's office. I was to be the Assistant to the President of the college per Mother M. Claudia Glenn. I was Assistant, and not Vice President, because she thought I was too young to have this title. I was only forty! I didn't know what I was going to do. The big thing I wanted to do was teach. I said: "But I have courses, and Mother Claudia said:" They will be taken care of." I kept one course going for three years. I also had the honors course, and I kept it up after I got into the office. To a degree I would have evening seminars for the honor students. That's how I came to know Mary Ann Crenner (sounded like) and others. SMJH; Who was the President of the college at that time? SMS: The President at that time was: Father William Granger Ryan. We were always kind of friendly. He used to put his head in the window by the Canevan arch where I had my office. I would be facing the window and suddenly there would be this large head looking at me in the window, laughing. I knew I would never, never, ever learn the alphabet system of that kind of office. It was like another world. Father Ryan was marvelous to work with, so that made up for a lot of other things. That job just grew in a topsy turvy fashion. From the first moment when I talked to Father Ryan that lovely February morning in nineteen fifty-seven, I went right to Mother Claudia. She said: ''Now, Father Ryan expects that you will go over to his house." I went, and there he was wearing a neck brace because he was having so much tension. He would be away and come back this way. So, without any direction from Mother Claudia, because she was most evasive, Father Ryan talked to me. He told me that whenever he was away, he would support me in any decisions, right or wrong, which I made in his absence. I thought...what am I going to decide? So, he was stuck with the assistant title too. We never had a bad moment in thirteen years. SMJH: What were your responsibilities as assistant to the President? SMS: Well, I started out by going through the mail when he was away. That' s when I had very little to do. He didn't quite know yet what to.do with the assistant to the President. That's why I went to the Archives at that time to help Sister M. Electa Boyle. Things began to grow. For one year I could teach one class. When Father Ryan was home, he worked very hard at indoctrinating me to the job, but he was away a good bit of the time. It wasn't a clear cut job. I don't understand it myself, but that's the way it was. Father Ryan was stuck with the assistant title for some time. He wasn't permitted to say what my title really was. At one point he called me "Dean" of the faculty, which I didn't understand either. Then, after a long time, we did get around to my being Vice President. It was an experience which he and Sister Muriel Flamman made quite bearable. The thing that' s so wonderful about this is, that Sister Muriel as Dean of the college was next in line as President...ex officio. All of a sudden here is this other office created between, so I took precedence. She made me feel so welcome. It was the most beautiful experience. It gave me an insight into her which of course extended into several years. I don't know of any other person who could not only make you feel welcome, but was also so gracious. When I say that we never had any bad moments in the office, I don't mean that we didn't have numerous bad moments together. We had numerous, different kinds of people confronting us. We worked two against the world a great deal of the time. I don't remember a great many details in those early years. Father Ryan was doing a great deal of pioneering in the Pennsylvania college organization. He and other independent college presidents, besides universities, really did more in those years for the status of colleges in Pennsylvania, for the scholarship program, for the whole scene of private colleges in Pennsylvania. These were the men who did it all...back scene. There is a section here that is very difficult to hear. Sister's speech is not clear...too fast and words are run together. Suffice it to say, that I believe what she is saying here is that she didn't have a clue about what needed to be done regarding the area of accomplishing the goals that she attributed to Father William Granger Ryan and other college presidents. Sister says again that she had to learn everything from Father Ryan. Her own words were: The Presidents were always very remote. I knew Father Reeves well, but would never just walk into his office. As a faculty member, there was no relationship at all. It was an "on the job" learning experience. Looking back, I don't think I would have asked to be relieved of this job because Father Ryan was such a good priest and educator that I would not have voluntarily left. SMJH: Weren't those also important years in the college in the new arrangement of the board of trustees? Did that happen during those years? SMS: I'll tell you what happened. This was one of the many things which Father Ryan knew he had to accomplish. It was a strange system retained by women religious communities, not sure about men, by which their Mother General and her Officers were in the primary control of the college. Now, "The Middle States' , had been confronting them for some time on this, realizing that they needed larger ranging support in their board. They needed people who understood finances and all kinds of things. These Sisters of course, with all good will did not understand. They were very fearful, not only ours, but there were many others. They were very fearful of losing control. They thought people would run away with the money bags or something like that. They would choose to let anything happen which did not include them primarily. So, Father Ryan got together a board, which was an advisory board. It met for the first time on March twelfth, nineteen hundred fifty-seven, just after I appeared in the office. They were some of the best people to have in Greensburg. SMJH: Who were some of the people? SMS: Well, you had: Chuck Lynch, Tom Wentley (if spelling is correct), Ed Brinker, representatives from the banks... the general people who were knowledgeable and acceptable in Greensburg. Father himself had some friends from elsewhere. There was: Mrs. Helen Cutting, who was a very wealthy woman from New Jersey. She came to all the board meetings from New Jersey. There were others. Oh, I forgot, Jack Coulter was on it. They didn' t really have authority, but they did have a title "Board of Trustees", which was very cunning (believe this is the word she used), but no-one seemed to object to it. They all knew that they were not really a trustee board. So, the Sisters, the Council would meet with them. They did a great many things for us....using their influence financially, getting the city to do things, etc. Sometimes advice was welcome, sometimes not. However, they were there to support and help. They could never get the "Go Sign", to make that Board a legal body, which was really in control of the college, until finally twelve years later, under Mother M. Victoria Brown's leadership in office. She knew what had to be. By this time, "The Middle States" began to be rather insistent about it. So. She and her Council agreed to it. We had a long process of dissolving and incorporating...couldn't understand everything Sr. Mary was saying here. Pat Pacello (if spelling is correct) is and has been our attorney for years. He helped us to get things resolved. He worked in the courts. He even offered to go around to the various communities and explain to the Sisters that we were not giving anything away. We were simply strengthening our Organization. It was determined therefore that there would be fifteen sisters and fifteen lay people on the Board. This was in nineteen sixty-nine, and that is still true. At this time, Father Ryan's health was very poor. He was completely worn out. He got this Board started December of 1969, and announced to them that due to his declining health, he was retiring. He left in June . The Board was finally an accomplished fact. That was his greatest accomplishment for the college. SMJH: We want to talk about your years as President of the college. That will be the topic of our next session. Tape ill Begins Here July 4, 1984. SMJH: This is a continuation of the oral history program with Sister Mary Schmidt. The date is: Wednesday, July fourth, nineteen eighteen-four. Sister Mary was named acting President of Seton Hill College by the Board of Trustees in May of nineteen seventy, and elected to the office of President in nineteen seventy-one. She held that office until her resignation in June of nineteen seventy..se ven. In a newspaper article from "Westmoreland's Wednesday," dated June first, nineteen seventy-seven, the reporter says: "The entire academic world was in turmoil in nineteen, seventy-one, the year that Sister Mary Schmidt was made President of Seton Hill. Student and faculty dissension that arose during the height of the Vietnam conflict continued. Declining enrollments were plaguing all but a few colleges and universities . The image of institutions of higher learning had never been lower. Graduates from colleges all over the country faced a depressed job market. Vocational schools cut into a traditional student school, and career minded young men and women began to seek specialized technical training. Seton Hill was not spared the repercussions of these problems. Happily for the college, the woman who walked into the President's Office in nineteen seventy-one was equal to the task that lay ahead." End of quote. SMJH: Sister Mary, we know that this is true. Will you tell us how you were able to confront the problems and issues of the seventies? SMS: Well, I should say initially that the woman who walked into the President's office at that time had no convictions as to whether she could take care of these things. Neither had she any vision of what was to come. We were, I would say immediately plunged into a horrendous despot in the Summer of nineteen seventy-one. We had, without any warning a smaller freshman enrollment that we had ever dealt with before. The Board, my very attentive and careful Board, immediately said that we could not afford to carry deficits of this sort. The only way we could save money to stabilize (couldn't clearly hear) the College budget was to cut the Faculty. Since the student enrollment was smaller, it was of course assumed that a smaller number of faculty would do. Simplistically of course that wasn't true, but it turned out that I had no choice. I was faced head on with the need to make a study of class size and Faculty members. So, we made a careful view of the whole thing, so that we had at least a reasonable case. Then came the dramatic announcement to terminate three or four young faculty members. This, at the time, was a kind of bombshell, since the unrest of both family and students had already been felt across the country in large universities. It's always later in reaching the smaller, conservative women's campuses. All these faculty members and students were well aware that their time had come. And so, the announcement of the termination of these faculty members, caused quite a commotion, but it resulted shortly thereafter in the Pennsylvania Labor Union being invoked. We therefore were informed that our Faculty had shown that they had desired membership in our college in view. That, of course, threw us into a very bad state, because a labor union in a college of our size, would be fatal. The demands were very high for salaries, etc. It would have been the end of the college. (There was the roar of what sounded like a train here, preventing me from getting what Sister Mary had to say). So, without going into the gruesome details, I would say that we had to go through a period of trying to do everything that we could to help to confront this problem. We were facing an election by our Faculty as to whether or not the college would be accepted. SMJH: Were the Sisters on the Faculty permitted to vote? Were they part of that? SMS: No, the Sisters, normally were not permitted to vote. There was a great deal of feeling among the Sisters. They too felt very keenly about their salaries and conditions, etc. However, the National Relations Board in Pittsburgh, advised that we have a lawyer, and they had a lawyer to determine the Sisters right to vote. It turned out in our favor. They didn't have a vote. We were having this vote then by the lay Faculty, and while you were permitted to talk individually to the Faculty members and Administrator, you couldn't have a meeting. So, it was very draining, and a wretched experience all the way around. Finally, the day came when the secret ballot was to be cast, and this was done at the end of the day to the consternation of the other members who had been brought in from the Pennsylvania Labor Union. The vote was two or three in favor of the Union, but the others were against it, but before that, you had no idea how people were going to vote on a secret ballot. You may have had pleasant conversation or so, but you don' t know how they are actually going to vote. This had been triggered by the termination of those young faculty members, and they lost. This was still in nineteen seventy one-seventy­ two. We were also scheduled for a Middle States exhibit (too difficult to hear), which as you know comes every ten years. We had a special case study that year. It took much more time than the one you had in nineteen eighty-two. Very able administrators from a number of colleges come. I happened to be in the office the night before they were to start their work. " You may find that there is more entertainment on our campus, because our students are going to demonstrate that we are really a wretched Organization because we terminate faculty members and we don't do anything that's right!" Of course, they all laughed. The only thing is that I'm afraid they will never do it because they are ultra conservative. I just want you to be ready for it. Nothing of course happened. Things went on. We didn't have to terminate any more faculty members the following year. The enrollment began to pick up. I think, we have a note here, that at some point in nineteen seventy-seven, we had seven hundred ninety full time students, whereas in nineteen seventy, we had six hundred. For us, that was a rather large growth figure. That was not because of me, that was simply the time ( couldn't understand...sounded like stanzika...never heard the word) perhaps in which we were able to get back on our feet. Perhaps it wa-s becauseof all the turmoil we had in the beginning. Things really cleared the books were cleared, and the budget was cleared, and we could go forward. The national situation which you referred to in the newspaper article you read meant that no one going into any kind of office in nineteen seventy-one could go in starry eyed. Everyone knew that faculty and students were no longer satisfied with the status quo. Everyone knew that the plans presented for growth in the nineteen sixties had to be scrapped. It was a lovely plan, beautiful building, but we could not afford it, anymore than we could afford the fine arts building. In other words, instead of dreaming for these wonderful things, you had to begin to work on campus with the people involved in consolidation. You had to realize that the only building you were going to do thereafter, was replacement, and I think that has been true. We did fix up a Music wing while I was in office. That was done with a grant from "The R. K. Mellon Foundation." SMJH: That was an interesting building, was it not? Wasn't it the old laundry building? The institution no longer provided laundry service for the students or the sisters living here. SMS: Yes, that is all true, and I think that the architect was very clever also in leaving a solid stone foundation on the building. Then when the state dictated that we could no longer use St. Mary's for classrooms or for indeed much of anything, we had to replace that building, and we did. The original Stokes Mansion was caving in on itself. The whole building had to go. ·We had the option of spending a couple of million dollars of rebuilding it as a monument, but we didn't choose to do that. We were then able to sell it. ( Sister Mary said something else about this, but it was garbled). The Home Economic Department came up here after much commotion. People came up here, and they were happy not to be running up and down the hill. The building which took its place is a lovely building. There was concern at the time, that it wouldn't be too nice because there is not much sun shining in that area. However, that wasn't the case. It turned out to be quite satisfactory. I have heard people later on remarking how well the building blends in with the other buildings on the campus. The Security members said how wonderful it is that the building fits in with the structural harmony of the other buildings. My point in bringing this up is to say that instead of going ahead with grandiose building plans, one had to made do, and we've been making do ever since. SMJH: So, the Music and Home Economic Buildings were put up during your time in office? SMS: Yes, the plans for the Music Building were done before that per the grant from the "R. K. Mellon Foundation"as said earlier. Then I went to the "Kresge Foundation" in Detroit following . the arrangement Sister Dorothy Jacko had made with them. They gave us a large sum of money which was used for the Home Economic Building. I don't think you would have received money during those years to put up something lovely ..e.g. a student union building. It would have been difficult to prove that you were going to use the facility within a certain time limit. I believe I think of those years on the negative side. It seemed like you were constantly fighting for something. I do remember a couple of things which I was very pleased about. We began the Campus Ministry Program some time during those years. I don't recall exact dates. My memory is all I'm going on. Perhaps someone would like to look it up in the files. I remember that the students' response to the initiation of the Campus Ministry was tremendous! Most ofus were 12 very happy, because it was difficult in the sixties to find students attracted to a program that was altruistic and outgoing. They were too concerned with running around in their bare feet, wearing cut off jeans, wondering why they couldn't have this or that etc. The reception the students gave to the concept of campus ministry and the actuality of it was a remarkable thing. We also found among the Faculty a great cooperative spirit, usually because there is an obvious need, to see how to see what could be done about bringing (not the word she used, but after several tries couldn't understand) the Academic and Liberal Arts Departments to some additional thing which would make them clearly oriented without destroying their liberal arts tenor and caliber. We knew we couldn't think what to say in regard to our liberal arts stance and quality. We also knew that we had to show some practicality. It seemed wonderful to me, that our Faculty, one· after another, would come up with many acceptable things, which seemed to tide us over in that period when people needed to be shown that their education could be practical. The things, of course, which appealed to me personally, were the outside activities Membership and meetings which we were obliged to attend at the Pennsylvania colleges and the middle states areas, and national meetings. Those 'were things which broadened your horizons for your work at home. They were very good, although they took a lot of traveling. Other things which one feels more constructive about was going around seeking funds from people. It seems to me at least, that the responses from directors of Foundations, and from small Corporations, and people that you went to talk to, was always quite positive and pleasant, if not in dollars, at least in attitude. Those were things which I found myself enjoying more than fussing around with why someone did or did not do what they were supposed to do. It' s a matter of temperament. I apologize, can't help it. I also found it to be very important to make the college well known in Greensburg. Father Maida (sounds like) did a very good job of doing this. To keep that going was something too to be visible, belong to the Chamber of Commerce, where Seton Hill was a place instead of a mysterious element on the Hill. I don't know, but I believe that's enough, don't you? SMJH: I think it is very impressive and interesting. I would like to quote from the newspaper once again. When you left the Office in nineteen seventy seven, the paper said: "Sister Mary leaves the Office of the President, having established programs that respond to the needs of the Seton Hill student body. She has built working relationships that will endure. The college is financially sound. Enrollment is at an all time high. Structures and systems of working are established that will benefit Seton Hill for years to come." Sister, we know that all these things are true, and they are true because of your enthusiastic leadership. Sr. Marie Arthur Hamilton: I completed the transcription of the oral history for Sister Mary Schmidt on December twenty-seventh, 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 Mary Schmidt Subject The topic of the resource Sister Mary Schmidt Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Mary Schmidt, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1934 until 1993. The interview was conducted by Sister Miriam Jane Hollowood on July 10 and 18, 1984. Sister Mary Schmidt was born on June 26th, 1911 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of Henry K. Schmidt and Mabel Green, Mary Jeannette Schmidt entered the community on March 25th, 1934 at the age of 22 as Sister Mary Schmidt. Sister Mary Schmidt was a professor of English at Seton Hill College from 1936 to 1957. She served as the Executive Vice President of Seton Hill College from 1957 to 1970. Then, the following year Sister Mary Schmidt served as President of SHC from 1971 to 1977. Sister Mary Schmidt received her B.S. in English, Psychology, and Philosophy from Seton Hill College in 1932. Then, she received her M.A. in English from the University of Pittsburgh in 1934. Sister Mary Schmidt went to Yale University for her Ph.D. in English Language and Literature in 1943, where she would pursue her postdoctoral research at both Yale and Columbia Universities. Sister Mary Schmidt passed on April 26th, 1993 at the age of 81. 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 1984/07/10 1984/07/18 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-81 Executive Vice President Pittsburgh President of Seton Hill College Professor of English Seton Hill College University of Pittsburgh Yale University https://scsharchives.com/files/original/ac5cce1a37759f0e55b4ebdf34739930.mp3 2884fdc4ce65fce102826fa2ee1592c2 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/1c21309e94521db5c940b98664a90d07.mp3 3469575bddafdc71fd49d96edb0ebcc0 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 Jean Ann Wilburn Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Mary Thaddeus McManama 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 24:53 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 Mary Thaddeus McManama Subject The topic of the resource Sister Mary Thaddeus McManama Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Mary Thaddeus McManama, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1930 until 1997. The interview was conducted by Sister Jean Ann Wilburn on March 14, 1987. Sister Mary Thaddeus McManama was born on June 16, 1905. Daughter of Robert W. McManama and Clara Rose Martin, Lucy G. McManama entered the community on March 25, 1930 as Sister Mary Thaddeus McManama. Sister Mary Thaddeus initially joined the faculty of Seton Hill College as a math teacher in 1941, and continued teaching at the college until her retirement in 1986. From 1965 to 1970 she also served as the director of the campus Public Information and in 1970 she became the college archivist, which she continued until 1980. Sister Mary Thaddeus earned her B.A. in Math and Social Studies from Seton Hill College in 1937 and earned her M.S. in Math from the University of Pittsburgh in 1946. She also pursued summer graduate work in Math from Columbia University from 1943 to 1945, and in Statistics from the University of Chicago from 1947 to 1948. She was a member of the American College Public Relations Association and was renowned within her field for her dedication to service. Sister Mary Thaddeus McManama passed away on June 18, 1997 at the age of 92. 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 1987/03/14 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-57 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 Mary Thomasine Steel Location The location of the interview Saints Peter and Paul Convent, Tucson, Arizona 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 29:37 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 Mary Thomasine Steel Subject The topic of the resource Sister Mary Thomasine Steel Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Mary Thomasine Steel, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1940 until 1999. The interview was conducted by Sister James Marie Malone at Saints Peter and Paul Convent in Tucson, Arizona on March 29, 1987. Sister Thomasine Steel was born on March 10, 1921 in Altoona, Pa. Daughter of Thomas C. Steel and Catherine Luddy, Mary Catherine Steel entered the community on September 8, 1940 as Sister M. Thomasine Steel. Sister Thomasine ministered as a music, piano, and choir teacher at middle and junior high schools in Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Altoona-Johnstown, and Tucson. Among the schools she worked at were St. Mary's School in Blairsville, Pennsylvania, Holy Innocents in Sheraden, Pennsylvania, SS. Peter and Paul in Tucson, Arizona; St. Anselm's School in Swissvale, Pennsylvania; St. Edward's School in Herminie, Pennsylvania; and Cathedral School in Altoona, Pennsylvania. She also served as principal of SS. Simon and Jude School in Blairsville from 1963 to 1969. She was especially prominent at SS. Peter and Paul School, Tucson, where she first taught from 1949 to 1952 and again from 1969 to 1988. Sister Thomasine earned her B.M. in Music Education from Seton Hill College 1956 and earned her M.Ed. in Elementary Education Administration from the University of Pittsburgh in 1967. She was known in the community as an organist and poet. Sister Thomasine Steel passed away on September 23, 1999 at the age of 78. 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 1987/03/29 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-105 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/4c9185c78d6a2be92c0486cfc5e01034.mp3 850befb36580f953d0f44aaae3271571 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 Mary Timothy Adams Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Location The location of the interview St. Pancratius (Calif.) OHMS Object This field contains the OHMS Hyperlink (link to the XML file within the OHMS Viewer). http:scsharchives.com/public_html/oralhistories/cachefiles/OH-72.xml 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.) 20:24 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 Mary Timothy Adams Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-072 Subject The topic of the resource Sister Mary Timothy Adams Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Mary Timothy Adams, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1932 until 2011. The interview was conducted by Sister James Marie Malone on July 7, 1984. Sister Mary Timothy Adams - born Rose Marie Adams on November 23, 1914 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in September of 1932. She received a bachelor's degree in education from Duquesne University in 1943 and taught at both Sacred Heart School and Holy Cross School in Pittsburgh in the early 1940s. She then spent most of her career in Arizona, serving at SS. Peter and Paul in Tucson and St. Mary Basha School in Chandler. She died on April 27, 2011. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill 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 1984-07-07 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. 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 Arizona Chandler AZ Duquesne University Holy Cross Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Sacred Heart PGH Saints Peter and Paul St. Mary-Basha Teacher Tucson AZ https://scsharchives.com/files/original/64de72cda37f5d53fab545369499a06d.mp3 6bd9ef60ebda85edcf9bc30bdab6491e 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 Miriam Agnes Regets 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.) 31:22 11:09 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound 1 OH 18-1 Sr. Mir. Agnes Regets This interview is being conducted as part of the oral history program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister Miriam Agnes Regets. The interview is.being conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller at Seton Hill College. The date is February twenty-fifth, nineteen eighty-eight. SMCM: Good Morning Sister Miriam Agnes. SMAR: Good morning. SMCM: How are you today? SMAR: For my age, I think I'm doing pretty well. SMCM: Sister, I came over here this morning to talk to you about some of the significant things in your life as a Sister of Charity. You have been at Seton Hill for how many years? SMAR: I've been here for sixty-seven years. SMCM: What was the date of your birth? SMAR: I was born May twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred one. L don't remember my mother. My father married a second time. SMCM: Where were you baptized? SMAR: I was baptized in St. Charles Borromeo Church in Sutersville, PA. I don't know who the priest was. SMAR: What about your father? Where did he come from? SMAR: He came from Austria. He and his five brothers came to America. SMCM: What kind of work did your father do? SMAR: He worked in the mines. SMCM: Did you have any brothers or sisters? SMAR: I had a brother whose name was Michael and a sister named Julia. Julia died from cancer, I believe. My brother was named after my father whose name was Michael. I had a half­ sister, Helen. She's still living. SMCM: Sister, where did you go to school? SMAR: I went to grade school in Sutersville. SMCM: Was it a one room school? SMAR: No, we had two or four rooms. I went there for grades one through eight. I wanted to go to high school but couldn't as it was too far away and there was no way to get me there. I stayed around home, but then got a job. There was a Federal Supply Company store in our area. They kept in touch with the miners. We kept a record of their earnings in order to pay their bills at the store. They would send a lot of newspaper which we put into bales for the purpose of recycling. SMCM: Sister, how did you come in contact with the Sisters of Charity? SMAR: At first, it was through Sister Marie Stephen and Sister Pancratius Jablonski. We used to be in the choir at St. Charles Borromeo parish. We used to teach catechism...Sr. Marie Stephen, 2 Sr. Pancratius and I. Father Lonergan became interested in us. We taught downstairs, and once in a while Father would come to see the children. I believe I came in contact with the Sisters of Charity through Sr. Marie Stephen and Sr. Pancratius who may have entered frrst and we kept in touch. They kept in touch with Father Lonergan . This was inaudible, but I believe she indicated that Father Lonergan sent some kind of communication saying that she would be suited for religious life. Then I did make a visit out to Seton Hill. I don't remember much about the visit. SMCM: Do you remember the names of any sister that was at Seton Hill when you visited there? SMAR: I remember Sister M. Paula Moran. There was another sister whose name I can't remember. It was such a long time ago. SMCM: Was your father still living when you entered the community? SMAR: Yes. He died some time after I entered. SMCM: Sister, when did you come to Seton Hill to enter? SMAR: I don't specifically remember the year. It was either nineteen eighteen or nineteen nineteen. SMCM: Do you remember if it was on September eighth? SMAR: Yes, it was September eighth. SMCM: Who was the Mother Superior when you entered and who was your mistress? SMAR: Mother Mary Joseph Havey was the Mother Superior and Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers was the Mistress of Novices. SMCM: Sister, tell me about the sister who sponsored you. Who took care of you when you entered? You did tell me that there was one sister who helped you. SMAR: Sister Columba Henry helped me. (Sister had a difficult time remembering anything about this.; SMCM: Did you have classes during your postulancy? SMAR: Yes, we had classes until I went out on mission. I don't remember much about the classes. When we went out on mission we went to school on Saturdays. SMCM: Then, you did go out on mission after your novitiate training. Where did you go? SMAR: I don't recall where I went first. I know at some time I was in Altoona? SMCM: Was that at the Cathedral or at Saint John's What did you teach? How long were you there? SMAR: I believe it was at Saint John's. I taught the primary grades. I don't remember how long lwas there. SMCM: Where else were you on mission? SMAR: I was at Holy Cross· in Pittsburgh. I was also at St. Mary Magdalene's in Homestead. It was here in Homestead I had a bad physical experience. I was walking with Sister M. Paula Moran to her home. As we were passing a fence, there was a dog behind the fence who began to bark. He sounded so angry that I thought he would tear us apart. Whether it was that which affected me, I don't know, but that night I couldn't breathe. I had a bad headache. I called to the sisters for help saying: "I can't breathe. I feel like I'm going to die!"Some of our sisters were there. She seemed to be trying to mention some of the sisters' names...! believe one was Sister 3 Richard Marie Greeley, and Sister Agnes (the one in charge, possibly Sr. Agnes Marie Reuber?) The first thing in the morning , I was put in the room next to the chapel. From there I was sent to Pittsburgh Hospital. After a time in the hospital, I was asked if my mother told me that I was a blue baby. I said that my mother died when I was three years old, so therefore I don't remember. I had a Doctor Dzffi-a while at Pittsburgh hospital. He was supposed to have kept one of our (\ sisters in bed for eight years. I said: "He's not going to keep me in bed that long!" From.there , I was sent to Provident hospital in Beaver Falls. There I had Doctor Wilson. I came back via ambulance with Sister M. Marcella Renninger to Pittsburgh hospital. After my stay at the hospital, I came back to Seton Hill. SMCM: So, have you been at Seton Hill ever since you came back.from the hospital? SMAR: Yes, I think so. That was in nineteen thirty-two. SMCM: By this time, had you made your vows? SMAR: Oh, yes. SMCM: What did you do at the Hill when you first came? SMAR: Whatever we were given to do. I just don' t remember what. Whenever I came from the hospital, I was put in the Infirmary. I thought that just the old sisters were there. I said to Mother Evaline Fisher, who was the Mother Superior " Mother, I don't think I can stay in the Infirmary. lfl could just have something to do, it would help me." She said: "Alright, Sister, we' ll find something." She came the next day and said that they thought I could work at the switchboard. The time I was given was increased gradually. SMCM: Could you tell us where the switchboard was first located? SMAR: Yes, it was down in a room on the first floor next to the lobby. It had been in the lobby, but they had it moved into the room which was to the left of the lobby. Sometime later, it was · moved into the room which had been known as the "Tea Room." One time, during a bad storm, lightening hit the wires and I was thrown. I had been putting a call through for Mother M. Claudia Glenn. I was able to put the call through after this incident. SMCM: So, you were at the phone for many hours then? SMAR: Well, my hours kept increasing and many times I had to fill in for someone who couldn' t take their place. Then of course Mrs. Bortz came. Dolores (I think her name was Daily) also came. The board was open day and night. That's why we had to have additional people. SMCM: You got to. know many people during your hours at the switchboard, didn' t you? SMAR: Oh, yes. You got to know them, where to get them, and all that kind of thing. Even now, I remember how when cars would be parked out front, we would get a call from Frank Baker or Bernard Baumeister, two of our men who worked for us, telling us to have people move their cars. I think there were pipes underneath that pavement, and they might have been worried about a cave-in. SMCM: About how many years were you at the switchboard? SMAR: /Siste r rambled here) She said: " Well, I was in the community for fifty years; and some of my friends told me it was time for me to let the younger people take care of the switchboard, meaning Mrs. Bortz and Dolores Daily. Assumption Hall opened and I thought it would be good if I offered to take a few hours of the day there and perhaps save a little if they had to pay 4 someone." SMCM: Did you move to Assumption Hall then? SMAR: No, I stayed at Seton Hill and traveled back and forth daily. SMCM: How many years did you go back and forth to Assumption Hall? SMAR: Not too many, because I think that something happened so that I couldn't go there. SMCM: In those days we had the call bell system. Do you have any stories that you want to share about that? SMAR: Oh my, yes. That was really something. I remember Sister Mildred Corvi. She went to the college. Then she entered the community. SMCM: Do you remember anything about any of the older sisters who were around during your time at Seton Hill? Sr. Marie Arthur:(Sister just seemed to ramble here. The questions Sr. Marie Corona asked Sr. Miriam Agnes were too difficult for her to answer because of having poor memory.) SMCM: Sister, how do you like the changes that were made in living in small groups at Seton Hill. Did you like the changes? SMAR: Well, you have to keep up with the times. The sisters were good about informing each other about what you needed to know. SMCM: Do you think you have adjusted well to these changes? SMAR: Oh, yes. We have to put up with each other. SMCM: How do you like the changes made in our prayer, specifically saying the Office? SMAR: We have the books. Again, we have to go along with whatever changes are needed as time goes on. One has to be open and resigned to whatever happens. SMCM: Sister, you were telling me about Sister Mary Matthew Con&lly. What exactly did she do here at the college? SMAR:(I wasn't able to make any sense out of what Sister Miriam Agnes was saying here. She is very confused!) SMCM: Sister asked again just what Sr. Mary Matthew was in charge of. SMAR: Here, Sister does say that Sr. Mary Matthew was in charge of the employees and anything else that needed to be taken care of. Sister also said that something happened to Sr. Mary Matthew. She wasn't sure just what that was. However, she then said that Sister Rose Agnes McGowan took Sr. Mary Matthew's duties over. SMCM: Can you tell us anything that you remember about Sr. Rose Agnes? . SMAR: She was wonderful to live with. She was on the job all the time. She never answered her bell, because she had to be outside so much. SMCM: Didn't Sr. Rose Agnes have to sign out at the switchboard? SMAR: Oh. Yes. She didn't always remember because she had so many things to do. It wasn't easy to find her! SMCM: Sister, how long do you plan on staying at Seton Hill? 5 SMAR: I don't know. They gave me a heart pacer. The Doctor gave me two years to live when I came to Seton Hill in nineteen thirty-two. I'm eighty-six years old. I'll be eighty-seven in May. I'm concerned about how much it cost to give me a pace maker. Sr. Mary Paul Coleman sends me things periodically, which I give to Sister Rose Irene Boggs, who is our treasurer. I said: "I think I'm spending too much money for this business on an old hag like me." I want to keep my prayers up for the community, the missions, priests, etc. SMCM: Is there anything else you would like to tell me about your history? SMC : I don't know that I have a good history. The Lord has been keeping me here for something. Mother Seton also is watching over me in the Community. SMCM: What do you hope for the Community in the future? SMAR: I hope of course that we will continue. Assumption Hall is wonderful. The Sisters there pray hard for the Community. That's where I landed after being at Seton Hill. SMCM: So, you are really a part of the wonderful ffeyer and good works that are being done at Assumption Hall? " SMAR: Oh my, yes. We have to keep up the prayers, because after all, we can't do it ourselves. The Lord has to help us. SMCM: I want to sincerely thank you for giving your time to me for your oral history. It will certainly add to the history of the Community, and the tape will be kept in the Archives of the Community at Caritas Christi. SMAH: I completed the transcription of this tape on the oral history of Sr. Miriam Agnes Regets on September 17, 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 Miriam Agnes Regets Subject The topic of the resource Sister Miriam Agnes Regets Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Miriam Agnes Regets, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1919 to 1992. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on February 25, 1988. Sister Miriam Agnes Regets was born on May 25th, 1901 in Smithdale, Pa. Daughter of Michael Regets and Mary Sichon, Mary Ann Regets entered the community on September 8th, 1919 at the age of 18 as Sister Miriam Agnes Regets. Sister Miriam Agnes was a "PBX Attendant" - commonly known as a telephone attendant - at Seton Hill College from 1950-1979. She was an elementary teacher in the Pittsburgh and Altoona-Johnstown Dioceses. Her parents were both born in Austria. Sister Miriam Agnes Regets passed on April 9th, 1992 at the age of 90. 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 1988/02/25 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-18 Seton Hill College Switchboard Operator Teacher Telephone Attendant https://scsharchives.com/files/original/014777705fd113dd6ee6f2d09bf86b4b.mp3 d9b9a741cef4d06633069b031f867a10 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 Miriam Fidelis Guinagh Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Location The location of the interview Assumption Hall 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.) 26:55 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound OH 49-1 This interview is being conducted as part of the oral history program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister Miriam Fidelis Guinagh. The interview is being conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller at Assumption Hall. The date is November 16, 1986. SMCM: Good afternoon, Sister. SMFG: Good afternoon, Sister. SMCM: How are you today? SMFG: I'm very well. Thank you. SMCM: That's good. Sister, I'm here to talk to you about some interesting things about your life as a Sister of Charity. Would you like to tell us some things about your personal history? SMFG: Very well. I was a fourth child of Robert and Catherine Sullivan. I was born January 15, 1903. At Baptism received the name Catherine Fidelia. Now, of course, my family name was Guinagh. I attended Saint Mary School in New Castle and was taught by the Sisters of Saint Joseph. I attended New Castle Public High School, commercial course. I held the position of desk supervisor at the Bell Telephone Company, making out tours and payroll. I liked it. I entered the Sisters of Charity on September 8, 1926. I had thought of joining the Sisters of Saint Joseph as they were the only sisters I knew. However, when I was 23, I talked to my father about entering. He settled the problem for me saying, "Ifl were going anywhere, I would go with my siste r." Sister Marguerite had entered the Sisters of Charity on December 8, 1925. She was ajunior in Seton Hill College. I took my father's advice. I have been very happy with the Sisters of Charity. SMCM: Sister, what are some of the things that you did as a Sister of Charity? Like in the Novitiate, who was the Mother Superior in your day? SMFG: Mother Rose Genevieve was the Mother Superior. My first mission was going to Homestead. Sister Dorothea and I were postulants. We hadn't any coats to wear. So, we borrowed them from the college girls. Coats and hats. We walked at 7 o'clock in the morning, down the hill, to get the train to Homestead. SMCM: You mean you were missioned in Homestead? SMFG: For a couple days, I think. SMCM: I see. SMFG: It was quite an experience. SMCM: How long did that train ride take? SMFG: I don't remember how long. It wasn't too long anyway. Mother Mary Francis was our Directress. She was a very understanding and sympathetic person. Many confidential chats were held near the fems outside the Novitiate. SMCM: Where was the Novitiate, Sister? SMFG: The fourth floor of the Administration Building. Sister Marie Antonia took Mother's place when Mother became ill. We were very sorry to lose Mother, but we enjoyed Sister Marie Antonia, too. SMCM: Sister, could you tell us who entered with you? SMFG: There were 13 ofus. I was the 13th• We went by the way our applications came in. SMCM: I see. Can you remember any of the names of those sisters? SMFG: Oh, yes. Sister Mary Emma was the youngest, but she had her application in first. She was our senior. I was the youngest. I was the baby of the group. One left the community. I think three have died. SMCM: Who are the ones who have died? SMFG: Sister Kathleen Higgins and Sister Sabina Reilly and Sister Louise dePaul. So those are the three. SMCM: When you were in the Novitiate, Sister, what did you do as a charge? SMFG: I had every charge. I was sent to the faculty dining room. Sister Natalie and Sister Jean Marie were the two who were in charge. They showed me a great deal. One day I was left alone. Somehow or another, they had to go elsewhere. I had to finish serving the meal. One time, Mr. Bennet said he rang the bell and I answered, "Remove the dishes, please." I did. It was part of the experience to be there by yourself. SMCM: Now that was when you were a canonical novice. SMFG: No. I was a postulant. SMCM: Oh. You were a postulant. Were you home the whole time you were a postulant except when you went to Homestead? SMFG: About a week they took us to Homestead. Yes, we were always home, which was very ruce. SMCM: When you became a second year novice, did you go out on mission? SMFG: I had teaching assignments at Saint Stephen in Hazelwood, Saint Philip in Crafton, and Holy Innocents until about 1944. One day Mother Claudia asked me to be the Directress of Novices. I acquiesced so she sent me to the Catholic University for summer work in canon law as taught by Bishop Jerome Hannon. SMCM: What year was that, Sister? SMFG: 1944. ' SMCM: You followed Sister Theodosia as Mistress of Novices. SMFG: Yes. I did. SMCM: You held that position for how many years? SMFG: Until 1964. As Directress of Novices, Mother also sent me to school and I had that as a background for my work. So until 1964, with all its joys and sorrows. Then in 1964 we had gone into the new building, which is now called Doran Hall, which is very nice. SMCM: Sister, you saw a lot of transitions in those days, those 20 years as being Mistress. Can you tell us anything about how you felt about the transitions that the community experienced? The things that might have been very hard for the novices. SMFG: Not particularly the novices, but the community. The chapters, different things came up. The idea of going into secular clothes. Life had changed. Other little things that we did. SMCM: Sister, when you were Mistress, were you also a member of the chapter? SMFG: Yes. I was elected. SMCM: So you served on the chapter all those years, also. SMFG: I don't remember whether it was all those years or whenever we had it, but I remember being elected. In the Fall of 1965, I returned to my teaching of history at Holy Innocents. A second trip back to Crafton brought to an end my teaching career. I returned to Assumption Hall in 1984 and that' s still where I'm at. SMCM: And still very busy. SMFG: Making things. SMCM: Sister, going back to your years as Mistress, you were the one who brought the Novitiate from Seton Hill to Assumption Hall. SMFG: Yes, in 1954 we went to Ennis Hall. The college girls had to leave to give room for the novices. We were quite crowded. We were waiting for the new building. We had novices everywhere. We even had somebody sleeping in the, what we called the living room. She brought her cot out every day. SMCM: How many did you have? SMFG: Seemed to me to be 90. SMCM: 90? SMFG: We had them everywhere. SMCM: So you moved from Seton Hill over to Ennis Hall in 1954. Then the novices did what, as far as Assumption Hall was concerned? SMFG: They were up on the third floor doing the rooms. They worked on getting the trays ready for the sisters. I think they were happy. Every now and then we might lose somebody, but it was better that way. SMCM: Do you have an idea of how many sisters went through your hands? SMFG: About 200. SMCM: 200. That's a wonderful record. SMFG: I pray for them everyday. SMCM: Oh, I know you do, Sister. SMFG: For any mistakes that I made that the Lord may rectify them. SMCM: Oh, I'm sure He would. Sister, when you had the novices, I remember that you used to have other professed sisters come to help you. Can you tell us some of those sisters who gave you help? SMFG: Sister Mary Adrian helped. SMCM: Anybody else? SMFG: I should remember them, but it's hard to. SMCM: I know. SMFG: Sister Serafina helped one summer. SMCM: Was that only during the summer months? SMFG: Yes. They were busy elsewhere. SMCM: When you taught, Sister, you taught history. Was that in the elementary school level? SMFG: Elementary and High School. SMCM: And high school? SMFG: Oh, yes. SMCM: What level was that in high school? SMFG: Sophomores. SMCM: Sophomores. SMFG: The Sophomores for World History and United States History for Junior year. SMCM: Where did you get your education? SMFG: At Seton. I got my degree in 1942. SMCM: In history? SMFG: That was my major. SMCM: You didn't go anywhere else? SMFG: I went into Pitt for a Master's Degree. SMCM: I thought you did. SMFG: I went in for Master's and took the bus in every day. One day, I fell asleep and passed the school, went into town. I said, "Is this bus going back?" He said, "No, not for awhile." So I had to get another bus. SMCM: What did you study at Pitt? SMFG: History. Dr. Oliver was the teacher and Dr. James_. SMCM: You went there how many years? SMFG: Maybe two. SMCM: When you had the novices, Sister, there were some of the things that you liked us to do as novices, when we recreated. Remember? SMFG: No. SMCM: You don't remember? Well, I know one of the things that you always enjoyed us doing. We always had the sing-a-longs, you know? We always sang at the end of the evening. We prayed in Ennis Hall at the bottom of the stairway. We always said our night prayers together. It was always a very beautiful experience. We always had a good time at recreation. SMFG: The statue that we all stood around was quite an old statue in the community. It came to the Novitiate. SMCM: Where did it come from? SMFG: Somewhere at Seton Hill. SMCM: When you moved over with the novices from Assumption Hall, you were, too, on fourth Admin., where you were as a novice, is that where the novitiate was? When they all moved over to Ennis Hall, you said that they were everywhere at Ennis Hall. SMFG: My room was in the back on the first floor. We were privileged to have the Blessed Sacrament. We made arrangements for the chapel. Sister Mary Francis designed things for us. We were very happy to have the Blessed Sacrament. SMCM: Sister, when you returned to mission, that was a difficult thing to do, wasn't it, after 20 years? SMFG: Yes. It was. I admit. SMCM: Had you been at Holy Innocents before you became Mistress? SMFG: No. SMCM: So that was your first time there? SMFG: After the Novitiate. SMCM: Can you tell me anything about some of the sisters who were there with you on mission? Maybe some of the ones who have passed on? Who was Principal of the High School when you were there? SMFG: Sister Eug ne. SMCM: Oh, Sister Eugene. Were there a lot of sisters there? SMFG: Quite a few. I can't remember their names so well. SMCM: That's all right, Sister. Is that the last time you taught in high school, at Holy Innocents? SMFG: Yes. I came out here, I guess. SMCM: Oh, you came here from Holy Innocents. SMFG: Yes. SMCM: When did you go to Crafton? SMFG: I went to Crafton two different times. As a young sister and then later on. SMCM: You finished your teaching at Crafton and then stayed on in the convent. SMFG: Yes. That's right. I retired to the convent. SMCM: What did you do in those days? SMFG: Well, I did crafts and things like that and I had an eye operation. Then I had to agree to give up and come out to Assumption. SMCM: Well, you didn't really give up. SMFG: I hope not. SMCM: You just changed your residency and continued on. Right? SMFG: Right. SMCM: Now here at Assumption Hall you do a lot of things. Tell us about what you do here at Assumption. SMFG: I belong to the stamp crusade. SMCM: Good for you. SMFG: Something nice that happened to me was that the group that I had in 1945 as novices had a little get together for me...a surprise. They gave me that in a box and a statue of tqe Blessed Mother. SMCM: Oh, I know. She's beautiful. SMFG: Very beautiful. I was quite surprised. It was good to see them all again. SMCM: That was to celebrate what? SMFG: My 60th Anniversary. SMCM: Your 60th Anniversary? SMFG: Yes. SMCM: Marvelous. Do you remember, Sister, the anniversary that the rest of your novices had, our other novices, for your 50th? SMFG: Yes. In '76. SMCM: Where did we have that? Do you remember? SMFG: Yes. SMCM: Elizabeth Seton High School, in the auditorium. SMFG: That' s right. I remember now. SMCM: Yea. That was a surprise, wasn't it? SMFG: It surely was a surprise. My sister didn't even tell me. SMCM: She was warned. She was warned not to tell you. SMFG: I forgot all about that. I shouldn't, though, people were so kind to me. SMCM: Well, that's all right. SMFG: That was for the golden. SMCM: That was your Golden Anniversary. Did you attend the Bishop's celebration when he came here to Doran Hall for the 60 people? At Doran Hall, he always comes here annually for the 25's and the 50's and the 60's. We had Mass with him. Do you go over? SMFG: Bishop Connare. SMCM: Yes. Bishop Connare. Did you go over for that? SMFG: Oh, yes. SMCM: So what else do you want to tell me? SMFG: I think I've told you everything. SMCM: I know that, like you say, many sisters went through your training. Many sisters come back to you often. I know there's no possible way that we can say thank you for all that you've done for us. SMFG: Just say a prayer for me. SMCM: We do. We always pray for you. I'm sure that you're always praying for us. SMFG: I do, every day. SMCM: Some of your novices, I've heard you speak of this, some of your novices have already gone to God. SMFG: Oh, yes. Eleven. SMCM: Yes. Could we name some of those sisters who were under you? SMFG: The first one is Sister Mary Victor, Sister Margaret Allen, the last one is Sister Mary Bede. It's always heart breaking to lose somebody. God wants them. SMCM: That's right. The one that was in the group ahead of me, Sister... I can't think of her name, she died when we were Juniors. She was in Sister Mary Victor's, not the Sister Mary Victor who died, the one we have now. She was in her group, she was their youngest. SMFG: Sister Mary Anthony. SMCM: No. Sister Mary Anthony was before us. Jeannine. Sister Jeannine. So, Sister, in all your years of ministry, you are just going to continue to do what you can do here at Assumption Hall. SMFG: Yes. God has allowed me the gift. I have a contact lens in one eye. I have an advantag.e, wonderful I think. SMCM: You also do some needlework of some sort. SMFG: Oh, yes. SMCM: What are you making now? SMFG: I am Swedish embroidering towels that I made for the Christmas sale. I made a net table cover, decorated it. It sold for 15 dollars. SMCM: Is it sold? SMFG: Yes. SMCM: Wonderful. SMFG: I was pleased with that. SMCM: Wonderful. SMFG: I can always keep busy. SMCM: I kriow. That ' s what you always told us to do, keep busy. So, is there anything else you want to tell us? SMFG: Not that I can think of, I think that I've told everything. SMCM: All right Sister. I really appreciate your giving me your time and if there is anything else that you would like to tell me, you just let me know and I'll come back. SMFG: Thank you very much. SMCM: Thank you, Sister. God bless you. SMFG: God bless you. 10 SC 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 Miriam Fidelis Guinagh Subject The topic of the resource Sister Miriam Fidelis Guinagh Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Miriam Fidelis Guinagh, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1926 until 1994. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on November 16, 1986. Sister Miriam Fidelis Guinagh - born Catherine Guinagh on January 15, 1903 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in September of 1926. She received a bachelor's degree in U.S history, economics, and English from Seton Hill College in 1942 and a master's degree in U.S. history from the University of Pittsburgh in 1949. She served as Assistant Dean of Women at Seton Hill College from 1940-1944 and was the Director of Novices for the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill from 1944-1964. She then taught at Holy Innocents School until 1967 and at St. Philip School from 1967-1980. Sister Miriam Fidelis died on June 21, 1994. 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 1986/11/16 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-49 Crafton PA Holy Innocents School Mistress of Novices Seton Hill College St. Philip's School University of Pittsburgh https://scsharchives.com/files/original/b169a155990f0cc5f0e0b84fbddf4f35.mp3 ba814adc1e3cbb7b8160904af8822df3 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 Miriam Leah Hickey Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Location The location of the interview Assumption Hall Greensburg (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.) 31:00 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound OH-24 Sr. Mir. Hickey This interview is being conducted as part of the oral history program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister Miriam Leah Hickey. The interviewer is Sister Marie Corona Miller. This is being done at Assumption Hall. The date is: October twenty-third, nineteen hundred eighty-four. SMCM: Good morning, Sister Miriam Leah. I'm happy to be with you today to hear some things about your life. Sister, when and where were you born? SMLH: I was born on August 20th in 1906 in Scottdale, Pa. I was baptized at St. John's ...also in Scottdale. My mother was Mary Catherine Murphy Hickey and my father was Michael Hickey. I also attended St. John the Baptist's School up until the second year in high school. At that time, it was a two year high school program. Sister Alice Marie Barron taught me in high school, and Sister Carita Duffy taught me in the eighth grade. SMCM: Sister, did you have siblings? SMLH: Yes, I had two sisters.Marguerite and Brigid. I also had two brothers...James and Regis. Regis was ordained a priest in 19 for the Greensburg diocese. SMCM: How did you come to be a Sister of Charity? SMLH: When Sister Mary Rose from the Mercy Community heard that I was going to enter the Sisters of Charity, she said to my mother: "Mary, why aren't you sending her to the Mercy Order?" My mother's reply was: "I'm not sending her anywhere. This is all her own idea." However, the Charities are the ones she knows. I petitioned on February 14, 1925 without my mother knowing it. When I wasn't home in time for dinner, my mother said to my brother: "James, I wonder where she is today." His reply was: "She's giving her heart to the right guy . today." I entered on June 19, 1925. Sister Marie Elizabeth Leonard entered the same day. SMCM: Who was your Mistress of Novices, Sister Miriam Leah? SMLH: Mother Mary Francis McCullough was. She was a wonderful mistress. The book written by Pope John Paul II contained everything we had in our novitiate. SMCM: Who are some of the sisters who entered with you? SMLH: Sister Marie Elizabeth Leonard entered with me on June 19, 1925. Then there was what we called the "twenty crowd", which came in September. SMCM: Do you remember any particular thing that happened while you were a novice? SMLH: I recall one day that I was humming "Oh Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee" in the novitiate room, not knowing Mother Mary Francis was there until she said: "Who is that doing that humming?" I proudly answered that it was me. She said: "This isn't the place or time·of the day to be doing it." I had very happy days in the novitiate. SMCM: Do you remember where you were fir t missioned? SMLH: My first mission was to St. Jame's in Wilkinsburg. Sister Agnes Marie Reuber was the principal. I believe that I started out in either the fourth or fifth grade. As time went on most of my teaching was at the seventh and eighth grade level. I preferred having the fourth grade because they are young enough to be sociable and can do things for themselves. Eighth graders become too sophisticated. They're a little rambunctious, although I did enjoy them. SMCM: Was St. James a large school, and how long did you stay on that mission? SMLH: There were eight grades with about eighty-five students in each grade. I was missioned to St. James three different times, and loved it every time. I was in charge of the altar boys at most places I was stationed. SMCM: Sister Miriam Leah, how long did you teach school? SMLH: I taught up until 1968 when I came to Assumption Hall. Some of the places where I taught were : St. James, Wilkinsburg, St. John the Evangelist, South Side, St. Stephen, Hazelwood. I think I tried out all the different schools we had. SMCM: Were you always stationed in the Pittsburgh Diocese? SMLH: No, I was at St.Bruno's, Cathedral in Greensburg, Holy Cross School in Youngwood. I was the principal at Holy Cross for six years. I was a teaching principal. SMCM: Are there any experiences in your teaching days that you would like to share with us? SMLH: I would say that my experiences were the same happy ones had by other teachers who enjoyed teaching. SMCM: What did you do during the summers? SMLH: The first couple of years were spent talcing courses to acquire credits to complete my B.S. in Education, which was received from Duquesne University. I also taught students from Greensburg who had failed the eighth grade. I also went out on Sundays to teach Religion. Some of the places where I taught Sunday School were: Murraysville, St. Bruno's in Greensburg, and Holy Cross in Youngwood. During the week, I went to Saltzburg to teach summer school. SMCM: Did you always teach the older children, even in CCD and summer school? SMLH: Yes. SMCM: Would you like to tell us anything else? When did you come to Assumption Hall? SMLH: I came to Assumption Hall on October 31, 1968. I had been in the hospital from August tenth of 1968 until this time. I was recovering from leg surgery.. I was surprised at being discharged from the hospital as I had not been out of bed the entire time. When the doctor told me I was going home, I said: "You must have me mixed up with someone else, because I haven't been out of bed." His reply was: "You're not going to get out of bed, Sister." I told him that the dried blood in my leg was driving me crazy. He said: "That's not dried blood. The reason you're here so long is that we haven't succeeded in getting the bleeding to stop." It was a Sunday afternoon when I came home. Mother Claudia Glenn had died that summer. She had been in room 302. She died in August . No-one had been put in her room. I was the frrst to be put in her room. In three days, the leg stopped bleeding. I'm sure it was due to Mother Claudia. Her brother, Monsignor Glenn, had also died previous to that summer. Monsignor Glenn had made a special petition that we would be blessed with fifty vocations from St. John the Baptist in Scottdale in honor of his fifty years as a priest, even though Monsignor didn't live until the fiftieth, but died after forty-eight years as a priest. SMCM: Sister, do you know how many people in the community have entered from St. John the Baptist in Scottdale? SMLH: At the time that Monsignor Glenn had a novena requesting that there would be fifty who entered from Scottdale, I don't believe that there were fifty. However, there are more than fifty now due to the good example, faith, and encouragement that we had. The day I entered Marguerite and Brigid, my two sisters went with me. Monsignor Glenn was there and said: "Think of the end, honey, and know it's worth it." He was at that time to be ordained in three years. He was ordained in 1929. I entered in 1925. SMCM: What about your time here at Assumption, Sister Miriam Leah? · SMLH: When I first came to Assumption, my sister had bought me a new sewing machine. From a wheel chair, I was able to cut out and sew on the sewing machine, using my hand to operate the machine, the various parts of clowns. Then other sisters stuffed the clowns. I don't know how many of these I did, but it was a good many. It seemed there were a million of them! SMCM: Was that the first project you worked on? SMLH: Yes, it was. SMLH: I was on the fourth floor for a while at Assumption, but then had to be moved to the second floor due to health reasons. I had a number of hospitalizations. I had surgery for breast cancer in 1969 or 1970. Then in 1975, the largest part of my lungs was removed. I've always had what we considered bronchitis all winter long. However, when I was hospitalized, the doctor told me that I had a severe case of emphysema. He said he would love to show me the condition of my lungs, but of course didn't. He asked me if I had ever smoked. I told him that I had a cigarette in my mouth for about five minutes(it wasn't lit) at a party which was for me the night before I entered. At that time, neither my father or my brothers smoked. From that time on it was cancer, cancer, cancer. SMCM: You keep yourself very busy, sister. How do you manage to do that? SMLH: Well, I have an S (have listened three times) on my door. A sister whose name I believe was Sister Mary Leon Bettwy asked me one day what the S meant, and I told her "insane"! Here I am making all of these place mats. It was my second project. She wanted to know how many I had made, and I replied "OODLES" because I wouldn't begin to know how many. On another occasion when we were having retreat, the priest stopped to see me and wanted to know what the place mats were. I told him they were for putting your silverware and dishes on at meal time. Well then, he said: "Do they make the food taste better?" I said:" I don't know about that Father, but they surely do brighten up the room." That's for sure, Sister. It would make the room look a lot different. SMCM: What goes with the place mats? SMLH: Sometimes, coasters for under the glasses. People have had some very creative ideas. On occasion, we use a larger place mat and make a center piece in the middle of the tables. 4 SMCM: How do you feel about people coming to visit with you? Your door is always open. SMLH: People say they enjoy coming to see me because I'm always cheerful and welcoming. SMCM: Sister, would you like to say anything about the major changes in the Community over the past few years? SMLH: My chief complaint is regarding the manner of dress that has taken place. A young woman comes to the Community and wants to be known as "Sister", but the lack of common dress is a deterrent. I believe that's why Korea is doing so much better, as they can be identified by their dress. SMCM: Is there anything else you would like to say? SMLH: No, I believe that I have said enough. SMCM: Thank you Sister Miriam Leah. This will be kept in the archives at Caritas Christi. Sister Marie Arthur Hamilton: I transcribed this oral history on Sister Miriam Leah Hickey from a cassette type. It was completed on April 15, 2011. 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 Miriam Leah Hickey Subject The topic of the resource Sister Miriam Leah Hickey Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Miriam Leah Hickey, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1925 until 1985. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on October 23, 1984. Sister Miriam Leah Hickey - born Mildred Hickey on August 20, 1906 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in June of 1925. She received a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Duquesne University in 1943. She taught in a number of Pittsburgh area schools and served as principal at Holy Cross School from 1953-1959 and at St. John the Baptist from 1962-1963. Sister Miriam Leah died on June 2, 1985. 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 1984/10/23 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-38 Duquesne University Holy Cross School St. John the Baptist School Teacher Youngwood PA https://scsharchives.com/files/original/0a012e4b37b1ccba9b6fbe02debad291.mp3 bf2b76075c9e303c718d9c350a27cbc7 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/010807d0b2dfe0a74852647ecaf356cb.mp3 052c055eb10183078bd985421a5db3c6 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/6495bd5b683aa7b2a24b2b7d7a92f0f8.mp3 9b71c2859db5113f99dad27e15f0acaf https://scsharchives.com/files/original/b1149c8742a2def137a96e9162f6b705.mp3 bb6a7f2e5bcb0894ed490c82b206ce51 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/d2ad2e50fa1832ef7c3e4d4a7e5b053d.mp3 bb6a7f2e5bcb0894ed490c82b206ce51 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 Pancratius Jablonski 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.) 31:17 31:16 31:19 31:28 31:24 18:54 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 Pancratius Jablonski Subject The topic of the resource Sister Pancratius Jablonski Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Pancratius Jablonski, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1919 until 2001. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on February 21 and 22, 1988. Sister Pancratius Jabolonski - born Agnes Ann Jablonski on January 23, 1901 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in March of 1919. Her biological sister, Sister Marie Stephen Jablonski, entered two months later. She received a bachelor's degree in church music from Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in 1949. She taught at Cathedral School in Altoona from 1943-1944, at St. Philip School in Crafton from 1944-1948 and 1953-1954, and at Sacred Heart Elementary School in Pittsburgh from 1948-1953. She volunteered her time at St. Anselm Parish in Pittsburgh from 1954-1985, conducting parish visits and offering her musical talent. Sister Pancratius died on May 23, 2001. 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 1988/02/21 1988/02/22 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-15 Cathedral School Sacred Heart Elementary School St. Anselm Parish St. Philip 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 James Marie Malone Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Rebecca Ann Espinosa Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Location The location of the interview St. John the Evangelist (Tucson, Ariz.) 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.) 13:06 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 Rebecca Ann Espinosa Subject The topic of the resource Sister Rebecca Ann Espinosa Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Rebecca Ann Espinosa, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1952 until 2004. The interview was conducted by Sister James Marie Malone on July 28, 1983. Sister Rebecca Ann Espinosa - born Maria Ignacia Louise Espinosa on June 21, 1912 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in March of 1952. She served as a housekeeper, teacher's aide, homebound parish visitor, CCD teacher, and Spanish teacher in Arizona from the 1950's through the 1980's. She served at Casa Elizabeth Seton, Immaculate Conception, and St. John the Evangelist. Sister Rebecca Ann died on January 27, 2004. 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 1983/07/28 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-99 Ajo Arizona Casa Elizabeth Seton Immaculate Conception School AZ St. John the Evangelist School AZ Teacher Tucson https://scsharchives.com/files/original/cd4b66035f38fc4669c6197961df1355.mp3 64bac8e4d3703320a5f4808dbf9a4668 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/d04d8f047396e18ef2c141fdc2ed52ab.mp3 7e1c33fb68b25e9d98ad714503c0855a 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 Jean Ann Wilburn Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Rita Ann Woods 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.) 31:37 15:44 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 Rita Ann Woods Subject The topic of the resource Sister Rita Ann Woods Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Rita Ann Woods, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1929 until 1987. The interview was conducted by Sister Jean Ann Wilburn on April 12, 1987. Sister Rita Ann Woods was born on May 16th, 1913 in Hazelwood, Pa (Pittsburgh). Daughter of William Woods and Anne McKnight, Margaret Catherine Woods entered the community on September 8th, 1929 at the age of 16 as Sister Rita Ann Woods. Sr. Rita Woods taught elementary music at Saint Anselm from 1950 to 1955. Receiving her bachelor's degree from Seton Hill and Duquesne, Sister Rita went on to studying mathematics at the University of Arizona in 1965. She was also a music teacher at Sacred Heart, Pittsburgh from 1960-1963, Glyndon from 1958-1959, and Casa Elizabeth Seton from 1963-1966/67 and 1969-1970. She retired in 1970 to Assumption Hall Infirmary, Greensburg. She was baptized on June 8th, 1913 and her Final Procession was May 5th, 1949. Sister Rita Ann Woods passed on August 16st, 1987 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 1987/04/12 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-56 Arizona Casa Elizabeth Seton Glyndon Glyndon MD Maryland Music Education Pennsylvania Sacred Heart Saint Anselm Seton Hill College Teacher Tucson AZ University of Arizona Woods 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 Jean Ann Wilburn Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Rita Vincent Henderson Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Location The location of the interview Cathedral School Greensburg (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.) 20:52 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 Rita Vincent Henderson Subject The topic of the resource Sister Rita Vincent Henderson Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Rita Vincent Henderson, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1916 until 1991. The interview was conducted by Sister Jean Ann Wilburn on January 8, 1984. Sister Rita Vincent Henderson - born Ruth Catherine Henderson on March 3, 1901 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in September of 1916. She received a bachelor's degree in education from Duquesne University in 1945. She taught at a number of Pittsburgh area schools, including St. Philip School, Our Lady of Mercy School, and at Cathedral School in Greensburg. Sister Rita Vincent died on March 13, 1991. 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 1984/01/08 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-9 Cathedral School Crafton PA Duquesne University Greensburg PA Johnstown PA Our Lady of Mercy School St. Philip's School https://scsharchives.com/files/original/114320220342515f52cdea585759d3fa.mp3 5b20f9f1653921c4bcc3f4ddf1e410f2 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/7c7b94b7d1ab49efbb4604f414e9ee41.mp3 565cf9caf4be43c8ecf48c5152d28088 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/32782d53d5d8b68d1556a8a8fec58933.mp3 b17653d61f7e8b3ddeb597b3bf7677bd 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 Sara Louise Reilly Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Rose Marie Schneider 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.) 46:42 46:43 37:07 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound OH 17-1 1 This interview is being conducted as part of the Oral History Program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister Rose Marie Schneider. The interviewer is Sister Sara Louise Reilly. The interview is being conducted at Assumption Hall where Sister Rose Marie lives. The date is Wednesday , February 2, 1983. SSL: Good morning, Sr. Rose Marie. SRM: Good morning. SSL: I'm happy to be here with you this morning for this special occasion that both of us have been waiting for. Sr. Rose Marie, the psalmist says that seventy is the sum of your years, or eighty if you are strong. So you are one of those strong people of whom the psalmist speaks. I think that you are somewhat past the age of eighty and you're a very active person, a very interesting person; and we'd like to hear something about your life. First of all, your life before you became a Sister of Charity and then many of the interesting things that you have to tell us about your life as a Sister of Charity. To begin then, would you like to tell us something about your family and your early life, your education, and anything else you'd like to share with us. SRM: My life started at Wilkinsburg, in St. James Parish and for the five years I went to the Catholic school at St. James School. Then I went to the public school for my sixth, seventh and eighth grades. And after, I took music from Sr. Estelle Lowe, sister of Mother Aloysia Lowe. Sister broke her leg, and went to Pittsburgh Hospital and I visited her there. She invited me to Seton Hill to visit her when she was recuperating. And so, in June 1912, I took my first ride to Seton Hill to see Sr. Estelle. While I was there she asked me if I would like to come to the Academy. I said, naturally,"Yes ." She sent me to Sr. Francesca, and there, Sr. Francesca interviewed me; she said she would send some information to my parents. When I told my parents that Sister had, ah, asked me if I wanted to go to the Academy my parents said, "How can I send you to a boarding school? " Well, that was in June; in August my mother said to me, "Do you still want to go to Seton Hill to school?" I said, "Oh, yes." Well, she said, "Papa and I are going there to see what we can do about it." And unfortunately, or fortunately, they told the sisters that I might want to be a Sister. I had never thought about being a Sister as far as I know. Well, anyhow , I did go to Seton Hill in September of 1912. Now while I was, ah, the reason that I think that my parents got that idea was that I had been going to Mass every morning. That was through the influence of my mother and one time she said to me on a Saturday morning that I didn't go to Mass, "Mary Gorham, across the street is just coming home from Mass and here you are still in bed." So you can see how there is this influence in my family. My family was a very staunch Catholic family . My mother was Irish, my father was German; so they did have quite an influence in my early life. So then, finally I went to Seton Hill and every time that I would do anything that was well. wrong, the Sisters would say, "You can't be a Sister if you do that." Well, anyhow, we had a very joyful time. However, it was during that time that I became homesick and we had ah, Sister Raphael as our angel. SSL: That was Sister Raphael Kane. SRM: Yes , and she said "I think you'd better go home before you forget." Well, anyhow , I forgot. And I stayed on until ah, that -- But, during that time I had some very influential teachers . Sr. Electa who was a very good friend of mine, taught English. Sr. Bertha taught me Latin; Sr. Stanislaus, history; Sr., ah, er, Miss Mehan.. May Mehan.. Domestic Sciences, it was called then; then we had Sr. Mary Matthew in the ah... SSL: Dormitories? SRM: Dormitories . And she, one of the little incidences about her. . . One of the rules was that we had to make our own beds, and if we didn't do them properly she would tear them all apart and we'd have to make them all over again. Well, that was Sr. Mary Matthew. But, anyhow . . . we were obedient and did them as we were told, like that. Then during that year I had some, ah. . . we only had seventy in our class. Mary Timon who was Mother Victoria Brown's niece -- SSL: Not her niece, would she have been her niece or her aunt? Mother Victoria was her, Mary's niece. SRM: Sister, Mary Timon was Mother Victoria 's SSL: Victoria 's aunt SRM: Mary Timon was Mother's niece. SSL: Was she? SRM: Mary Timon was Mother's niece. SSL: Oh, I thought she was her aunt. SRM: No, she was her niece. Then we had Edith Henry who became later Sr. Rose de Lima. Sr. Rose de Lima was a very brilliant person. She was always. . . one thing connected with Sr. Rose de Lima. . . she used to come up in the evenings to visit when she was a day student and she'd bring Ruth, who became Sr. Columba , with her. Sr. Rose de Lima would spend her time with Sr. Stanislaus, and I would spend time entertaining Ruth. Well, then also in our class we had Madeline Kenvey from Scottdale and we had Linda Whitehouse from Pittsburgh. I can't remember too many details of my high school life. There was one little incident; we used to play tennis. Oh, by the way, Sr. Fabian was our gym teacher. SSL: Sr. Fabian Harrigan? SRM: Yes, and she taught. I have liked basketball ever since that time because she was a very interesting person and our, ah.. athletics. . . We did a lot of sled riding; we had hay riding and we had tennis. Now, I remember an incident with tennis. Mother, er, Sr. Estelle was walking past with a pansy in her hand and she had just been over to Mother Aloysia 's grave and picked this pansy from there. She gave that pansy to me and I put that pansy in a book and pressed it. I had that pansy for years until it got so fragile that I didn't have it any longer. But that was really the only thing I remember of having contact with Sr. Estelle until. . . Oh, I don't remember any other incidents with her. SSL: Sister Rose Marie, you mentioned several of the sisters who taught you in the Academy, are there any incidences about any of those sisters that you would like to tell me about. SRM: Well, the two who came to my, to our home, were Sr. Francesca, Sr. Stanislaus and Sr. Marie Francesca who we would call "Schwester". They were going to school in Pittsburgh and my father had just bought an automobile. They wanted to go to Seton Hill and they asked me if I would get my father to take them. We did take them up and on our way we almost had a serious accident with a motorcycle. Naturally, my father was just learning to drive a car, and things were a little precarious on the highways at the time, especially the serpentine road that became Lincoln Highway from Pittsburgh to Greensburg. But however, my father survived that. I became very close to Sr. Stanislaus and to "Schwester". Finally; Sr. Stanislaus became my sponsor to the community. But, anyhow, oh, all these things happened in high school. When I finished in 1917 I graduated from high school. Mother Mary Joseph, who was our Mother Superior at the time , called me a slacker because I didn't petition to be a Sister after being there for four years. However, I went home and I took a commercial course at the Pittsburgh Academy with a group of students that Mother Claudia, she was Sister Claudia at the time, brought from Sacred Heart to Seton Hill to visit and I was one of the seniors that helped to entertain that group. When I went home I became very close with that group and we used to meet during the two years that I was at home. We'd meet at different homes and one of them was a sister to Mary Butler who was, in fact, a Sister herself- - became a Mercy Sister. One of these meetings she asked me to come early and said, "I have something to tell you," and I said, " I have something to tell you, too." And so, when I went, I went early and she took me up to her room and showed me her trunk. She said, "See my trunk." She said, "I'm going to be a Sister." SSL: Was that Mary Butler herself, or her sister? SRM: That was Mary Butler's sister. Mary Butler was a sister, a Sister of Mercy. SSL: Oh, I see. SRM: So this is Gertrude Butler, or I mean Teresita Butler, who is now Sr. Gertrude. She entered. SRM: Is she still living? SRM: Yes, She's still living. She is not very well. She is living, I think at the Mercy Hospital, as far as I understand. But, anyhow, I told her then that I was going to be a Sister and was going to Seton Hill. And she said, "Maybe I would have gone to Seton Hill had I known you were going," because she was a student at Sacred Heart and knew the Sisters so well, "I might have gone with you." However, she didn't. Fr. Gilbert, was really a friend of that group and he used to meet with us. And that night we had a conversation about going to the convent. Anyhow, 1919 I entered Seton Hill. When I finally told my father that I was going to be a Sister, he seemed to be sad. Even after having made that statement that he thought I was going to be one. Anyhow , when I came Sr. Gabriella . . . SSL: Noble SRM: Noble... was the portress; and after his first or second visit he said, "I'm happy now." He said to Sister, "Sister's happy." This started my, really my community life. My first Christmas in the Congregation was spent in quarantine. I was alone, a month. That was my beginning. Sister Mercedes Bradley had said that morning I had this temperature, and she said, "Oh, don't go to the infirmary until after Mass because we want to go to the community room after Mass and see what we find on our chair because each one had a chair with little presents, holy cards and etc. for Christmas . And well, after Mass she said, "Go to the infirmary," because I was burning up. Finally, they put me in quarantine. That was Sister Mercedes; she was very sorry that she had really told me to go because I was worse than I might have been otherwise. SSL: Was Sister Mercedes Bradley in the novitiate with you? SRM: Yes, she was in novitiate; she was one of the seniors in the novitiate. She died not too very long afterwards. She didn't live to be an old Sister. From then on, I've had a very interesting community life. I've pioneered in four different fields. I began with Sister Rose Angela and Sr. Anselma; we opened the Home Economics Dept. That was my first pioneering. Then we opened the Confraternity program in Westmoreland County in 1929; and that was the beginning of a program. Then I did family visiting in Greensburg , in St. Benedict's, which was a first for a parish. SSL: St. Benedict's is what is now the Cathedral parish. SRM: Yes, and Fr. Linus was the pastor at the time; Fr. Marchan, who was a pastor at Sacred Heart when I was at the hospital, was the assistant and Fr. James, who was the pastor at Ascension Church when I was at Jeannette Hospital, was an assistant. And then I pioneered in the... well. .. in fact I think, Assumption Hall. I came to Assumption Hall six months after it was established and I was not allowed to teach anymore because I had a throat condition. I wasn't allowed to teach; and so they sent me and I finally landed at Assumption Hall and I was here for five years. And then I pioneered at Jeannette Hospital; I was there for a month before they opened. So, as far as my community life is concerned, I've had quite interesting occasions; each one of them a very fruitful one spiritually because each one gave me the opportunity to work with people. I worked with people all my community life. My teaching at Seton Hill was interrupted twice. I should say, too, that we pioneered in the Home Economics Dept. down at St. Mary's where we took over the Boys School. SSL: The Department had been opened though, before it was moved to St. Mary's. So when you say pioneered in the Dept., you mean in that particular building? SRM: Well, yes. It was really the pioneering in the college dept. because we. . . ah, see we... Home Economics was just in the high school at the time. When we opened at St. Mary's it really was Miss Sanders. . . . SSL: Yes. At one time, though, wasn't the college Home Economics laboratory where the Biology Dept. now is? SRM: Yes. SSL: It was a college department in Maura Hall and then it moved to St. Mary's and you were one of the ones who helped to establish the Department at St. Mary's. You mentioned Miss Sanders; I remember she was one of the early members. SRM: Well, she was the head of the dept. for several years until Sisters Ann Elizabeth took over. I don't know if this is an interesting story or not; maybe I shouldn't mention it. While I was. . . how I got to be an Home Economics teacher; my mother had been ill, and I had to, before I entered, I had to keep house and my father bragged to the sisters how well I kept house when my mother was away. My mother had to go away for awhile after she had pneumonia and I kept house for my father. And he bragged about that to Sr. Francesca. When she wanted to find somebody to send away to take Home Economics, she picked me. She sent me in my. . .well, I was working at Seton Hill to get my degree at Seton Hill. Why. . .ah... in my junior year at college, she sent me to Columbia to start to get work in ah... . SSL: Nutrition? SRM: Home Economics, it was especially in management and the title of the course was called Scientific Management. So, I had a year of my Master's work before I finished my Bachelor's work at Seton Hill. It was really at Seton Hill that my interest in life, my interest in my real life's work started at St. Mary's in Home Management. One of the students, Anna Paul, had a friend who visited a gentleman friend; and he was working in marble. He was the one who chiseled the names that are now in front of St. Joseph's Chapel at Seton Hill. Anyhow, he was visiting there and somebody had painted the hearth of our good mantlepiece in St. Mary's and I asked him how I could take off the paint. He said it would take a lot of elbow grease and it would take abrasives and it would take time. So that was just a matter of conversation. When he was leaving he said, "Do you want me to help you take that paint off? And I said, "Do something for yourself," because he had in his conversation, bragged that he had been an altar boy; and now he didn't even go to Mass. He was now twenty-one or two years old. And I said to him, "Well, you can't do anything for me until you do something for yourself." "And, what's that?" he said. I said, "Well, you just go back to Church and be a good boy." Well, he did. The next Saturday he went to Confession to receive Communion and then he came up and worked with the mantle. He brought with him a boyfriend who was twenty­ four years old and had never made his First Holy Communion. He said, "Would you instruct him for his First Holy Communion while I take the paint off?" So I did. Well, anyhow, eight months later he came to Seton Hill to visit me and he said, "I want you to meet my wife. "Your wife," I said, "You never told me you were going steady with anybody." Well, he said, "Rose wanted to make her First Holy Communion and her parents wouldn't let her go to Sunday School. She was 16 years old; they wouldn't let her go to make her First Holy Communion and we wanted to get married. The two of us attended a wedding at Ascension Church and we decided to run away. Now we want to be married by the priest." SSL:: Sr. Rose Marie, you were active ; certainly in what is going on today in the church in the matter of evangelization, because at the same time that you were teaching at the college you were very active in catechetical work and instruction of converts to the church; so I know you look back on all of that with a great deal of gratification. Thanks to the goodness of God for having allowed you to be a part of all that. I know that you have many more things to tell us, and so perhaps we can meet again tomorrow to resume this. conversation. Will that be all right with you? SRM: Yes, that would be fine. SSL: Good Morning, Sr. Rose Marie. SRM: Good morning. SSL: This morning, I think, if you will, I'd like to go back and have you tell me a little bit about your family before we continue the discussion of your apostolic life within the congregation . You mentioned that your father was German and your mother was Irish. Were they both born here in the United States? SRM: Yes , they were. Mother was, and one of her brothers was born, the only two in the family that were born in this country. The others were born in Ireland. And my father was the youngest one in his family and he was the only one born in this country. And they were born in, I think Bavaria. That's where they were born. I have been reading a family tree that Fr. Metzler got together, the family tree of the Metzlers, and you know the Metzlers are Sr. Mary Hubert's family. In that, I learned a great deal about my family that I didn't know before. But there are a few things that still we can't find; and that is where my mother and father met and were married. I did hear at one time, that my mother lived in what is now the Hill District. At that time, in mother's time, it was Mayor Lawrence and the Harris's; it was an elite place. I just have that memory from the past. . . that mother said she lived there at one time. I don't have any other information about that. But Fr Metzler's family tree has given me some information about my family. First of all, I had, we were seven. . . I am next to the oldest. Vincent was the oldest and I was next. And then we had a set of twins that died in infancy and they were buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Lawrenceville. Fr. found out what the cause of death was and that they were buried. . . . in my grandparents' grave. Then Leo came into the family; he had four girls, and Leo, died in 1969; I think it was. And his wife died just a year after, leaving four girls and they are very, very close to me to this day. And then Jane came along. When mother died she was in the eighth grade , no, she was in first year high school at Sacred Heart. Then Marian came and she was in the eighth grade. And Vincent sent Jane and Marian to Seton Hill to school to be with me because I had become a Sister. Well, I had been a Sister two and one half years at that time. Vincent thought it would be good to be under my protection, not my protection exactly, but my care. But I couldn't see them very much because they were in the Academy and I was in Novitiate; I had to get permission to go to visit them. But it was very fortunate that they were there, though, because there was nobody at home to take care of them; mother and dad were both dead. The family became very close when mother died. Vincent got the group together and told them that now if we mourn for mother and dad we will be mourning for ourselves. We want to do what mother and dad want us to do and keep together. He was the one that was mother and father to the family and he died in 1972. So that is the make-up of our family. To go back to my father, my father was from West Liberty. Now, I don't have much information about him, except one incident. I don't know if I told you about the incident at DePaul? Did I tell you that before? SSL: You mentioned something, but not when we were having this interview and maybe you would like to say that now. SRM: My father was a bookkeeper for Mr. McCafferty. You may have known Mabel McCafferty who went to Seton Hill. It was her father . My father was her father's bookkeeper. He accompanied Bishop Canevin to the area in Brookline to find a site for DePaul Institut e. Sr. Rose Xavier is writing the history of DePaul and she told me that my father is mentioned in the history of DePaul because of that incident. SSL: Your father was George Schneider? SRM: George Schneider. He had, as far as I know, he had only one brother, Louie and two sisters. When my mother died one of his sisters had been, was a widow, and she came and kept house for four years. Vincent had been really engaged when mother died, but he waited and so did Elizabeth, four years to become married because he had a family to take care of. I think I did tell you before that my sister-in-law, Elizabeth Hogan, was one of the group that came to Seton Hill with Mother Claudia when I was a senior. After I entered, why, she married my brother. She is still living in East Liberty, just two blocks below Sacred Heart. SSL: Does she have a family? SRM: No. She doesn't have a family. Vincent and Elizabeth prayed very hard for a child, but the Lord didn't send them any. We felt, I did particularly, felt that the Lord didn't give him any children because he had a family to take care of after mother died. Then Jane's children and Leo's children became Vincent's grandchildren and he was able, because of his position, to help them in some of their difficulties because you know, the depression came along at that time too. Vincent was able, not having any responsibility for a family of his own, he really did take on the families of ... SSL: Your sister's. SRM : Leo and Jane. It may have been that the Lord kept him in that way to be able to do that. He was able physically and financially to help them in many cases. In one incidence Jane had a heart opera tion. She was the 150 th heart operation in the United States. The doctor had said that she had 26 months to live. They sent her down to Hanaman ? Hospital in Philadelphia where they were experimenting with heart patients. There were a few fatalities in the experimental program at the time. Jane always said she lived eight years after the operation and she always said that the Sacred Heart kept her alive. Her doctor said he didn't know why she was living . SSL : Do you remember the year that she died? SRM: Yes, she died in 1960, the year that I went to Jeannette Hospital. SSL: Do you remember the years of your parents' deaths? SRM: Yes, my father died on March,1922 and mother died in January,1923 . SSL: That's very close together. SRM : Ten months apart; it was very hard. Vincent took on the responsibility very beautif ully, and took on a very wonderful outlook on life for the rest of the family . He was at their attention all during their lives . He died in 1972. SSL : Yes, I remember that. SRM : I missed him after that because he made it possible for me to go to see Jane, who was a semi-invalid and she lived in Gary, Indiana . At that time we had to go, you know two and two, and it was getting expensive to go and needing a companion to go each time. I just remember that was one of the first times that the community allowed a sister to go alone. And another incidence happened; I took Sr. Mary Hubert with me one time . We stayed at the convent; well it wasn't a convent. We stayed at the hospital, at the nurses' home. We found that it was an inconvenience for them to take care of us, so I was allowed to go alone and I stayed at home. I thought that was a privilege, because that was not a custom of the community to do that. SSL : You mentioned Sr. Mary Hubert; she was your first cousin, wasn 't she? SRM : Yes. Sr. Mary Hube rt's mother and my mother were sisters. Sr. Mary Hubert's mother married Warren Metzler; Warren Metzler's grandson is now the pastor at the Wilkinsburg church. SSL : St. James. SRM: St. James, Wilkinsburg . SSL : What was your mother's family name/ SRM: Sherry, that is Sr. Mary Hubert's mother's name was Sherry, also. I don't remember if I told you or not about the incidence, the Sherrys, in Wilkinsburg. My grandfather bought the property that was supposed to be the property for St. James Convent , not convent, church. SSL : Sister, would you begin again to tell me again about the purchase of the property for the church in Wilkinsburg . SRM: Well, the church purchased property at 910 South Avenue . When they started to make their plans to build the church, the surrounding families felt that was not the place for a Catholic Church . So, they had to buy elsewhere and they purchased the property at Franklin Avenue where the church is now. At that time they had the school under the church and the church as on the second floor. My father was the last person to be carried to his funeral in that church . Then they started to build the new one. SSL: Did you always live in St. James, Wilkinsburg parish? SRM: Yes, I was born in Wilkinsburg, baptized in St. James Church and received my other Sacraments there . I was born on Rebecca Street, where my Uncle Nick Schneider's home was . He was the janitor for the parish; his wife was a Protestant. She was very active, however, in the church becausej of Uncle Nick's position, job. Then we moved to 1215 Rebecca St. and lived there until ,was 14 years of age . We moved back to 910 1 South Ave. where my grandfather owned th property. That is where I entered from . My grandfather lived with us there and he died just a year before I entered. I was one of his special nieces ; whenever he would go to Ireland, he would always bring something back for me, and for another cousin who had an accident and had a leg amputation . The two of us were his special nieces. SSL: Your sister Mary is the sister you visit out in Arizona , isn 't she? SRM: Yes... No. She lives out in San Mattia, CA. SSL: Who lives in Arizona that's related to you? SRM: Leo's oldest girl, Anna. She's Mrs. Campbell now. She lives there; she doesn't live too far from where Sr. Harold Ann's mother lives. When I was out there I visited Sr. Harold Ann's mother. She lives in one of the homes for the elderly. Then Jane's two children, Billie and Jane live in CA. Billie is a doctor in nuclear medicine; he seems to be very successful out there. Janie is a housewife, but I learned just a short ago that she took a course in real estate and now she is doing real estate. She is following one of the traditions of the family; my father was a real estate man. It is fortunate that Marian is out there because she has really been the mother to those two children. Jane is an invalid; Marian never married and lived with Jane. So, she was really like the mother. Their father said that to me one time . SSL: What was Jane's married name, Sister? SRM: Jane McLaughlin, she was Mrs. Jane McLaughlin . SSL: Her husband is also dead? SRM: No, my sister lives there with him. You know, for two names to be on the mailbox, at this date . . . but, it is a very satisfactory situation because Marian lived with them for 35 years before Jane died. And so when Jane died, I said to Bill, "Wha t's going to happen to Marian?" He said,"Well she's been with us for 35 years; why, she is going to stay." Bill's mother wanted to move in with him; so Marian moved to a furnished apartment. But after Bill retired he couldn't take Marian to work anymore like he was. He had been an executive at the Steel Co. and could take Marian to her office out on Lake Michigan; after work he would bring her home. After he retired he didn't have that privilege of taking her because those mills are miles from their parking lots. It was very hard on Marian's health because she had a condition they call bronchitis. So, when Bill retired, Vincent encouraged Marian to retire also . But, she was not old enough and she had only been with Steel Co. 24 years; she had to be there to get a pension. Through her supervisor after a year, why, she got a disability pension. So when they moved out to CA they found an apartment that was very suitable for that type of living. They live in a condominium in San Mattia and are very happy. Both of them are semi or partially, well not invalid, but both have difficulties with their health . They are help for each other; it is a 50/50 proposition. Each have their own ideas and ways, but they are very close, like brother and sister and it is really a very beautiful situation. And it is a consolation to me because, I can't be near Marian. She is the only other member of the family living. However, she calls me every week, so I am close in that way. SSL: Thank you Sister for all that wonderful account of a very great family. I think now, if you will, I would like if you would continue with the discussion of your apostolic life in the congregation . And especially, I'd like if you would tell us about the involvement that you had with the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Greensburg. You made mention of that yesterday, but perhaps you'd like to tell a bit more about it today. SRM: Well, it started first when Fr. Linus asked Mother Claudia if she could send him a Sister to do family visiting and she sent me. I was with Father for six years. We did quite extensive work in the parish because I walked the streets of Greensburg from up where the Chancery is now, to clear over to where St. Paul School is now. And that you know is, well, I think, the Chancery is very far East from here and St. Paul's is West. I had some very interesting things happen with my family visiting with Fr. Linus. I would visit every family, the poor, the rich, the sick. I was not a social worker; I was just a family visitor and I would report back to Father and he would take up anything that would be necessary for him to do. We would sometimes go and find somebody a house ; he would be active in doing these things . Sometimes we had to help furnish the houses that we got for these people. There were many occasions that happened . It would take a long time to discuss what happened in the family visiting. But I had six happy years and met very many. There is one thing I would like to mention and that is: if I had to visit any questionable place, I would ask Mrs. Clarence Robertson to go with me, since I was alone. Then another time, about being alone, I was coming up Bryant St. and Fr. Reeves and Bishop Boyle passed me by in a car, but didn't pick me up. So, I walked the hill and when I got up to the top Fr. Reeves met me and said, "You'd better report to the Bishop why you were out alone ." And so I had to report to the Bishop why I was out alone . Anyhow, so many things happened, it would take too long. But the outcome of that was really the establishment of the Catholic Charities, because Fr. Linus was the first Director of Catholic Charities . So I went into the Office of Catholic Charities and worked with Gertrude Wordlaw and with her visited the Pgh. Catholic Charities, Roselia Foundling, St. Paul's Orphanage, Toner Institute, and the Good Shepherd Sisters on the Northside and also one in East Libe rty. Then, I went to Torrence with her because we would have to have contact with those in our work. Going back to the Little Sisters of the Poor, I had a little incidence there . Before I entered I worked for Shanahan Transfer and Storage Co. Mr. Shanahan wanted to get rid of one of his horses so he sent me to the Little Sisters of the Poor to ask the Sisters if they wanted this horse. So that is something about the Little Sisters of the Poor. SSL: And so did the Little Sisters take the horse? SRM: They did. And that is really one of, well, one instance of my apostolic work anyhow . SSL: And that was before you entered? SRM: That was before I entered the horse. SSL: I think you were involved in apostolic work at that time, too . SRM: Oh, yes. I went to Torrence with her, too . We used those services many times during my stay with the Catholic Charities. SSL: Sister, where was the office of the Catholic Charities at that time? SRM : It was on North Main Street. It was the second floor in one of those buildings there. I don't know which building, but it was on the second floor of one of those on N. Main St. SSL: Is it the building that is right on the corner? SRM: No, it wasn 't on the corner; it was on the same side going down, as the church. It was just beyond the bridge. SSL : I know that before the present Catholic Charities building was built, the Trinitarian Sisters had an office in one of the buildings down there on the corner and I thought that perhaps it was there that you began. SRM : Well, no, I didn't know that building. Our building was just beyond the bridge below the Catholic Church. While there I was given the responsibility of finding babies for people who wanted to adopt children. I have at the present time, five that I am in contact with of those children. Those children I took to their homes or took the parents to Roselia to pick them up, or wherever we went ... one was from Westmoreland Hospital . Now they are themselves mothers and fathers. I know them and I visit them. There is one that is from, oh . . where Sr. Serafina was from. SSL: Homer City? SRM : Homer City. The Hamrocks, er no, the Knoches lived there. I took Andrew and Theresa to Roselia to pick up their child. I went to her graduation at Indiana, and then later I went to her wedding ; they had a set of twins. When the twins were coming the mother called me and said, "I want you to come up to give Miriam some support because she is going to have twins ." So they came and got me, and they had two lovely boys --- twins. Before that they had a little girl; she's in, I think upper grades now. In my album I have pictures of Miriam from when she was a baby until now in her home; they have a lovely home in Blairsvi lle. She is now the secretary for the Blairsville parish, SS. Simon and Jude. One of our sisters, who works there now, said she sees Miriam ever so often. Her husband is a teacher in the Blairsville school. In Brenhauser, which is part of Blairsville, I have another, a boy, who was· adopted and came from Roselia. They wanted a child and the agency didn't get a child. I suggested that she take a foster child and then the agency would see how she is with children. There was a baby born at Westmoreland Hospital whose mother and father were going to be married, but they weren't going to marry for 6 mont3hs. So I took the baby to Mrs. Hamrock, just to keep the baby. Well, in the six months the mother and father came to get the baby and Josephine was very much upset because she became attached to this baby. It was not too long afterwards that Roselia had a baby, and Richard became their baby from Roselia . SSL : And the parents of the other child took that child? SRM : Yes, and they moved away. They moved to the central part of PA. So Josephine named her baby the same name as the baby she had. They weren't going to live near anyway and she named him Richard. I have been to their home several times. One day after Richard was 9 years old, she wanted another baby. By that time she had become too old, because there was an age limit regarding adopting a baby. They said you have one and so they didn't get her one. But one day at our festival I saw her with a little baby in a scooter ; I said to her "Where did you get the baby?" She said, "It's mine." And I said, "Well, where did you get it?" I hadn't heard anything about it. She said, "Well, I don't know if the mother died or left them or what, but anyhow she had these two children, a boy and a girl. She had asked the father if she could adopt her... because he couldn't find anybody to take care of them. So she took the little girl. She didn't have the little girl very long when she thought, "Well, why separate the little boy and girl?" So, she adopted the two. Then she had three adopted children . Richard is married and has his own family. Franklin is the boy and he is now in a vocational school ; he doing some kind of work. And the girl, we. . ., she's been a little problem and it has saddened Josephine some. The last time I visited, the little girl came back to be with her adopted mother. In the meantime, the father was injured in the mines. Then, not too long ago, he had a stroke; so, she has a sad life now. Anyhow , I hear from her all the time; at Easter and Christmas, I always get a box of candy. SSL : Sister, I wonder, you said that you were involved in that kind of work for six years . Were you involved in that full time ; were you teaching at the college and doing that as another assignment? SRM: Well, see I had a year off. When Mother sent me, I was given a year because Sr. Ann Elizabeth had taken over the department. SSL : Were you the chairman of the department before Sister? SRM: No. SSL: You were never the chairman? SRM: No, never the chairman. Miss Sanders was the first one at the college, and then Sr. Ann Elizabeth. When she finished, she became the chairman and Miss Sanders went to Indiana University. SSL : So, you were full time in the Catholic Charities just that one year. You said you had a one year sabbatical. SRM: Now, that was in my family visiting . SSL : Your family visiting? I see. SRM: I didn't have any. . . No, I did part time in the Catholic Charities . SSL: That one year that you were doing full time with the family visiting and that experience really led you into the Catholic Charities. The work you did with Catholic Charities you did on a part time basis and at the same time you were teaching at the college. SRM: Yes, after Gertrude left, I stilled worked some with Mrs. McDonough who was the second person who took over before the Catholic Charities . SSL: What was her first name? SRM: I don't remember. SSL: Well, Gertrude 's last mane was Wardlaw. Would you spell her last name for me please? SRM : WARDLAW, Wardlaw . She was Gertrude. SSL: Was she a married lady? SRM: No. She went to Seton Hill. SSL: She went to Seton Hill and that was her maiden name, so she never married? SRM: No. Well, another thing that happened when I was in family visiting . . . I'll go back to family visiting since I think that was nice and familiar. I had to go with a woman to the hospital in an ambulance and she gave me money to keep . Well, I wasn 't too old at the time so I took the money and took it up to Sr. Jane Elizabeth and she kept it, but I had to have a signature from the woman that I had the money. So I went to the hospital, but Ms. Irwin was the Administrator and she was rather strict and wouldn't let you go to visit a patient outside of visiting hours. However, I went and the woman wasn't allowed to have visitors . I can't quite remember the final thing , but I know I took the money to . . . . SSL: Sr. Jane Elizabeth was the treasurer of the community? SRM: Yes. As I said I visited people and well, it was just the regular family visiting , as far as Catholic Charities are concerned. Then, I left to go back full time at the college. When Sr. Ann Elizabeth died, Sr. Rose Angela asked me to go back full time and to give up that. But I never gave up my visiting people or having contact with them. I made lots of nice friends in that time. SSL: And they've been very faithful to you because you've been so faithful to them. SRM: Yes, they have been good to me. SSL: Sister , perhaps now you could tell us something about the wonderful years of your experience in catechetical work and something about those families who are pictured in that album that you showed to me yesterday. We can't take time to discuss every one at length, but perhaps you'd like to tell just a little bit about that and tell the great experiences that you had as a teacher in the Catechetical Program in the diocese. SRM: Well, in 1929, we all went out; I imagine there were 20 sisters who went out all over Westmoreland County to teach Sunday School. Mrs. Dingies,? from Pittsburgh, organized it because we didn't have a diocese then and so I taught in Avonmore . On the way home from Avonmore I stopped in Slickville to teach catechism to some members of a family. I think I did tell you about the beginning of that in this Anna from the college having a visitor . That is how I got in contact with the Slickville group. He introduced me to that family and I would stop on my way home from Avonmore and teach two boys who were not married. They were in High School and I prepared them for their First Holy Communion . The other members were all married and all out of the church as far as the Sacraments were concerned. There was only of them, five girls and three boys, who was married by a priest. The rest of them were married by squires; so, one by one, they came to me to have their marriages "Fixed up". Carmen Luzzetti, the boy, was really responsible for getting all of this going because he was very much in conflict ?? with family now. Not too long ago, when I was visiting one woman, a member of the family, told me that I visited their home for the first time when their son was 2 years old; he died a couple years ago at 45. That was one of the first times that I had met one of the families. . . . They lived on a farm and there was this, well, we'd call it the mother house up on the top of the hill. Then, down on the road, there were a couple (two)houses where two sons lived. So I used to call it the mother house; I'd teach at the mother house. And then I taught some others that came in with friends, I have in my album. I started the pictures of that family because many years ago I taught them and the husband of one I taught was in the hospital and I had their marriage "fixed" while he was in the hospital. So, as I said before, the grace of God flows from one to the other. It's marvelous how you plant seed and how it grows. SSL: I think you named your album, "The Flow of Grace" didn't you? SRM: I think it is something like that or God's grace, I forget what it was. Let's see, I have it here ...."The Flow of God's Grace". SSL: That is a very beautiful way to identify an album that really records the history. SRM: Well, see in that album, I have tried to have pictures of each family that I have had contact with, though not all, but some of them . There was a very interesting one that just happened last year. In the hospital there was a woman; well, she died and her husband was very lonely. I learned to know the family very well because that woman was in and out of the hospital. She had a leg amputation, was taken home and died. Her husband , Frank LeCor? was very down and lonesome. He used to call me and tell me how lonesome he was and then his friends got him to go out a little bit. He got himself working with the Senior citizens in St. Mary's Parish in Export. Then, too, he had a friend whose wife had a friend who was a widow; so he got them together. When he was out with this woman he talked about Sr. Rose Marie. She knew a Sr. Rose Marie, but she never connected Sr. Rose Marie with his. One day he mentioned something about the hospital and she said, "Why, that's my friend Sr. Rose Marie! I knew her 40 years ago when she was one of the group that I knew in Slickville". That was when I first taught out in Slickville. So, this Thanksgiving a year ago, they invited me to go to her home for Thanksgiving dinner; the two families live together . Wait a minute, I always forget Maimee's name, her last name before she got married; now she is Mrs. LeCor?. They ended up being married in January. So they have been very good to me since they are married. I was the only outsider besides the bridegroom or not the. . . . SSL: the attendants? SRM : Yes, the attendants , I was the only outsider at that wedding . Just the day before yesterday I got a card from them down in Florida. So you can see how things just come together. It so happens that the woman, Lena, is a sister to one of the Maranellis?, the family that I had developed from 50 years ago. So it puts Frank LeCor? into the Moranelli group. SSL : Where did you meet Frank LeCor? SRM : Well, his wife was ill and she was in and out of the hospital; she had diabetes . A bad thing happened, too , that made Frank very sad. About three years after his mother died, he became blind; he had diabetes, also . He had lost the sight in one eye; then he lost the sight in his second eye. He went to a school for the blind and passed through school and now? he's at Pitt. He was working towards a career for the blind but then he got a kidney condition and died. Frank and his son, John, were very close; they worked closely together . He had one child; I was at the child's Baptism. The thing that made Frank more sad was the fact that John's wife had been cremated . So, he would come with all these sad stories. When I was the hospital they?? came to visit me and when I came back here to Assumption Hall they?? came to visit me. SSL : Sister, a little while ago, when we weren't recording you were telling me something about Denis, one of the sons of Frank LeCor?. It was an interesting story; perhaps you'd like to make a record of that now. SRM : Denis worked for a company in Jeannette and was laid off permanen tly. When he was out looking for a job, he passed Kirner's in Pittsburgh. He said to himself, 'I'm going to get the kids a medal." So he went in and he picked up a book on the Blessed Mother and the rosary. He said after reading through the book, he took it home and said, "I should be saying the rosary." So, he started saying the rosary. I don't know if he'd ever said the rosary before, but anyhow he started to say the rosary. Now, he says three rosaries a day; one of those rosaries is said with his wife at 7p.m. when it is on the radio. Also, he goes to Mass every morning. He is in his late thirties and has three children. He brought his assistant pastor over to see me about two weeks ago. Fr. Persico was sitting out in the hall, when Denis came along with this priest. I don't know what the priest's name is, but it's Fr. Al --- SSL: What parish is that? SRM: Our Lady of Joy, in or near Murrysville. It's in the Pittsburgh Diocese; just over the border from Murrysville. Well, anyhow, now that he is not working, one of his things is he goes to the flea market where he saw a statue of the Blessed Mother. Now, he's very devoted to the Blessed Mother; he saw this statue of the Blessed Mother whose neck was broken. He bought it for fifty cents; he brought it home, fixed the neck and painted it. You really wouldn't know that it didn't just come from the store; it's so beautifully done. But, he brought it to me. SSL: Oh, isn't that nice. SRM : Continuing that story of the statue, he found another religious statue and he was painting it. A man saw him painting these statues and he gave him a statue to paint and paid him for it, which helped him a little bit. In return, he said about the Blessed Mother in October he didn't have enough money to his pay his rent. In the book he had read that the Blessed Mother answered a lot of prayers. So he said to her, "I haven't any money to pay my rent, could you find a way for me to get money?" A short time after a man asked him if he could paint the gutters in his house. So Denis painted the gutters and got enough money to pay his rent from that. That money was through the Blessed Mother! SSL: I think you said that his unemployment , in a sense, has been a blessing for him, since it has brought him closer to God and closer to the Blessed Mother. SRM: That's true , right. SSL: Sister , you told us about John, Mr. LeCor's son who became blind and eventually died after his serious illness and who was cremated at the wish of his wife. You mentioned that he had a son Denis, about whom you've been talking. Did he have any other children? SRM: He has a son that lives in Texas and a daughter that lives in Pgh. The one in Texas and the one in Pgh. are twins . John is the oldest of his boys. SSL: He's the one who died? SRM: He's the one who had the kidney condition and died. SSL: Where do Mr. and Mrs. LeCor? live now? SRM: He lives in Export. Lena had a home in Slickville ; then she moved into his home because he built the home himself. He was very much attached to that home because it is a little bigger and simpler than Lena's. Of.I 11-2- This interview is being conducted as part of the Oral History Program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister Rose Marie Schneider. The interviewer is Sister Sara Louise Reilly. This is the third session of interviews with Sister Rose Marie. Today is Wednesday April 20, 1983. The interview is being conducted at Assumption Hall. SSL: Sister Rose Marie, you were one of the sisters who came to Assumption Hall in the beginning of its history . Would you like to tell us something about your work here in Assumption Hall in those days? SRM: Well, how I got here was not as a patient, exactly, though I did have a throat condition and was not allowed to teach anymore . I had been at Blairsville for eight months in silence and they assigned me to come here. Not having any illness that would keep me in my room or bed- ridden, why, I "puttsied" around in the kitchen with Sr. Regis. Sr. Regis had been at Seton Hill and I taught her. She assigned me to a job in the area of the kitchen, in the storage room. All of the supplies from the infirmary at Seton Hill had been brought to Assumption Hall and put in this room without being organized in any way. So Sr. Regis gave me the job of organizing the storage. We ordered shelves and I continued there . That resulted in my being involved in the kitchen proper. I took care of the diets; we served the sisters in the infirmary from a hot cart. That was given to me as a responsibility -to serve the trays on the third floor. There I continued for five years. I had a happy five years because we lived the real community life. We had the old sisters who were not ill, but were old; we had recreation every night. Some of the sisters would play Old Maid and other games; we just were really happy, living there at that time . Then, the novices at that time had to come to Assumption Hall for jobs and some of them worked with me on the third flo or. Now, ever so often, I hear from some of them because they remember little things that I did or things that I said. So I still have contact with those novices who worked with me. I felt that it was very profitable for them to be here, too, from the standpoint of community. The old sisters reminisced and some could remember back to the beginning of the community . At the time there was one of my own family here, Sr. Mary Hubert Metzler, who was my mother's niece; her mother and my mother were sisters. So there are very many happy memories here at Assumption Hall. Mother Eveline was here, Sr. Mary Edna, Sr. Mary Francis and Sr. ,Ican't remember her name. SSL: Sister, you said Sr. Mary Francis, that was Sr. Marie Francis, wasn't it? SRM: Yes, Marie Francis, and Sr. _ _ _ _ _ , she used to be Treasurer at Seton Hill. We had a very lovely association with those old sisters. We'd all go down to prepare vegetables for dinner and things like that. We really had a very happy family here. Then, all of a sudden, I happened to have a vacation with my sister in Gary, IN. She had been an invalid for fifteen years . . . Jane Schneider, who had been an Academy graduate. Mother Claudia sent me a letter saying that I could have another week with Jane and then I was being sent to Jeannette Hospital where they could use me. She said the work in the kitchen was going on smoothly, so I could go to Jeanne tte. But she told Sr. Geraldine not to put me in the kitchen. I had been teaching Home Economics in the food service area for about 25 years, so Sr. Geraldine didn't know what to do with me. It took her about two or three weeks of opening packages and getting ready to open the hospital while she was trying to find out what she could give me to do. So, when she was finally ready to actually start the hospital, she decided to make me the Executive Housekeeper. I was that for 13 years. I did my work in supervision in that work by visiting patients and through that I did some apostolic work. Instead of going with a pencil and pen to find out what was wrong, while I was visiting I would look around and see what needed to be done. At the meeting, I would bring this up. We had working there a group of women who were real housekeepers of a home and it became like a family. They had a lot of initiative and a lot of ambition; we became a real close fa mily. They used to get together maybe twice a year and invite all the sisters, have games and they'd have beautiful prizes. One thing we got as a benefit was that Sr. Geraldine, the administrator of the hospital, was always there at the supper and the girls got to know another side of Sister, other than as an administrator . They realized that when she passed us in the hall she couldn't be greeting us as though we were at recreation. So, we really were a very close knit group, that is, the Sisters and the employees at the hospital. Then, after 13 years, well during those 13 years, I did a little bit of apostolic work. They would ask me questions and I would answer them naturally and as a result, we had converts. We had some real converts and then we had some who were brought back into the Church. It was very satisfying to be able to do that kind of work as well as supervising housekeeping. Then , when I became 75 years old, it was decided that it was time to change my job because the hospital was getting larger with more employees and situations were getting a little harder. So, Sister Geraldine , God love her, found a job that was very productive for me during the rest of my time at the hospital. They were backlogged in microfilming of their medical records and she asked me if I would take over the microfilming of records in the Medical Records Department. So with some volunteers , and those volunteers were professional women , we worked. Some were secretaries from industry and some were our own students. We had Mary Dolan, who was a student from our Academy and College, Leann , Anastine , Hildegarde Lutz, who had been a student of mine and Hildegarde's sister, Mary Harlgone, who had been a secretary from one of the institutions in the area. We had a lovely department and extended our microfilming from the Medical Records to Laboratory, the Business Office and X ray. When I was 82 years old somebody made the statement that "surely they don't have an 82 year old person on the payroll." And so the Board decided not too long afterwards that everyone who was 65 years old was to retire. Well, that included our Sisters Mary Cephas, Mary Magdalene, Norberta and Rose Marie. It happened that the government made a ruling that you could not force a person to retire until he or she was 70 years old, so that released Sr. Norberta from that obligation because she was only 66. But, three pf us had to retire. So, I came back to Assumption Hall and I have been here now almost five years. SSL: So you came first in 1954; you were here until 1959 and came back in what year? SRM: 1978. They were only open six months when I came here and the Bishop had made the remark at the Mass of Dedication that this was the stepping stone to eternity. I have come to realize in my five years here that it is a place to prepare for eternity. I have had many opportunities to do just that because we have been given many opportunities of the chapel and our chaplain. We have been able to prepare. SSL: Well, you've been preparing all these years not just these last five years. One of the things which I think is very significant, as you talk, Sister, is you are always concerned with establishing community whether it is the sisters with whom you're living or those people with whom you are wo king. You commented each time that this is a very significant feature of your life. So, you really have been preparing all these years, not just these last five years, though you have had some special opportunities in these years. SRM : Well, I hope that I will be prepared. Because you know, Sister, with all the anxiety of the world and all the things that are going on today, you just get yourself so frustrated sometimes . You don't know whether you are on the right road or not! However, it is a good place to try, anyway. SSL: As you look back through all these years, Sister, are there certain Sisters who you had an association with and you feel a particular influence on your life or about whom you might want to say something else. You mentioned some earlier, I think in the first session that we had. Perhaps you want to look back over some of that now and see. SRM: Well, Sister, I think maybe I said before that my introduction to Seton Hill was through Sr. Estelle Lowe, the blood sister of Mother Aloysia Lowe. When I came to visit her she asked me if I would like to come there to school. Well, she sent me to Sr. Francesca Brownlee, who was the Directress of the Academy; she gave me literature. She sent Sr. Stanislaus and Sr. Francesca to visit my parents . Then in August my parents decided that they would see about sending me to school, and they would . After I landed there Sr. Stanislaus took me under her wing and certainly did guide me on the right track. However, as my father had said when he visited before I came, that he thought I might be a sister. Well, he told the Sisters that and it was probably the wrong thing, because they had it in their minds that I was going to be a Sister and I had to do this properly and do that properly. If I did anything that was out of the way, then I was warned that I couldn't be a Sister if I did things like that. So Sr. Stanislaus was the one who was really my inspiration at the beginning. I became very close to the Sisters. For instance, at the time we were going to Duquesne for school. They would be acquainted with my family and sometimes my father would take them back to Seton Hill after school. One time we almost had a fatal accident because the certain road going from Pittsburgh to Greensburg was the Old Lincoln Highway and a motorcycle came toward us. I don't know how my father controlled the car. I had Sisters Francesca, Francis, Stanislaus and Maria Francesca in the car. I don't know how my father kept the car on the road, but finally we were safe. Those were a few things I remember about those Sisters . Sr. Stanislaus kept close tabs on me. I went to Pgh. after I graduated for advice from a priest at St. Augustine's. Sr. Stanislaus was afraid that they were leading me away from Seton Hill and so she invited me to make a retreat at Seton Hill; I had just made a mission at the church and when I mentioned it to the priest, he said "don't take too many. . ." don't have too much piety. . . ." I don't know just how he put it, but he said that I had just had a mission and that was enough right now. And so St. Stanislaus was afraid that I was going to be a Franciscan instead a Sister of Charity. However, I don't know if I told you about the visit that my father's boss did about me. He took me to see the Mercy Sisters because he had two daughters in that community. He took me to the Ursulines and to the Franciscans. He was going to take me to see the Sisters of St. Joseph also, but he had to go to Europe for some reason and when he came back I told him not to bother taking me any place else because I was going to be a Sister of Charity. That was Mr. McCafferty, who had a daughter who was a Seton Hill graduate. So I became a Sister of Charity. SSL: Well, we're glad you came to us. SRM: Well, as far as the others Sisters... Sr. Electa and I were very close; we were good friends. We'd talk things over every once in a while. And Sr. Francesca Brownlee... again, repeating things you know. I don't know if I told you about sister's relationship/ acquaintance with my mother. You know, when we were in the Academy we didn't know the Sisters' names before they became sisters, but I knew Sr. Francesca's name; she was Marcella Brownlee. When I went home I said to my mother, "Oh, do you know what our Directress's name was before she became a Sister? Her name was Marcella Brownlee." And she said, "That name sounds very familiar to me." So when I came back to school I said to Sr. Francesca, "Did you know anyone by the name of Theresa Sherry; that was my mother's name before she got married?" She said the name sounded familiar, so I asked if she ever lived in Wilkinsburg . She said, "Oh, yes I used to go visit the McGraws. The McGraw girls went to Seton Hill and she used to go home with them and my mother was a very close friend of the McGraws. So my mother knew Sr. Francesca in that way. They never really knew each other after that, but they became associated in that way. So, I had a closer contact with Sr.Francesca because she knew my mother at one time. And I'm afraid , well, I shouldn't say afraid but, I think that maybe had some influence on my becoming an Home Economics teacher because she was more interested in my family then and the things that my parents would tell her about my working at home. For instance, my mother was very ill and she had to go away to the mountains afterwards for recuperation ; I kept house for my father when I was only 13 years old. So I think that was in Sr. Francesca's mind when she needed an Home Economics teacher and picked me to go to school at Columbia where I worked and got my Masters degree in Home Economics there . So I've had a very active life at Seton Hill and the Sisters are very dear to me. I think I have to thank them for what I am now. Lord knows what I am, but I know they helped me to be what I am anyway . SSL : Well, you've certainly had a very full life, Sr. Rose Marie. Y ou' ve related so many differen t kinds of experiences and in addition to your very great concern to establish community. I think you have been very much an Apostolic person. I'm recalling now about when you were at Jeannette and working with administrating the housekeeping that you found that as a means of making friends and helping other people apostoli cly. So I think that we have much to be grateful for that we have someone like you among our members and I feel particularly privileged to have been allowed to visit you, interview you and to learn about those experiences . I know that there were times through this interview that you said "I am grateful for", and maybe you would like to just close this interview by saying whatever it is that you would like to say after these years. How many years now, have you been in religion? SRM : 64. It will be 64 next August. SSL: So as you look back over those years , first an Academy student and then as a member of the Congregation, what would like to say? SRM : My most satisfying, I suppose, or the one that has done most for my spiritual life, I think, was my first experiences with family visiting, my confraternity work and my work with Catholic Charities. I just met one of the women that belongs to the Children's Department in the Courthouse, who reminded me of my association with her through Catholic Charities. Her daughter, Rebecca ,Ijust can't think of her name, it was just on my mind. Anyhow, she was a student of mine and a person just recently made a remark to her that she had worked with me in Catholic Charities. So I feel that the most influential, most satisfying and most beneficial thing in my life has been my contact with people. I would almost say with souls because my life has been that. Now I have kept up an album of my work with those families, but I could only put in the album the social life that I had with these families. However, it is the spiritual contact more than the social, since I was invited always as a Sister. Because I was with those families, and there have been so many sorrows and so many catastrophes that have been very sad, and I have been a part of all of that. That's what has been my life. SSM : So, you've been a Sister of Charity . All of those things are very beautiful and I am sure those people will be eternally grateful to you as you are eternally grateful for having been allowed to be of so much help to th em. SRM: SSL : SRM: SSL: I never would have had those opportunities had I stayed in the world . I don't know whether I mentioned the fact that when my mother and father died 10 months apart, my brother said to me,"They needed me where I was." Because my relatives thought that I should go home and help keep house, but my brother said,"They needed her more where she is". And through all the years , 50 or more, he has shown that he meant that , because he always depended on me as a Sister . And finally, I'm sure that we would conclude with a prayer of gratitude to God for all the blessings of these many years . And I want thank you for interviewing me and giving me the opportunity to reminisce . It has been a very beautiful experience for me, Sister, and l"m grateful to you. I know you continue to remember in your prayers all of the Sisters of Charity and we're happy to know that we have you and so many others praying here. God bless you . 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 Rose Marie Schneider Subject The topic of the resource Sister Rose Marie Schneider Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Rose Marie Schneider, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1919 until 1987. The interview was conducted by Sister Sara Louise Reilly on February 2 and April 20, 1983. Sister Rose Marie was born on September 11th, 1896 in Wilkinsburg, Pa. Daughter of George Schneider and Theresa Sherry, Alberta Schneider entered the community on August 15th, 1919 at the age of 22 as Sister Rose Marie Schneider. Sister Rose Marie was a professor of Home Economics at Seton Hill College from 1926 to 1954. She served as the past President of the National Catholic Council on Home Economics. Sr. Rose Marie worked at Jeanette District Memorial Hospital from 1959-1978 as a housekeeper (from 1959-1968) until she was promoted to executive housekeeper from 1968-1978. Sister Rose Marie received her B.S. in Home Economics from Seton Hill College in 1924 and then her M.A. in Nutrition and Management from Columbia University in 1927. Sister Rose Marie Schneider passed on February 2nd, 1987 at the age of 90. 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 1983/02/02 1983/04/20 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-17 Columbia University Jeannette District Memorial Hospital National Catholic Council on Home Economics Pennsylvania Professor Home Economics Seton Hill College Wilkinsburg https://scsharchives.com/files/original/6c149cf720bd6d3c45edff40e2bfaadc.mp3 cb9a343018f86c8b694ab17e697d5558 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/f0c32b98a6ab52b56134cdfdc222d4a9.mp3 57d17a80125ef720f0b0eb0fafccdd3b 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 Virginia Pascaretta Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Rose Xavier Garrity 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.) 46:47 46:53 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound OH 24-1 Sr.Rose X Garrity This is an interview for the Oral History program for the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in Greensburg, Pennysylvania. The interviewee is Sister Rose Xavier Garrity. The interviewer is Sister Virginia Pascaretta. The interview is taking place at DePaul Institute and deals with the history of the Institute. The date is May eighteenth, nineteen eighty-two. SVP: Sr. Rose Xavier, before we get into the history of the school, tell me briefly about yourself, your entrance into the Sisters of Charity, and your introduction to your work at DePaul. SRX: Well, I wanted to be a Sister for quite a while. The night that I made the final decision was in March of nineteen twenty-one during a novena to St. Francis Xavier at St. Benedict's Church in the Hill District where we were teaching Sunday School. That night I set the date. It was to be on the Feast of the Sacred Heart that coming June, which was really less than three months away. I wanted the Sisters of Charity alright, but was also attracted to the Franciscans. I knew in my heart it was only peripherally. My confessor was a Capuchin, and he would always say: "I know you, I know you well, and I know you belong at Mt. Alvernia. That sort of gave me a well, I suffered from it, trying to get that off my mind. Finally, one day I called Sister Teresa Vincent Mahoney at Sacred Heart Convent. SVP: Sister Teresa Vincent was a friend of yours before you entered? SRX: Yes, we had gone to the same school. She was just a couple of years ahead of me. I called Sr. Teresa Vincent at Sacred Heart and made an appointment for that night. She didn't do a single thing. I got no help from her. In thinking it over, I don' t blame her. I don't know what to tell anyone else when they are wavering like that. She telephoned me the next day and asked me to come to see her. I went, and I left there happier than I had been for quite some time. First of all, Sister Teresa Vincent and Sister Jane Elizabeth Smith took me out to Seton Hill to petition. So, I kept the date of entrance...the Feast of the Sacred Heart in nineteen twenty-one. When we arrived on the date of petitioning , there was no-one around on the main floor, so we went on up to the Chapel. They were having Benediction or Holy Hour, and they were singing: "O Sacred Heart." Later, when we went on the date of entrance, we must have arrived at just about the same time because they were singing the same hymn. As we entered the Chapel, they came to the words " O Sacred Heart, lead all exiled children home." So, I was at home at last and was settled. SVP: What year was it when you were introduced to DePaul Institute then? SRX: I was still a Novice...about a fourth year one. Our Novitiate was five years long. Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers sent for me that Summer. It was an unusual thing, of course, for a Novice to be called to the Mother Superior' s office. I felt a little uneasy about that. Mother Rose Genevieve wasn' t the easiest person to approach, at least I thought so at the time. She started out by saying: "Oh, you know that Sister Teresa what's her name." I replied, " Sister Teresa Mary, Mother." Then I was frightened for sure, because Sr. Teresa Mary had lived with me that year and she left the Community in a very unconventional way at the end of the Summer. But, why was I connected with her? And Mother said: "No, no, another Sister Teresa. It dawned on me then and I said: Oh, Sr. Teresa Vincent, Mother?" Yes, she said. They need a teacher up at DePaul. We don' t like to send our teachers there, but she said they need someone, and she mentioned your name. Do you think you ' d like it? I don' t know, Mother, if it's anything like teaching Sunday School. I did what DePaul was. " Well then, you' ll go to DePaul this year." I didn' t tell anyone, except Sister M. Fiorita McGrory, because we had lived together a year before that. We kept it a big secret until a few weeks later when the Mission List was being read in Cecilian Hall. Sister Florita's name was on that list right after mine. That was a big surprise to both ofus. SVP: Then you arrived at DePaul Institute the late Summer? SRX: That late Summer, yes. SVP: What special event was happening at that time? SRX: First of all, it was first called the Pittsburgh School For the Deaf. It wasn' t called DePaul Institute until December thirty first, nineteen ten when it was incorporated. . I'd just like to tell a little about the attempts that were made before it opened. There were several attempts before that time, in fact beginning as early as eighteen seventy-four, to open such a school in the diocese. For several good reasons, that didn' t materialize. We have this information from a letter written by Monsignor A.A. Lambing to Sister Marie Antonio McLinden in nineteen eleven, nineteen­ twelve. He was, of course, born in eighteen forty-two. The Pittsburgh Diocese didn' t come into being until the next year, and he was always considered to be the great historian in the diocese. In that letter, he tells that as a young priest, in eighteen seventy-three, he was stationed at the Orphanage on Tannehill Street. There were two or three little deaf girls there who were children of a poor mother, a widow. Naturally, he was interested in them, but he had no idea what to do for them. He frequently spoke to Bishop Domenec about the matter, about the deaf in general in the diocese and in the state. The Bishop thought of opening a department in the school there and having a couple of Sisters of Mercy trained.to teach them. The financial panic of eighteen seventy-three was just coming up at that time and it was impossible for anything to be done. The next year he was transferred to the Point, but he didn't forget the children. He said that he consulted a Catholic Directory and discovered that there was a school, a Catholic School for the deaf in New York near Fordham University. He contacted the Heads, the Administration there, and found all the information he could about it. SVP: Did he send the children away to that school? SRX: Yes, he did. SVP: And that was near Fordham? SRX: Yes, near Fordham University. He obtained a free pass for the children, in fact, he had them admitted, free of charge. He had a pass from (William Shaw) for the children, the mother and himself. He visited them twice while they were there. He sent the mother to pay a last visit to them before she died. By the time he was transferred to Wilkinsburg, Bishop Phelan was head of the Diocese. In that letter, Monsignor Lambing stated that the Bishop sent two Sisters of Mercy to St. Mary's School for the Deaf in Buffalo to be trained. One of the Sisters died, and he didn' t know what became of the other one. He didn' t hear anymore about it, and the venture came to an end. By nineteen hundred Four, Right Reverend Bishop Canevin was installed as Bishop of Pittsburgh. When he heard of the great numbers of Catholic deaf children who were being brought every week from the state school in Edgewood for Sunday Mass to St. Joseph's Church in Wilkinsburg, he shared the concern of Monsignor Lambing about the possibility of the children losing their faith. SVP: That was St. James Church in Wilkinsburg? SRX: St. James Church in Wilkinsburg now. SVP: Why did he choose the Sisters of Charity? SRX: Well, Bishop Canevin immediately attacked the problem. He searched through the histories in the Constitutions of the different Communities within the diocese, and he saw that St. Vincent de Paul included all types of afflictions within the missionary scope of his spiritual daughters. Accordingly then, he appealed to Mother Ignatia Flinn at Seton Hill for Sisters to go away to be trained. SVP: How did they prepare themselves? SRX: First of all, the Sisters were: Sister Marie Antonio McLinden, Sister Gertrude Litzinger and Sister Martha Walsh. They were sent to the Sisters of St. Joseph in New York. SVP: Was that St. Mary' s School for the Deaf? SRX: Yes, that ' s right. The Bishop's thought was to establish a Catholic School for the hearing impaired children with Religious specially trained to teach them and to provide Sunday School for the missions for the hearing impaired adults. SVP: What you're saying then is that the goals for the opening of this work were really twofold? SRX: Yes. SVP: Both for the children' s education, and Catholic education for the adults. SRX: The three Sisters appointed for the New York adventure left then, when they finished in Randolph at the end of the year. The following May, they began observation in most of the schools for the hearing impaired in the East. SVP: Did they go to Boston, to the Randolph School for the Deaf first? SRX: Yes, that's where they were sent. SVP: Then, they went to St. Mary' s and the other places to observe later? SRX: Yes SRX: Their fust stop was the Fox School for the Deaf in North Hampton, Massachusetts, where Dr. Carolyn L. Yale was the Principal. Dr. Yale had been at the Clark School almost from the beginning in eighteen sixty-seven. It was she who had developed the vowel and consonant charts to teach speech, used almost exclusively in so many schools for the deaf at the time. From North Hampton, the Sisters went to the Hartford School in Connecticut, founded in eighteen seventeen. That is the oldest school for the deaf in the United States. The next stops found them at the Lexington Ave. School, Fanwood(?) School, Fordham School, which is now St. Joseph's School in Westchester. While they were at the Mt. School in Philadelphia, the Sisters met Mother Mary Ann Burke from St. Mary's School for the Deaf. A life long bond of friendship between the St. Mary's and Pittsburgh School developed. Mother Mary Ann Burke offered a permanent scholarship at Buffalo to train teachers for the new school in Pittsburgh. SVP: When they came back from their observations, how did they continue their teacher training? SRX During the Summer that followed their return to Greensburg, a six weeks course in education methods and practices in teaching the deaf was given at Seton Hill by Sr. Rose Gertrude of the Sisters of Mercy in Hartford, Conn., and Mrs. Albert Graskendalls of Green School in Washington. There were courses given later at DePaul by Miss Clinton from the School for the Deaf in Billings, the Principal of the West Virginia School at Romney (if correct), and Sisters of St. Joseph from the state school in Buffalo came to DePaul. SRX: Something else I wanted to say was: Sr. Marie Antonio, before they went to Philadelphia from New York, they went to Lackawanna to visit Our Lady of Victory Shrine and Father Baker gave Sister a pocket size statue of Our Lady of Victory and a litany. His parting words to her were: "Say this everyday and your work will bear fruit for the glory of God." Sister said the litany faithfully through the years and she inculcated devotion to Our Lady of Victory in the Sisters and in the children. The children repeated the invocation after their grace before and after meals and after any Hail Marys or prayers they would say at any other time. Among the treasures that were placed in the cornerstone of Our Lady of Victory Hall when it was built in nineteen forty-nine were the pocket-sized statue and the old well-thumbed litany. SVP: When the School finally opened, can you tell me who the Sisters were and in what capacity they worked there? SRX: During the preparation of the teachers, Bishop Canevan rented a three room brick house surrounded by a large lawn and it's the old Lappe Mansion in the Troy Area of Pittsburgh. SVP: What Street was it on? SRX: It was at 1613 Lowry Street. On August twenty-second, nineteen hundred eight Sister Mary Cecilia Brown came as the Sister Servant and Sister Mary Michael O' Shea as the house keeper. Sister Marie Antonio McLinden and Sister Martha Walsh, the teachers moved to prepare for the opening of the Pittsburgh School for the Deaf. SVP: What happened to Sr. Gertrude Litzinger? SRX: Sr. Gertrude never went on. She was elected as a Councilor at Seton Hill later on. The school opened on September seventh, nineteen hundred eight. Daniel Cusick, a boy from Coraopolis was the first pupil. Interestingly enough, he had been at St. Mary's School for the Deaf in the Preparatory Department. SVP: How many other children came at that time? SRX: The end of the fust week closed with an emollment of three. One of them was Mrs. Laura Matthews from the West End. She is the great grandmother of a little boy who is in the school now...a nephew of Sister Rosalie O' Hara. The next month, Father Thomas Coakley had just completed his studies at the North American College in Rome and Bishop Canevan told him that he had a job waiting for him. When Father Coakley asked him what it consisted of, he said: "a five hundred dollar debt." On October sixteenth, nineteen hundred eight, the Bishop presented Father Coakley to the Sisters as Superintendent for the Pittsburgh School for the Deaf. Bishop Canevan had promised that the frrst School Mass would be celebrated when the enrollment reached ten, to match the ten commandments, he said. The tenth pupil came in November and the Bishop was notified. The Bishop then said: " Well, I thought I had said twelve in honor of the twelve apostles. That was his answer, but he notified Father Coakley immediately and the young Superintendent celebrated the frrst Mass on December sixteenth, nineteen hundred eight. Monsignor Lambing presented the Missal and Ciborium, and the Seton Hill Sisters of Charity, the Chalice. Some other benefactor donated the Monstrance and a pair of seven brass candle sticks. After that time, Mass was offered by Father Coakley in the School Chapel once a week. At other times, the Sisters and the students attended the nearby Holy Name Church. They received every possible attention from Father Mullen, the Pastor, and the two Assistants, Father Killmeyer and Father Angel. In February of nineteen ten, the Assistants were appointed to offer Mass at the School. Father Coakley always came after that every year on May twenty-fifth, the day of his Ordination, with the exception of nineteen thirty-six when he was three thousand miles away. On that day, his Mass was offered in the church where Abbey De LaPae was buried. Abbey De LaPae had founded the National Institute for the Deaf in Paris and had trained the first American teachers for the deaf. As the first Christmas of the pioneers was drawing near in nineteen hundred eight, Mrs. Catherine Maloney who became a life-long benefactor of the School promised to send a turkey with all the trimmings. Christmas day came, but no turkey had come. Several days later, it was learned that the turkey had been delivered to the Ladies of Charity of the Good Shepherd Home on Lowry Street. Mrs. Maloney saw to it that another turkey and trimmings would arrive in time for the New Year' s dinner. Besides her monetary contributions , Mrs. Maloney also gave an outdoor statue of St. Catherine of Siena, designed by Scullari and dedicated by Father Coakley on July seventh, nineteen thirty­ six. Incidenta lly, the new School Chapel, dedicated twenty five years later was named St. Catherine Siena in memory of the mother of its benefactor, Mr. Kelly. Later in the school year of nineteen hundred nine as the enrollment increased, Sister Emmanuel Drake arrived as the frrst teacher in training. Sister Margaret Cecilia Brennan was the children' s Supervisor. On the anniversary of Father Coakley's first Mass, five children received their First Holy Communion in the School Chapel. Five children were confrrmed in St. Paul' s Cathedral on May thirtieth, 1909. The closing exercises took place on June twenty-first, 1909. Sr. Marie Antonia gave a vivid account of that event. She said: "We pushed the dining room tables together to make a stage. The children used the parlor windows from the porch for entrance and exits. The program consisted of songs, drills, tableaus and speeches." During the second year, the enrollment increased to twenty-six, and an adjoining house was rented for boys. In September of 1910, as the third year of the new school began, Sister Marie Michael Carroll came as Children's Supervisor. The next year brought Sister Rose Gertrude Reitzert. These two Sisters became the third and fourth members of the teaching staff and comprised the training staff of nineteen hundred eleven. Both Sisters spent the rest of their lives with their beloved deaf children. Sister Rose Gertrude died after a long illness in nineteen fifty­ seven and Sr. Marie Michael died in nineteen fifty-six. The school had been undertaken without definite plans for its support. Most of the children had to be boarded and educated free of charge. Few could pay the small tuition fee suggested. In the 6 early days, the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill provided not only personnel; but also money from Music lessons taught by Sisters: Mary James Brownlee, Dolores Cupps, Agnes Regina Nunnick, and Mary Cephas Storm. In January of 1909, the Ladies Aid Society had been organized. Through membership fees, entertainments and donation days, they contributed largely for many years to the maintenance of teachers and pupils. SVP: What about the Women' s Guild? SRX: The Women's Guild also accomplished a great work during the four years of its existence. Mrs. Flannery was the President, Mrs. Salomney, the Secretary, and Mrs. Frank Larnining the Treasurer. The Guild contributions to the school totaled $48,000.00. The Ladies Aid Society and the Guild were sponsoring their parties, while their male counterparts were not looking on idly. Mr. James Flannery erected the apparatus for the playground, and after his death, his widow maintained it. Mr. Frank Lanahan donated the complete equipment for the manual training department in nineteen twelve. Boy, the expense of maintaining equipment even in nineteen thirty-six! SVP: Was there not some early affiliation with the state in which the state provided funds? SRX: Yes after the legal requirements of state aid had been completed by the Incorporation of DePaul Institute in 1910 as I mentioned above. The Directors applied for an appropriation of $2,000.00in order to place the Institution on the list. Before the bill passed and was signed in 1911 by the Governor, the number of students had increased. Through the efforts of a Mr. John F. Casey, the appropriation was raised to $7,000.00 and signed by Governor. As the excellent work done in the Institute won the admiration and approval of other state officials, the appropriation was steadily increased until in May of nineteen twenty-one it had reached a sum of $45,000.00. That was lost that year by an adverse decision by the Supreme Court and a number of other Pennsylvania declaring the appropriation a violation of the Constitution of the State. The Supreme Court, in its decision, placed DePaul Institute and a number of other.Institutions managed by Catholics as sectarian and not entitled to an appropriation from the public treasury. · And so the next year, Bishop Hugh Boyle, Bishop of the Diocese began the annual diocesan collection. SVP: I was just going to ask you about the need for larger space, and when that move took place from Lowry Street to Brookline? SRX: By the end of the year 1909, the Pittsburgh School for the Deaf, as it was then called, had outgrown its temporary home on Lowry Streeet. In October, Bishop Canevan and Father Coakley accompanied by Mr. George Schneider who was the father of our Sr. Rose Marie Schneider, inspected the thirty-five acre Gilfillin Farm in Brookline, and they decided to purchase it. Six acres were set apart as a future site for the School for the Deaf. The high altitude and the beauty of the surrounding South Hills, made it a desirable site at the time, and still is. The location was just a twenty minute streetcar ride from the Downtown business section of Pittsburgh, close enough to permit the future school to enjoy all the educational advantages of the city, while far enough away to escape its noise and dust. On that plot, a three story building was erected and a Charter granted December thirty-first, nineteen ten, incorporating it for the city under the name DePaul Institute for the Deaf. SVP: Do you want to tell us about the move now? SRX: During Easter Vacation of nineteen eleven, while the students were at their homes, the Sisters bid farewell to Troy Hill bearing with them happy and grateful memories of three blessed and fruitful years. With the aid of the tractors of the Pittsburgh Railway Company, and wagons supplied by Mr. Donald Donovan of the Consolidated Ice Company, the transfer of furniture was begun on Thursday, April twentieth, nineteen eleven with difficulty amid torrents of rain. The move was considered completed on Friday, April twenty-first just as far as the Fire Engine House on Brookline Blvd., where part of the water soaked furnishings were stored until fairer weather arrived to move the treasured cargo down the long, muddy hill to the new building at the head of Castlegate Avenue. The following two weeks were spent getting classrooms in order as well as preparing the Chapel. The Chapel was small and unpretentious, but the donors of the stained glass windows found it elegant. They were Seton Hill students of nineteen ten and eleven. There were also other benefactors. The Chapel and house were blessed and the first Liturgy was celebrated by Right Reverend Regis Canevin on Saturday, May sixth, nineteen eleven. "I think Our Lord is pleased to be here," he said. On Monday, May 7, 1911 the faculty and pupils assembled and opened the second chapter of Bishop Canev1m's zealous efforts on behalf of the deaf in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Bishop Canev i,n would return to DePaul each year on June sixteenth, the feast of his patron saint to celebrate the feast day. He had oriental pine saplings around the property on both Dorchester Street and Castle Avenue. He liked to stand on the porch and he' d say to Sr. Marie Antonio: "These oriental sycamores we have planted will be fine trees some day." And today, they are. Offices now fill the spaces where that first little Chapel stood. The buzz of the Xerox and other machines replace the profound quiet of the sacristy. Sister David Mary Leonard now sits with a child or talks with a parent in the conference room, which in 1911, completed the body of the first little Chapel. The main building, in addition to the Chapel, also contains classrooms, dormitories, dining rooms, kitchens, offices, laboratories, bathrooms, locker rooms and a clothes room for the children. The building was erected at a cost of over $39,000.00. Between July and October of 1911, a two-story building was added at the cost of $12,000.00 to serve as the recreational hall building and manual training shop. An increase in enrollment soon required additional space. In March of nineteen fourteen, a third floor dormitory was added to the recreational hall building and joined to the main building with an annex. In nineteen fifteen, tile replaced the wood in the first floor and in the students' dining room, later used for the girls recreational hall. The work was done by Scotts Howell Company at a cost of $2,000.00. In nineteen twenty, a new hard wood floor replaced the old floor in the boys' recreational hall. In September of 1920, another three-story dormitory building was begun and completed in February, nineteen twenty-one. No effort was spared by Father Coakley to surround the children with the beautiful. Among the art collections which he donated were Chartrand' s original Cistercian Monk formerly in the Metropolitan and Carnegie Galleries, an original portrait of the Irish Poet Thomas More, which had been exhibited in the Dublin and Chicago Art Galleries, twenty-seven etchings of famous Cathedrals, forty copies of masterpieces and European posters: German, French, Italian and Belgium-among them a charcoal of Cardinal Mercier Protecting the Vatican. The etchings and the posters were sent by Father Coakley during his years in the First World War·. DePaul became Father Coakley's album after the war. In nineteen thirty, he sent statuary to DePaul which included exact replicas of six of the Della Robbias in terra cotta, the head of the god of Amon, a Spanish and a French Madonna, and three of Orentia's(if correct) models for the stone carvings of Columbus, St. Francis of Assisi, and Father Damian of Molokai which graces Sacred Heart Church. Even Father Coakley's precious chalice with the following inscription was given to DePaul: "The fragments of the Chalice and Ciborium belonging to Rev. Thomas Coakley, chaplain of the forty-seventh Infantry, fourth division AEF, destroyed by a German shell." The shell was shown on it, together with the piece of shrapnel imbedded in the Ciborium. In December nineteen eight, Father Coakley prepared to fulfill Bishop Canev in's second purpose in founding the school: To reach through Sunday School and Worship, the adult deaf. He began his work for the adult deaf in the Church of the Epiphany in Pittsburgh. Mr. William Hays, brother of Sister Bernadette Hays, SC and Mr. Vince Dunn assisted Father Coakley in gathering twenty adults for the first instruction. Sr. Marie Antonio McLinden and Sister Martha Walsh from the Pittsburgh School for the Deaf went to the Epiphany Church every Sunday afternoon to teach Catechism, beginning December twentieth, nineteen eight, with only three months experience with little deaf children. Three months later, they will work with the adult deaf. Within a year, sixty adults from all over Allegheny County were at Epiphany Church every Sunday. Then he got the Redemptorist Priests who were more experienced teachers of the deaf. They conducted retreats at Troy Hill, and at St. Philomena's Churches in Pittsburgh. They also gave retreats at DePaul. During Father Coakley's absence in WWI, Father Burger, one of the Redemptorists, took care of all the services for the deaf. Father Coakley even found a small group of deaf in and around Jeannette, whom he visited and instructed every two weeks. Reverend Florian, OSB, Assistant at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Jeannette, took over, so he left then. SVP: I wonder a little bit about Father Coakley. I know he was very interested in the School and in the education of the children. He made personal visits to several schools in Europe. Could you tell us just a little about that? SRX: Father Coakley was convinced of the wisdom of conducting an entirely oral program for the instruction of the deaf. As an army chaplain overseas during WWI, he visited the great schools for the deaf in Rome, Bordeaux, and the National Institute for the Deaf in Paris, where he addressed the students in their own language. The following is an excerpt from a litter written under the date of February twentieth, nineteen-nineteen, in which he states his conviction that his own Pittsburgh School compared favorably with the schools he had observed in Europe. Dear Sisters and Children at DePaul Institute, "I was fortunate enough to make a flying trip to Rome during the last couple weeks. Although it entailed a journey of more than two thousand miles. It was worth it. In spite of the bare week I had in Rome, with a million Avenues to attract me, I did manage to get to the school for the deaf there. It is out on the "Via Nomen" near the beautiful Church of St. Agnes. I spent part of the morning there. I find that there are fifty-two such schools in Italy. The work is truly oral, not a sign being used officially in class by the teacher. The work is almost, though not qui1 as good as they do in Bordeaux and Paris. I saw a lengthy demonstration by third grade boys in lip reading and voice work which in its way was really remarkable. In that I did the talking witb them in Italian on subjects with which they were entirely unfamiliar, for instance, my m'ilitary costume, its significance, the insignia, the sleeve decoration, which they had never seen before and the symbolism of the colors. All this they wanted explained. They got it marvelously well. When they hesitated, the fault was mine, not theirs, the reason being that I talked too slowly and did not pronounce my vowels correctly, a thing that is not at all perceptible when one talks rapidly. When I cut loose and talked to them normally, as did the professors, it was as plain as noonday to them. So, now I've made speeches in French and Italian to deaf children. Taking it all in all, we have nothing to be ashamed of at DePaul. And from the shores of Europe, our owr work shows up first class." When the school opened in nineteen eight, Bishop Canev; n , Father Coakley, and the Sisters hac in mind the deaf child, in keeping with his native ability, the kind of parochial schools in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. In general, this meant an elementary education. For the deaf child, it als1 meant the special techniques of communication development skills, of speaking, understanding speech and of comprehending and of writing speech skills which the Sisters had learned and observed as the traditional methods used in American Schools for the deaf. In the case of the deaf child, vocational training was to be added in addition to the elementary school subjects alsc Bishop Canevin further requested that the children be taught every phase of domestic work....sewing and needle work for the girls, trade work for the boys. Beginning in 1909, Fathe Coakley secured teachers for Physical Education, and trade training for both girls and boys. Carpentry, chair painting, shoe repairing, arts and crafts were offered for the boys, sewing, embroidery, needle work, lace making and millinery for the girls. Such education enabled the deaf children to find employment and be self-supporting after graduation. By 1920, high school education had been available to the parochial school child, and occupation usually followed upon graduation from the twelfth grade. Research on the psychological approach to education had reached down to the elementary school level. As a result, new courses for the teachers were being offered in the universities. Father Coakley encouraged the Sisters to enroll in the special courses being held in the university, and in Summer sessions being conducted by leaders in the field of education of the deaf. Father Coakley also made strenuous efforts to obtain Dr. Carolyn Yale, Miss , and their peers in leadership, for a year ofreorientation for the faculty of DePaul. This failing, the Summer of nineteen twenty-four, two Sisters attended the first vocal Summer session at the Clark School under the direction of Dr. Carolyn Yale. In nineteen twenty-five, at the second vocal Summer session, three Sisters attended at the North Carolina School under the direction o Miss (not audible). Delegates at both of these sessions included outstanding educators for the deaf from various countries around the globe. At a special faculty meeting, the entire DePaul staff benefitted from the evaluation of new procedures in the field of special education. The following Summer, at the invitation of Father Coakley, Miss (not audible)gave a special presentation at a Summer session to the entire staff. The addition of the new Chapel wing in nineteen twenty-five made possible the rearra classes. In order to develop the potential of each deaf child, it was necessary, in each to plan for a fast moving group, one slow moving group and two or more average grm according to their ability to achieve similarly so far as academic implements were con Children in the fast moving groups were for the most part in the area of Junior High s they had reached the upper departments. Within the next three years, they would be a complete all nine grades. This group included the totally deaf child of superior ability hearing handicapped child who had had language meaning and use before losing their the hard of hearing child who may have entered without either speech or hearing, and with partial hearing who had been unable, even at the primary levels, to maintain him local school. It was planned that all of these variously afflicted children would compl ninth grade requirement and enter the regular High School, Public or Parochial at the level. There was a group of average deaf people that allowed for average (couldn ' t cl school years at DePaul. At the age when the faster moving group would be leaving D tenth grade at a Conventional school, these average Junior High groups would be mo the academic work in the advanced department at DePaul. They entered upon a progr operative sort, in conjunction between DePaul and the Public School System of Pittsb plan would be in operation until Conley Vocation School, in nineteen twenty-seven b s killed center for children over the age of eighteen. DePaul students would report to the choice of their trade in the afternoon. Their mornings would be spent at DePaul f< related subjects , for related theories and the other non-trade subjects. Both course m the associated techniques changed, at least partially, in order to meet the individual n Vocational School work. English, for example, was designated for a particularized V and the field of Mathematics became necessary for the introduction of Algebra and G and Trigonometry for Mechanic Students for Graphic Skills. Some of these boys we full time at the Vocation High Schools soon after graduation from DePaul. Others h jobs which seemed to be sufficient after they left DePaul. The girls attended Bellefiel and (couldn ' t get it) Dress Making, and other Vocational Schools. They also attendee Business Schools in Pittsburgh. The group at the lowest level of training also reporte Vocational High School for semi-school trade courses of their choice in the afternoon morning, they were at DePaul for Theory, related to their afternoon courses as well m subjects. Every educator of the serious handicapped is aware of the fact that the averc child could well afford academically to spend the final years of formal education in in study of English and all of its implications. At DePaul, the faculty did not minimize importance of the fact that for the deaf child, it is essential that he study special classe specially trained teachers to make a foundation for education by learning his native to without hearing. It was recognized as well, that for him, the vernacular would contin stumbling block. From the consideration of adjustment in personality improvement , School would be the right time to learn proper attitude. The philosophy has been that so important that he follow the frame from which he has spent a few years in life. Th important consideration was that he develop positive personality attitude characteristi to any life situation. 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 Rose Xavier Garrity Subject The topic of the resource Sister Rose Xavier Garrity Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Rose Xavier Garrity, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1921 until 1987. The interview was conducted by Sister Virginia Pascaretta on May 18, 1982. Sister Rose Xavier Garrity - born Catherine Cecilia Garrity on November 24, 1895 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in June of 1921. She received a bachelor's degree in history and English from Duquesne University in 1937 and a master's degree in the same subjects from Duquesne in 1945. She also studied special education in teaching the deaf at Xavier University. She taught at DePaul Institute for the Deaf from 1925-1981. Sister Rose Xavier was the Scoutmaster for the Boy Scout Troop at DePaul. Her nephew was U.S. Senator Eugene Scanlon. Sister Rose Xavier died on February 9, 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 1982/05/18 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-24 DePaul Institute Duquesne University Scouting Xavier University https://scsharchives.com/files/original/62d70464d924808a67a838dce3d209f2.mp3 81797ac1efb9566f00602125d9344f4e https://scsharchives.com/files/original/2038235b420688c2e89be5aefb2c30f0.mp3 2663f72676e7041f2a370e762a32f293 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/b6c0708e0010e911f439e460363d5155.mp3 2445f13b3d40987ef0d2572a969f73e5 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 Ruth Cecelia Giseburt Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Location The location of the interview Seton Hill College 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 26:34 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 Ruth Cecelia Giseburt Subject The topic of the resource Sister Ruth Cecelia Giseburt Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Ruth Cecelia Giseburt, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1933 until 1997. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on July 10, 1986. Sister Ruth Cecelia Giseburt - born on July 22, 1906 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in March of 1933. She worked in the community laundry department at Seton Hill and was in charge of this service until its discontinuation in the seventies. She then served as front desk receptionist in the Administration building of Seton Hill College. Sister Ruth Cecelia died on March 12, 1997. 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 1986/07/10 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-75 Laundry department Seton Hill College 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 Sara Ann Lauer 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.) 59:21 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound OH 43-1 1 This interview is being conducted as part of the oral history program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sisters Sara Ann Lauer. The interviewer is Sister Marie Corona Miller. This is being done at Assumption Hall. The date is February 26, 1983. SMC Hello, Sister Sara Ann. SSA: Hello. SMC: How are you? SSA: Oh, I'm fair. SMC: That's good. Sister, would you like to tell me a little bit about yourself? SSA: Well, I'll tell you if it might be of any benefit to you, then I'd be glad to tell you. SMC: Alright. Sister, when were you born? SSA: I was born at Kittaning Point near the Horseshoe Curve where Hershey Reservoir is now. The water company took that place over after about, 0, a good many years and they took the dwellings all away from up there. But my Aunt and Uncle, they had their home right close to the uh, where the reservoir was; and my father's sister was married to a man by the name of Jim McGinley and her name was Jane. Aunt Jane married and they lived . . . when I was a child I visited with them. And I stayed a week; I was awfully lonely. I was always worried about my little sister at home. SMC: What about your parents, Sister? SSA: My parents We lived up in what is now called Coupon and we lived about four miles away from Kitanning Point. SMC: Where did you go to school? SSA: Well, I went to public schools in different places. I quess my first year was in Coupon. It was called Delanyville at that time and they changed the name later to Coupon, PA because there was another town that had almost the same name and they were always getting mixed up so much they called it Coupon because the people who worked for the company all used coupons to get their groceries and things like that. SMC: Now Sister, what about the Sisters of Charity? When did you first come tin contact with the community? SSA: Oh, I met the Sisters of Charity I went in training for nursing with the Sisters of Mercy in Johnstown, and the Sisters of Charity seemed to be much plainer and seemed much more, uh, easier. And uh, I liked the sisters were working for the poor. I liked the habits they had much better than the Mercy Sisters because when it was cold they didn't seem to have to wear, as much. The clothes and they seemed to be too dressed up to me to work -the Sisters of Mercy. And on feast days, you know, they were even dressed up more; they put on copes and things. I thought I'd rather be with working with the poor and the Sisters came there to visit at the Mercy Hospital. They had people, patients here and there. And to me they seemed, well . . . you know a plainer and easier to work. 2 SMC: Did you say that you worked at Mercy Hospital in Johnstown? SSA: I did. I went in training there. I was there 15 months, I think. Then I took typhoid fever and I nearly died. Then I didn't go back. I took , I went to Philadelphia. I finished my training in Philadelphia , with the Coronet Sisters in Philadelphia. I got my diploma from them. SMC: What school was that, Sister? SSA: It was St. Vincent de Paul's and . . .uh... it was an orphanage and children's home. SMC: And after you got your training, is that when you entered the Sisters of Charity? SSA: Oh yes. Well, I went to the sanatorium, I went to the State Sanatorium. I didn't part with my nursing and I went to the State Sanatorium and worked there for four and a half years. SMC: Where was that Sanatorium, Sister? SSA: In Cresson, PA. It was State run. And I did private nursing in Pittsburgh for a while, too. I was in Pgh., Oh, I couldn't tell you how may years. I entered in '25. I had been working, nursing and then going home and helping my parents on the farm. And then I'd go back nursing again. And I saved my money and put it away for them, in case they didn't have and need a place to take care of them when they got old until they died. SMC: Did you take care of them while they were sick, Sister? SSA: I took care of my father, well I was in the community then; at home I took care of my father until he died. But my mother, she had to have a colostomy on her and she didn't get over it. She was, I think, 83 years old. She died in Mercy Hospital. I was teaching then at Johnstown, at Our Lady of Mercy. I was teaching there for a while. That's where I was when my mother had her operation, and died. SMC: Were you working at the hospital in Johnstown? SSA: No, I was working at the convent, at Our Lady of Mercy Convent. You know, I kept house for them for a couple of years. SMC: Who was your Mistress of Novices, Sister? SSA: Well, the first Mistress of Novices was Mother Mary Francis, and uh, she died while she was in office. And I was through training by that time, I think, yes. SMC: Sister, who entered with you in 1925? SSA: Sister Rita Mary and Sister Maureen and Sister Maureen and Sister Marguerite. The four of us entered together. SMC: Would you tell us a little bit about your novitiate? 3 SSA: Well,. to tell about the novitiate . . . there were the youngest sisters. There were two groups of us; there was the senior novices and there the younger novices. They had their novitiate; one of the big dormitories was the Senior's novitiate and ours was . . . well, Mother was with us most of the time. We'd get our prayers together still, rosary and all those other prayers we got together. We were about the same size, me and another sister and when they saw us coming, they didn't know whether it was Mother Mary Francis or us!! SMC: What did you do as a novice. Sister? SSA: Novice? Well, I guess the first job I had was taking care of Sister Maria-she was an invalid then and I took care of her. Then I went on night duty; I guess I was on night duty about eleven months. I had a nervous breakdown and I had get off duty for a while. When I got better, I did any extra nursing I could and uh, ... I helped on the novitiate floor. But I was on night duty 11 months; I used to go all around the house then. And I had charge of the floors; put me on day duty and I had charge of the whole house. Had to go every place all around the building if anyone was sick on either side. In the summer time the Sisters would come home and there would be a lot of sick and old on the different floors. Whenever they called, some of the sisters would go and find out about this or that one, and then I'd have to go over to where they were, and maybe it was the other end of the building. Then back to get medicine and try to fix them up. SMC: Well, Sister , you were really infirmarian? SSA: I was infirmarian, yes. I think I was about 15 months. SMC: Does that include your Postulancy year when you first entered? SSA: I guess it was, because I was sent to, uh, I was at the Foundling a while; can't remember how long. What do they call it? At that time it was the Roselia Hospital . . . What do they call it now? SMC: Philip Murray Hall SSA: Philip Murray. They done so much for them. When they put up the new building they called it Philip Murray Hall. SMC: So, after you finished your years as infirmarian, then what did you do? SSA: Well, I did nursing, taking care of the sick as long as I was able. I helped the sick any place, where ever I could be. I was on, did I tell you? I was on night duty for 11 months. I took care of Mary Xavier and she would always tell us her story. Sr. Fides was very, very fond of her. And I... well, I liked to hear her talk And Sr. Mary Xavier, she said, "I didn't want to quit teaching music". She said, "I asked for help and in place of giving me help" she said "they brought me home here and put a young sister in my place. What I wanted to do was just stay right there and have somebody help me because the teaching was too much for one." And so she, well, she .... Oh, I'm all l just can't think what to say. Besides, when she told the story, then her mother was bad, bad-sick and uh, she said that everybody she met would ask her "How's your mother?" and she would say she hasn't changed, she's just the same. So the mother one day Rose came in and asked how she was and she said, "Oh, I'm just living and that's all. And when she 4 came home they wanted to know what she meant by telling the people she was dying. Everybody was coming and calling. She said, "I didn't tell them you were dying, I just said what you said to Aunt Mary this morning You told her that you were just living and that was all." SMC: Sister, where did you live with Sr. Mary Xavier? SSA: Why- Seton Hill. She died while I was infirmarian. I was on nights while I was infirmarian. SMC: The date is February 27, 1983. Sister Sara Ann, can you tell us something about when you were at the foundling? What did you do there? SSA: I had charge of the larger children, everyone called them the "run arounds" ! I took them out to the park; you know we had a nice park there. And I took them out to the park. They had places to play, a very nice open place and they had sand to play in and different things to entertain them. They had their lunch hour there, at the-, you know at noon time, they'd have their lunch. I remember there was a big crowd. I couldn't just say how many now, but ah, those are the ones that I took to Beaver Falls. You know they got Beaver Falls, what they called the Kelly Farm. They had a nice home there and when I took them to Beaver Falls, they had a nice big barn, and they had the barn floored for a clothes room like, we could, ah, a nice place, then they fixed everything but the children stayed there for weeks at a time out ih the open spaces and in the summer months when it was nice and warm. And that was the time I took them there, I picked up one of the children to show her a chicken so she wouldn't be a scared of the chicken and she tripped up against the wall, and knocked me over and, uh, uh I injured my wrist very badly that I couldn't work for awhile. That's when I went back to the uh, Seton Hill. And I guess that was the last time that I went back to well, no I went back to the Foundling a second time and they called me home to take care of an old sister who was dying. By the time I got home, it was Sister Marie and she had died. And I, ah, that's when I was made infirmarian, at that time. SMC: How many years were you at the Foundling? SSA: Oh, I couldn't tell ya that; I was a good many years at the Foundling. I was at the Foundling when they moved the chapel-moved the chapel over there to the next building where it was the nurses' home. They had a chapel over there for a number of years. They moved the chapel out of the building when Gov. Pennypacker came in and he didn't want any religion in there, you know any place where he-where the government was giving money. So they moved the convent, uh, the chapel into the nurse residence and it was there for a number of years. Now, I couldn't tell you the dates or anything . SMC: That's all right, Sister. Sister Sara Ann, you have always loved to work outside in the garden. SSA: Yes , uh-huh. 5 SMC: Taking care of the plants Could you tell us a little bit about that? SSA: Well, I had ... when I came here after a sick spell, I guess, after nursing, why I could work outdoors and I could keep up. I tried working indoors with the sick people; I felt so bad with the sick people,..... you know it affected me. So I had...l took ! had a garden down,--- a nice place down at the end of the lot. I could go out and work in garden for hours. If I had to stay around sick people, it depressed me so much. Well, l. it affected so that I couldn't do the work that I wanted to do. SMC: What did you have in your garden? SSA: I had a little bit of everything, things that we'd use around the house. I had tomatoes, peppers, and cabbage. One year I had so much cabbage and it all came at one time. think I had about sixty head of cabbage that year-nice big cabbages. And then I had a few of those little acorn squashes. You know, I'd have enough for a meal every now and again for the whole house. I had the peppers, too, and they could bake the peppers. I had baked and stuffed peppers and uh, onions and radishes and all those things that could be planted in the garden. And I planted sweet corn, too; and we'd have sweet corn. SMC: Sister we still had the farm at Seton Hill, is that right? SSA: Yes, that was the chief here... SMC: At Assumption Hall? SSA: Yes. SMC: Oh. SSA: Assumption Hall. SMC: What year did you come to Assumption Hall? SSA: Why, I moved over when the house was first opened. I was one of the first ones that moved over. And then I went to the hospital -Mother Rose Genevieve wasn't good then and they sent me to the hospital to look after her. And so I went to the hospital until she got better. And they got the house finished and I brought her home brought to Seton Hill. SMC: I think that was in the early 1950's, Sister, right? SSA: Well....l couldn't tell you the dates. I can't remember, but she was at Seton Hill a number of years. She died over here, in the big room next to the chapel. SMC: So you had your garden on Assumption Hall grounds. SSA: Oh, yes. I didn't have any garden at Seton Hill. But I got things out of the garden and I canned them, cooked them, the tomatoes and things and got them ready for the kitchen. I canned tomatoes when I was there, too----canned pickles, tomatoes and things like that 6 out of the garden. When I was on night duty, I put up a good many jars of stuff like that when there wasn't too many sick people on the floor. Why, I'd put up some of the things for the kitchen, help the sisters out in the kitchen. SSC: What about fruits, sister? SSA: Well, the priest was over on the first floor, you know where they had their dining room. But I never took care of the priest. The priest lived over at the , what they called the priest's house; the house they had for the priests. It's still over there; it's called St. Mary's I think. I don't know just what they call the priest's house now. I think the building is still standing.... SSC: I think so, Sister. SSA: Yes, because there are a couple of priests there and each one of them has a suite of rooms. They are teachers, teachers up until they brought that priest. he's still getting pension over there. You know that priest; he took the whole suite of rooms. When Father Reeves took sick, they brought in a priest from New York. Do you remember his name? SSC: Monsignor Ryan? SSA: Monsignor Ryan. Now he took the whole suite of rooms; took nearly the whole house. don't know if it was his mother or sister when they put up the new building, he wanted them to put up a whole suite or rooms over the library so he could bring his mother or sister. But they didn't agree with that. SMC: You were still at Seton Hill then? SSA: Yeah. SMC: Sister, besides your garden of vegetables, didn't you pick fruit from the trees around the grounds? SSA: Oh, yes, I used to pick apples and get them ready for the kitchen. When I had the garden I'd get the apples and put them in, we had a nice, what you'd call a shanty down at the end of the lawn, and I'd put the apples in there and then when we'd get a chance we'd bring them up and we'd have an apple party. An evening when we could all get together. Why, we'd make 8 or 10 gallons of applesauce at a time! Get it ready and kept it in the cold storage so they could use it when they needed it. We had applesauce for breakfast so very often. And all the sisters wanted to have applesauce when it was cooking; some of them would come to the kitchen and ask if they could have a dish of applesauce it smelled so good. SMC: Sister, who would prepare the apples? SSA: We'd all come together. Like they're having now-parties in the evening you know. All the sisters and the novices, everybody that was around would all work together to make the apple sauce. 7 SMC: Did you just make applesauce, or did you use apples for anything else? SSA: We got them ready to use for pies, or anything they needed. We had big containers --------I guess, but we'd cook it in there and keep it in the cold storage. SMC: Did you make apple butter? SSA: I helped to make apple butter at Seton Hill; we made apple butter over there. But, not after we came over here. Apple butter takes a long while to cook and they cooked it in great big containers; then send it out on the missions. The missions got apple butter from the motherhouse SMC: And you did that at Seton Hill while you were nursing? SSA: No, I was off sick from nursing, and I didn't go back to nursing right away. I went and helped in the kitchen. When I was in the kitchen was when I helped to pick the apples. And the sister in charge; I think Sr. Rose Vincent was in charge. And she went out with us and we picked apples and brought them in. We got cider made, and apple butter for the missions. SMC: What other kind of fruit did you pick from the trees? SSA: Oh, there was pears, lots of them; we used to bring those in and keep them until they got ripe. The pears aren't tasty, but we had a couple of other pear trees that was around here and they were all the "rust coats" and they were real sweet pears. They had trees down here in the fields. And I have trees planted over here; down below here, I have planted golden balls and plums. The green ,Ihad a couple of trees of those. I had a sorry?? cherry tree; Mother Eveline and I put our money together and we bought the trees and had them planted, right below the house here. A good many cherries, the summer cherries came off; and we had peach trees, and pear trees. I had a beautiful big one. The pear tree--- what are those yellow ones called-the nice yellow, big pears? SMC: Sickle pears? SSA: No, sickle pears is the nice tree that they have down there; that's what they call sickle pear. Do you remember what those good pears are get in the summer time? SMC: I'm afraid not, Sister. Sister, you talked about the shanty, that is where your garden was. Could you tell me, where was the shanty on these grounds? SSA: It was down here next to the road. I think it was a tool shed, what the people had that was here before. But it was all finished nice, and protected. You could lock the door and keep things in. It wasn't a shanty; it was a nice tool shed. And that is where I put the pears and I raised a good many of those big turnips, cabbage, turnips or rutabagas. I had a lot of them too; I could bring them in, in the fall and keep them a while in that building. And I brought them in and tomatoes, too, when there was going to be frost. I'd be picking tomatoes and bringing them in to let them finish ripening. But mostly, I brought them up to the house, put them in the basement, and they would be ripe in just a 8 short while. But, I had bushels of tomatoes and rutabagas, too. SMC: Had you done a lot of that, Sister, before you entered? SSA: Well, we had a "truck patch" at home and we'd raise a lot of things to sell, to take to market. SMC: Was that in Coupon? SSA: No, in our own farm, well, yes, it belongs to the Coupon parish. SMC: Did your brothers and sisters work outside with you? SSA: Oh, yes. Yes, the ones that was home worked in the garden. SMC: How many brothers and sisters did you have? SSA: I had 4 sisters and 10 brothers. There's two of them living, two of my brothers living and one sister and myself. SMC: And you're the oldest of those who are living? SSA: Yes, the sister is the little one I took care of. She is six years younger than I am, but she still keeps house and is taking care of a retarded woman, Miss Gallagher. She had a brother a priest up at Johnstown; he used to take care of her. SMC: Were you the oldest of the 15 children? SSA: No, I was the sixth child. There were five older than I. Did I tell you before what my father and mother's names were? SMC: No. You didn't tell me that, Sister. SSA: I didn't? Are you sure I didn't? SMC: Yeah, I'm sure. SSA: Well, my mother's name was Sara Ann Cole. And my father's name was Augustine Henry Lauer. SMC: And you took your mother's name in religion? SSA: Yes. SMC: Sister, when you came to Assumption Hall, did you leave to go to another mission? You spent some time in Altoona? SSA: Well, it was after I was old enough to retire; when I got old and I felt that I wasn't able to do too much and I went to Altoona. I was there I guess on to part of three years 9 SMC: Do you remember what you did in Altoona? SSA: Well, I worked around the kitchen; I canned fruit for them. I used to go up the mountain; I'd bring home apples and tomatoes; I cooked and canned for the sisters at the Cathedral. I baked for them and I worked in the kitchen - made bread or buns or anything they wanted- made pies or things like that if they wanted them for their meals. SMC: So after you left Cathedral in Altoona , you came back to Assumption Hall? SSA: Yes. SMC: And you've been busy doing some things here at Assumption Hall? SSA: Well, I'm doing anything I can to help the sisters, to help anybody. You know, it wouldn't be too much because I'm up in years. I wasn't able when I had a spell with my heart. That's the reason I came, was brought back here. SMC: Sister, what about your love for plants? SSA: I had plants --- a place on the porch after I wasn't able to go to the garden, I had a place for plants on the porch. We always had flowers growing on the porch, you know, and I looked after the plants there. Whenever they'd have the parties for Korea, there was always a lot of plants to take to the Korean Card Party, and those kinds of things. SMC: What is your favorite kind of plant, Sister? SSA: Oh, I don't know about favorites, but I do like the coleus. It's a beautiful plant with all colors of leaves, without getting any flowers on it. It's surely a beautiful flower, beautiful plant. SMC: Do you still take care of some plants? SSA: No, 1-1 have a plant that is there in water. That's that Can you see those leaves over there? SMC: Yes, Sister, I see that. SSA: What's the name of that? SMC: I don't know. SSA: Well, I can't mention the name of it right now; it's just a little ivy leaf. My plant lives in the water and it works pretty good; it's just in water. SMC: You have revived it, right? SSA: Well, it's still living . . . . SMC: Sister, besides your caring for the plants at Assumption Hall, and visiting with the sisters. 10 SSA: Well, I try to get them to say certain prayers. The ones that are most sufficient; especially the seven Our Fathers and seven Hail Marys for the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. And the consecration of the community to Our Blessed Lord. You know that prayer that I had written, I ask the sisters to say it . . . . The Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary for all your holy prayers and good works, the sorrows and joys of all thy faithful peoples all over the world in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that has been offered, that is being offered and ever will be offered to thy Divine Majesty .this day or anytime til the end of time. Then I say 7 Our Fathers and 7 Hail Marys and 7 Glorias for the 7 gifts of the Holy Ghost. I offer that to Almighty God for any intention He wishes to offer them for and especially for our Pope and our Church all the way through and for each and every one of us. SMC: Sister, you spend many hours in the chapel here at Assumption Hall. SSA: Well, I pray as long as I can and the rest of the time, I have to come to my room and sit down. Yes, I spend a good bit of time there. That is what I'd like to be doing now, in fact. I think I'd get more merit from sitting in the chapel than I would from writing notes or taking notes. SMC: Is there anything else you'd like to tell me? SSA: No, I don't think of anything special that I could tell you. I ask God's blessing on our community and all our friends and relatives. And do God's will in every way we can. And I pray the same for each and every one. 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 Sara Ann Lauer Subject The topic of the resource Sister Sara Ann Lauer Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Sara Ann Lauer, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1925 until 1983. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on February 26 and 27, 1983. Sister Sara Ann Lauer was born on August 5, 1882 in Kittanning Point, Pa. Daughter of Henry Lauer and Sara Ann Cole, Gertrude Jane Lauer entered the community on December 8, 1925 as Sister Sara Ann Lauer. Sister Sara Ann had a prolific medical career before entering the community. She had worked at Cresson State Hospital for four and a half years and worked private nurse in Pittsburgh. Upon entering the community, she continued to work in nursing. She first worked at the Roselia Foundling and Maternity Hospital in Pittsburgh for ten years, and then worked as a practical nurse for the older Sisters at Seton Hill until 1969. She then served at Cathedral Convent in Altoona until 1973. Sister Sara Ann completed her nurses’ training at Saint Vincent Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania prior to entering the community. Sister Sara Ann Lauer passed away on October 4, 1983 at the age of 101. 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 1983/02/26 1983/02/27 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-43 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/47ceab49d92e97ca51d9b83aa6910cf7.mp3 f000c6ec1ee841192f236a58d519b30d https://scsharchives.com/files/original/4da766fcea9e25a8c7ae100da54dc342.mp3 9fc1543a070387081a9220b433057743 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/01eb2ce336f0c4104079fe2a09cc954c.mp3 0af7a59a8c49a77f716fc04912e3e365 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/c421ef910f9d1e0d1d5342058685695f.mp3 08a63995aacd8aa103289bd064752e37 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/60c93e4fe44ed12f4d2c24687dd968fc.mp3 1fcf67e4fd86b7357c8adf60395b1557 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/679b736976b8e523394a303b65d66898.mp3 86d321a9bb0acfc0681737f0cc38df23 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/ae848655c08eab2d0f4be9664e987ab4.mp3 2f047f2f7510b3b3cde811e6faf97e04 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/50401c5a69a3e7fb7feafad3bfcfa770.mp3 c1be1ab5e3c29d4c2d2b6df41a7a28e3 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/97fc7f6966aec3dcbc79b29089af8df3.mp3 6cf680c4f1f92c33500cf9e25dc4d9bf https://scsharchives.com/files/original/99cd0c13158844b79b05d69c130f3b8a.mp3 ea8ca842866a35ddcc2b8e976d158063 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/d886e20823ba8db45039226c1f86bf03.mp3 cd55361ad66867fdcfc1fe745510cd28 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/8b95950bd4c59ad50b8540bd04036471.mp3 8dbcba767de9b90a244e154a75f049db https://scsharchives.com/files/original/b2fcf1cd1126902ddabc14f8d306127b.mp3 c7584af67309719a33f0a7aab4664b02 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/5150fe6c5ccd3eafdb9a61a3f2928c18.mp3 6c547d17be70132fdc4ba8716973d133 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/8b5c70727cd5a6b76d8778aa9fe82a08.mp3 7b6dc3a78a1d83bc0790701f37afe73b https://scsharchives.com/files/original/ed07b2bfe7d4e1a764a8a5d8fc448f70.mp3 07c93b095cf4e5a2b83735b82493f3c4 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 M. Suzanne McIntyre 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 31:00 31:01 31:00 31:00 31:02 31:04 31:02 31:00 31:00 31:01 31:00 31:02 31:00 31:02 31:08 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound OH-20 SBMG: This is an interview being conducted for the archives of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. It is being conducted in the parlor at Sacred Heart Convent on September 9, 1986. The interviewer is Sister Brigid Marie Grantley, and the interviewee is Sister Suzanne McIntyre. v Now Sister Suzanne, I ' ve known you for quite a while, and I've heard you tell a lot of interesting stories so I'm hopeful that we will capture some of your enthusiasm for life on this tape. I would like you to feel free to say whatever you would like to say . The most interesting place to start would be with your birth, early years in grade school, your years at Sacred Heart High School, and your entrance into the Community. SSMc: You told me you were going to do this, I read several books during the Summer about Irish history, particularly about the famines because I wanted to know about the dates. I discovered that my father and his family had been born around those important dates 1845- 1852. My mother on the other hand was younger, and so I think her family was not as disturbed with the famines. My father Patrick Francis McIntyre was born in Ulster in 1856. 1856 was one of the big dates. 1850 was the end of one of the worst famines. One thing that interested me was that since my family never spoke about any great poverty, it was because in Ulster there were some mines, etc., which provided work for the Irish. My father was the oldest of seven children as I am the seventh child in my family. So when my father was very young, his parents took him to Liverpool. In Liverpool no Irish were ever allowed to die. If they died in Ireland, it was alright, because it would be thought that it was because the Irish were careless. So my father received a very good education in Liverpool. His English was lovely, no sign of a brogue, and he didn' t swallow the ends of words as many of the Liverpoolans did. He went to school until he was sixteen. His older brother and his four sisters had meantime come over one by one to America. From what I know, my father buried his father and mother in Liverpool. My father came at age sixteen to New York to meet his brother. Uncle Tommy as I knew him thought he was going to play a trick on my father. He handed my father a bag and said" Patty, these are some American apples." My father bit into one which was delicious! It was a tomato, and we always had fresh tomatoes in our house. My father would tell this story, but he never talked about Liverpool. He spoke a little about the Irish. He held as a great treasure his naturalization papers. We have them yet, Mary and I. He was naturalized in what was then called "The Ohio Settlement." which included Wheeling and Western Pennsylvania. My father was twenty three at the time as he had to wait five years before naturalization could begin. If you asked him for his date of birth, the date he would give was January 9t \ the date of his naturalization. My father would never permit any harsh words or titles which you hear addressed to the Jewish, the Irish, the Negro, etc. My father never raised his voice or used his hands, but when he put down his paper, he would say "That' s enough!" We knew it was serious, and that was it. So I grew up in a very fine environment. We weren't rich. My father worked as a puddler. His brother was a superintendent of a salt box mill in Etna, but my father and mother got married and had children so soon, that he had to go to work in the mill as a puddler, which was one of the highest paid jobs, but nonetheless a very hard one. My sister Mary grieves to this day because he had to work so hard. She didn't understand when we were growing up what a puddler did. My father died one month before I entered...January 5, 1925. He slipped on the ice coming home from visiting with his aunt. On a Saturday, Irene and I were in Pittsburgh buying things for my entrance. My father wouldn't accept an invitation to dinner at his aunt's, because Mary had stayed home to get dinner, and he said when someone did this, you went home to eat it. My brother Jim didn't follow him. He thought his aunt's dinner would be better than Mary' s. My father tripped on a step, fell back and hit his head. I remember only one thing about those forty­ eight hours when my father was in the hospital. I had never seen anyone very sick. My mother died when I was very young. No one in our house had illnesses. I got whooping cough some years later when I was stationed at Sacred Heart, when I was fifty-five years old. My mother took care of her sister' s children when they had black diphtheria and died, but she did not bring it home to us. So when I saw my father in the hospital with his head all wrapped up and unconscious talking out of his unconsciousness, I just couldn't take it. I ran down the end of the hall and stood for some time with my face against the comer. Then I was ashamed of myself for being such a fraidy cat. So that night when Mary and I were allowed to stay, I went back up and went into my father ' s room, although they didn' t want this as my father had pneumonia. All the windows were open . In those days they did this so that others would not get it. I was so sad because he hadn't said anything sensible, hadn't said any prayers. But while I was standing there...suddenly out of the delirium came "Our Father Who Art In Heaven." That made everything fine. My father was a good man, but we felt badly that he had to die so suddenly. However, he died with everyone around him children, sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, etc. SBMG: I was wondering. You said that your mother died when you were very young and I wondered who took care of the family, and how you managed. SSMcl: My mother who had married my father at age seventeen had seven children. I was the seventh. She was considered to be a delicate child and this is an interesting story. My mother and her family lived in Swansea , Wales. She was born in Swansea , Wales, but the family came from Cork, Ireland, probably during one of the bad years in Ireland. They had a lovely home, lovely grounds, beautiful horses, and where my mother' s mother had buried five young children. Therefore, when her husband suggested that they follow the oldest son and daughter over to America, she said definitely no. She had three young daughters living , one of which was my aunt Nellie, who lived to be ninety-three, but couldn' t be baptized as a baby because she was so sick, and my mother who had rheumatic fever, so her heart was bad. She said it was time to visit her relatives in Cork. She took the two youngest, leaving my mother who was age eight with the housekeeper and her father whom she loved very well in the home in Swansea, Wales. I don't know how he did it, but my grandfather literally kidnapped my mother and brought her over to America to his sister and my grandmother' s brother who happened to be in Pittsburgh Nevertheless, he brought eight year old, Maggie, who was not very strong over across the seas. I didn' t know my grandparents. I have a notion that my grandmother was a little stiff. My mother was the third of the seven children born to her parents. My mother then was not strong. She also had a problem with her eyes. By the time she was eleven years old, she was completely losing her sight. My grandmother of course took her to the best of physicians who told her they could not do anything, but perhaps there was a new operation they might try. My grandmother asked the doctors if they could assure her of anything and when they said "no", she said...well, we won't operate then. Getting back to my mother. She had married at the age of seventeen and had seven children. They all lived and were strong. She had the same German mid-wife for the delivery of all the children. I was little, but was healthy. Sister Teresa Vincent, not a sister at the time ran around telling everyone that Mrs. McIntyre had a baby with long black hair down to her shoulders, and she looked like an Indian. Across the street from the house where I was born lived the Mahoney sisters, on another comer lived the Reilly sisters and on the other comer lived a family whose daughters also became Sisters of Charity. We lived there for just a few years because when my mother died, my sister Irene couldn't stay there any longer. It was too hard. Now you asked me who took care ofus. When I was born, Irene was sixteen. She was the second girl. Nellie followed her mother's footsteps and married young, the first time. However, her husband died and they had no children. So she moved home too. Irene, at age sixteen was a wonderful, wonderful girl. Irene and Nellie knew everything that my mother knew. They knew how to bake, how to cook, what was this, what was that, etc. To this day, I hardly ever have a conversation with Mary who was eleven when my mother died,that she doesn't say "mom or pop". They're always coming into the conversation. When my mother died, my father was left with seven children... ranging from age twenty-one down to age three and a half. My mother, I don't ever remember, because she never had her picture taken. I never felt that I had lost a mother, because we had so many mothers taking care ofus. Our house was always filled with people. Our cousins, uncles etc. could always stay with us as we always found another place to put a bed. SBMG: You went to St. John the Baptist Elementary School. Is that correct? SSMcl: St. John the Baptist was way ahead of its time. As Sister Electa Boyle would tell you in her book, the buildings were the finest in the city of Pittsburgh. When the pastor had them built, he arranged for them to be connected, so that you could go from one to the other without going outside. This was of course a great advantage. I was baptized at St. John the Baptist in 1906. All but my two oldest sisters were baptized there. My father and my mother were buried there. Everybody else lived there until they were married. Then they moved away. Now, what was school like? It was delightful. I was seven when I went to school. My m other didn't believe in sending a child at age six, and neither did Irene when I came along. My first grade teacher was a Miss Purcell.· She wa·s about five years older than Irene, and she handled the first grade beautifully. Both Father McKeever at St. John's and Monsignor Kane at Sacred Heart were always ahead in having at least one secular teacher in their grade school...fine sisters teaching, but we did have this one lay teacher...Miss Purcell. Miss Purcell got me ready for my First Holy Communion, and I was well ready for it. We were invited up around the altar. People today talk about going up around the altar, but we did it in 1913. We went up to the altar. I led the way as I was the smallest. I don't know who taught me to read and write, but I did learn. I do know that my father taught my sister, Mary, how to read and write. In those days you learned how to read before you went to school. So, to keep me quiet, Miss Purcell sat me up in the front desk on some books and gave me the eighth grade geography and the adult Bible History to read. So I early in my life became interested in History and Geography and rm very grateful. I liked it all the time. I couldn't be bothered learning how to read and I didn't pay much attention to Mathematics. I guess I learned something, but I didn't pay much attention. St. John the Baptist in those days ,the first grade, was a big upper room, which later became High School classrooms. It had one wall, which Father left not plastered. It had a curtain which could be shoved back and we could go into the other part of the room where we had our play time. You didn't have to worry about the weather at all. Sister Miriam Gaffney, who was our principal, just loved to have little plays. She had a little platform up in front of the school. She would come around and she would pick this one from this room and that one from that room. She had the plays all ready. You went down to the principal's office and got your part. You memorized your lines and we entertained. We entertained the Civil War Veterans, the Spanish War Veterans, the Little Sisters of the Poor when they came around, etc. We were always entertaining. We had good, solid classes too. We never spoke of grades at St. John's until you hit the fifth grade on the second floor. So all the other rooms were: room 1, room 2, room 3, room 4, room 5, and room 6. So you know, you could have two third grades. No one was ever told that they didn't make it. You moved from room to room, not from grade to grade. I happened to get through all those grades myself, but one time I found myself wondering " How come I had Sister Ernestine Palmer in the third or fourth grade, and then I had Sister Mechtildes Grasberger, whom I loved, and then I had Sister Gonzaga Driscoll?" Now I think we were pushed around the second semester so that I was pushed on a grade ahead. Then in the fifth grade I had Sister Baptista McGivern She was a marvel in History, so we had lots of History. She was very smart. When we talked a little bit when she left the room, we always admitted that we had talked. She would say "Well dear, you'll have to stay in after school and write ten, fifteen, twenty, and sometimes it was more five syllable words from our text" Have you ever tried to find twenty five syllable words from a fifth grade text book? Another punishment was having to memorize the week's Spelling words backwards. We learned our vocabulary alright. I skipped the sixth grade and always felt that I didn't know anything about Arithmetic from that time on until I got to High School. Algebra was alright, Geometry okay, Advanced Algebra was alright, but I'm just beginning to remember how to add now. I never like anyone asking me about my multiplication tables. SBMG: I believe you have some recollections about the Sisters at St. John the Baptist and about your Music lessons there. SSMcI: Yes, my dear sister, Irene, had sacrificed and bought a new piano so that I could practice. That's one thing my sister had not thought through. I loved to play the piano, but you had to practice to be good, and I did not like to practice. Sister Agnes Cecilia Dougherty was the Music teacher. She was very smart, very wise, and colorful, always laughing. So I had a lot of sweet little pieces. Sister Athanasius Hillgrove came along a few years later and said I really was wasting my sister's money. She suggested that my sister discontinue my Music lessons. Meantime, though, Sister Agnes Cecilia used to gather us together and have us sit on the floor. We sat on the parlor floor about once a week on lovely carpets. The sisters were all very generous about having us do this. During these sessions, we really had Music appreciation. I learned to know all about the musicians and to appreciate some of their music even though I could never sit down and practice it enough so that I could play it. I have a taste for good Music because of these sessions. Also, I remember Sister Agnes Cecilia and Father McKeever. When we came out of school every afternoon, we were all very happy because Father played the drum and Sister Agnes Cecilia played the piano. So we marched out of school to wonderful Music..drum and piano, and Sister tapping her heels, and she and Father both waving good night to us. I remember my principal, Sister Miriam Gaffney, Sister Mary Cecilia Brown , Sister Ernestine Palmer, Sister Baptista McGivem , who taught us such wonderful History, Sister Redempta Regan who taught us in the eighth grade, and Sister Mechtildes Grasberger. Sister Mechtildes taught me in the fifth grade, and broke my heart. One day she was doing something, reading something, and I always loved to listen. I loved her. Someone made a noise, and she thought it was I. I think she forgot, and for just a minute, she slapped me. I wouldn't talk to her for three days. So, she finally made enough reparation by putting a very beautiful picture in front of me on the desk telling me that it was all a big mistake. I forgave her, but I was just hurt because I would never do anything to hurt Sister Mechtildes. We went to the convent chapel at St. John's too. What I remember is that my sister, Catherine, was very popular and she had boy friends who brought her many lovely things like bouquets of flowers, boxes of candy, etc. Catherine didn't seem to care much, especially about the flowers which usually got put in our kitchen after she took one upstairs for herself. So, I thought it was awful to just have the flowers on a kitchen shelf, so I would take them to the convent and was even allowed to go upstairs to the privacy of the chapel on the second floor and put the flowers down on a bench there. Then we would say a little prayer. St. Patrick's Day was a big day at St. John's. If it fell on a Friday, we were given the day off and permission to eat meat. Getting to the celebration of St. Patrick's Day involved much preparation. Every room had to work hard to see who could bring in the most money for the St. Patrick's Day bazaar. It was lots of fun! We were always having parties. The girls had the parties mostly. You had a party in your family, and of course, your family provided lemonade and cakes. The family permitted you to have the parlor or what-ever room they could. Everyone coming to the party had to pay. They paid at the front door. None of the money went to the family having the party. Everything they paid, you could take with you the next day. I also remember that before I left grade school, I was teaching the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine to little children up on the hill. We went up and knocked on the doors. I won't mention any nationalities, but there was a very fine group of Catholics there. The men felt that there were more interesting things for them to do on a Saturday morning. The women were very glad however that a smart little girl, I mean smart because she didn't mind men or knocking on the doors insisting that the children come to CCD. I brought the children down the hill to St. John's where I taught them for one hour and then took them over for the eleven o'clock Mass. In the meantime, for those ofus who have to have something to eat before Mass, I hadn't had anything to eat. It was long, and I'm glad the fasting regulations have changed, but nonetheless, it was a good experience. I learned to teach Christian Doctrine early. St. John's had Euchre parties every Friday evening. These parties were most enjoyable and popular, because some benefactors like the Eichenlaub's contributed very nice things as prizes. One time, my brother won a lovely brass bedstead. SBMG: Then when you finished at St. John the Baptist, Sister Suzanne, I believe you came right over to Sacred Heart High School. Would you like to tell us something about the location of the High School then and about the priests, some of your teachers , some of the things you learned, etc.? SSMcI: Sacred Heart high school and grade school were both located on Center Avenue at that time. The Church was on Center Avenue. My recollection of the Church before going to Sacred Heart High School was when my uncle died. He was a very tall, well built handsome man from Limerick. All I could think as we walked up the church steps was that they will drop the casket as the many steps were also icy. Nevertheless, I came to Sacred Heart as a high school girl in 1920; We had rooms in the grade school up on the second and third floor. We had wonderful teachers. Sister Borgia Casey was our principal. She was also principal of the grade school. She worked hard. She met us every day when we came late, and the only comment was: "Well if you got the car before, you wouldn't be late." Now you can take ten demerits. We would tell Sister Rose Vincent McNulty that we got these demerits, and she was always lovely, but after a few times, she would say: "Sit down with your old demerits." Sister Claudia Glenn hadn't come yet. I didn't have her in my freshman year. I had Sister Beatrice Gority for Latin. Sister Beatrice's classes were wonderful! She made you love the Latin language. I don't know that I was tortured about grammar, but suppose I learned it well enough. We did learn to love the Latin language and also the history behind what we were studying in Latin. I had Sister Beatrice for Latin for four years. She also taught us Music. She had a beautiful voice, so we also learned to sing some songs in Latin. I signed up for Commercial-Academic. I thought I would earn some money, but haven't earned ten cents. When you signed up for Commercial, you took Book-Keeping in your Freshman and Sophomore year. It was very good. I liked it, but missed out on Ancient History. I couldn't take Ancient History. So when it was time to take Spanish the next year, I took Spanish from Sister Evelyn Fisher. I took it for two years. At Sacred Heart, you could have Latin four years, two years of Spanish or German, and then in your senior year, if you had a period, you could take a year of your next language, which I intended to do. I didn't take German to start with because I felt it would be too difficult, but after two years of Spanish and three years of Latin, I thought I would try a little German. In the meantime, Father Coakley had come. He was well versed in French. He had been in the first world war, so dear Sister Gregory's German had to go by the board. I got my first lesson in Forensics from Father Coakley. He came to our class practically every day. We were his first graduating class, so he gave us a lot of his time. During the Summer of my Junior year he had a new high school built... you know Sears Roebuck stuff out now where the new church was supposed to be where the Sears Roebuck is now..out on Sheraden Avenue and Highland. Oh, that was wonderful! You could go into your own room by your own door, and go out without going into the hall. As Seniors, we had ten minute privileges. We got out ten minutes before the others did. We had all the room in the world, but we were allowed to go off the premises to the Ritten House for lunch. The only time I enjoyed lunch during the four years was when I went to the Ritten House for a sandwich. So during my senior year I spent money going to the Ritten House for lunch. Father Coakley had said that we could have French. He was going to bring a young girl from Carnegie-Mellon to teach the French class. I felt that this was terrible because we were blaming a language for what had happened in World War I. I expressed myself very vociferously. I didn't get too far with Father Coakley who said the young woman was coming regardless of the objection. Sister Gregory Farrell said again that if we could get ten girls for German, I'll give you a course in German. We couldn't get ten girls. Some girls wanted to take French from the young woman from Carnegie-Mellon because they felt that German was too hard. I would not take French, and couldn't get German. Well, Mother Evaline Fisher settled that. She said if you can get others interested, I'll give you Third Year Spanish. So we were ahead of most schools in the city. We had three years of Spanish at Sacred Heart. Now public schools, like Langley High School in Sheraden had a magnificent four year course in Spanish, French, and German. I made up my Geometry which I had missed during my Sophomore year by taking Book-Keeping. I went to Schenley High School. . It was delightful. I had a man teacher. This was also pleasing to me. However, I took Geometry with Charles Helbling, one of my classmates. He was one of the brightest boys in the class. After about two days I said, "Charles, how long did you spend on your Geometry last evening?" He said, "Seven hours." I said," Well then I'm quitting today.". I'm not going to spend seven hours a day in the Summer on Geometry even if it is required; .I did quit. I had a good time taking Ancient History. It was delightful. I got Geometry in the novitiate after I entered. SBMG: We'll just stop for today and pick up this tape when we meet again. SBMG: This is a continuation of the oral history on Sister Suzanne McIntyre by Sr. Brigid Marie Grantley at Sacred Heart Convent. The date is September 10, 1986. Now Sr..Suzanne, on the frrst tape you told us about your childhood, your experiences at St. John the Baptist and at Sacred Heart High School. So I guess my question to you now would be: Whatever made you think about becoming a Sister of Charity and how did that come to you, and what steps did you take? SSMCI: Actually, thoughts of becoming a Sister percolated heavily in my mind during my Junior year, but when they did so, I tried very hard to dismiss them as I had no intention of being a Sister. In my eighth grade, I loved all the Sisters. One day Sister Redempta Regan standing in line passed all the lovely girls and said to me "And you're going to become a sister, aren't you dear?" I answered very emphatically: "Not on your life, get up at five thirty in the morning, never go home, never dance or sing?" Oh no, Sister. I'm going to be an actress. In spite of it all, my whole background was tied up with the sisters. A deep seeded love for religion was ingrained in me. I was religiously inclined, yet I loved the movies. I went to a movie almost every day, and sometimes more than once a day. I loved to dance and sing, although at times the feeling came to me that I ought to do more with my life. A voice deep down seem to say that perhaps I wouldn't be saved unless I became a Sister. I liked boys. I had a special boy friend from grade school through high school. In walking home together from a date one evening, he was the frrst one I told about possibly becoming a Sister. He said, "That's great!" Maybe I should become a priest. He did go to St. Vincent's for a short time, but left and became a very successful lawyer. He was a good father to a large family. I'm sure that family wouldn't object to my giving his name.John D. McGrady. However, somewhere in my senior year, the Bishop ordered that every school had to have prayers every day for vocations. I recall that Mother Claudia Glenn put the name and address of every religious order on the blackboard. She told us things about everyone, but never wrote Sisters of Charity. I suppose she felt that since we had Sisters of Charity and observed them, there wasn't any point in listing it on the board. She wrote the names of all the monasteries and the kind of priests who were there. We did have one priest vocation from our class...Father John McKenna who was from Hazelwood. He became a wonderful diocesan priest. He died before we had our twenty-fifth class reunion. Well, getting back to me. We prayed a very beautiful prayer every day and we thought about it . My sister Nellie, who lived in Aliquippa at the time had no children. She coaxed me to come down and spend some time with her. Nellie just loved children. So I went and spent a week with Nellie. Every morning I went to Mass with her. After Mass, she would leave to make a fine breakfast for me....anything to keep me there. I stayed in the church every morning. I was fighting a vocation. Finally, I came home, went out to see Mother Claudia, and said to her: "I keep thinking I should be a Sister of Charity." She said, "Well, I've been waiting for you to tell me." Never once in four years had she or anyone else said anything to me. Then she was all for getting me ready for September eighth. When I went home and told my Sister, Irene, who never lets you down she smiled happily. Her good work of giving up half of her life was turning out decently. Mary, my other sister on the other hand said"You become a sister? What are you going to do with your right foot when you feel like stamping it?" My sister Irene said there is no way I can have you ready for September. You'll need too many things. So, I have a suggestion. You have a scholarship for Seton Hill. We weren't going to send you there as it would cost something beyond our means. I'll make a compact with you. You go to Seton Hill for a semester. We'll be able to afford taking care of things. That way you can see what it's like to get up at six o'clock or whenever . Be with the sisters and see if you would like it. Then if you don't wish to be a Sister, you can come home after the first semester and go to Robert Morris College, which we can afford. So I went to Seton Hill as a freshman in 1924 with a class of twenty-eight. I was delayed for three weeks in getting to Seton Hill as I had a severe case of Gingivitis. This presented some problems regarding classes which I wanted to take. Sister Eucharia O'Hagan was Registrar and informed me that I couldn't take Latin or Spanish as classes had been in session for three weeks. Schweitzer(Sr. Maria Francesca Umauer), who taught German did not like late beginners due to the complexity of the German language. I reluctantly ended up taking French. This was the only "D" I've ever received. I went home at Christmas time. On January fifth I went into town, met Irene, and spent the day buying things for entering the convent. In the meantime, arrangements had been made for me to enter on February second, which would be after the first semester of college work. Two days after my father's funeral we had an extra visit. Sister Florence Marie Scott and Sister Francesca Brownlee came in from Greensburg. I really didn't understand the reason for the visit...thought perhaps that they did this for every student. When my sister Irene took the sisters to the parlor, they said we think we have to say one thing. Lillian doesn't seem to be showing any signs of coming back to school. Sister Francesca said, "You know if she doesn't return to school, we can't give her credit for her first semester work." No matter where she wants to go to school, and I'm sure she will, she'll have to repeat the first semester's work. I did go back to Seton Hill. Sister Stanislaus McVay was our Dean of Women, and she was an angel. Sister Amata Brennan was our nurse. She also was an angel. Everyone was so very good to me, and Margaret Garrick , my companion in the room next to me helped me to get through those days. I don't recall that I did much studying. I did get my grades. Somewhere during the last week, Sister Florence Marie Scott said to me:"Lillian, have you altogether given up being a sister?" I suddenly said, "Oh yes, I may as well." Actually, I went home on Friday and came back to Seton Hill to enter on Sunday.. SBMG: So you entered. What was it like to be a postulant in 1924? SSMC: My sister Irene and my aunt Lilly, my god-mother took me up to Seton Hill on the train. Most of the family stayed at home. My date of entrance was February 2, 1924. I enjoyed every minute of my novitiate. Sister Mary Dorcas Smith entered with me. She was a Sophomore. I was a Freshman. We entered on Monday, February second. We came on Sunday, but in those days you came the day before entrance. On Tuesday word came, per Mother Rose Genevieve Rogers that Dorcas Smith and Lillian McIntyre were to sign up for full schedule of college classes. My first month in the Novitiate, despite my sadness over my father's and nephew's death quickly evaporated. I was really very happy. I didn't long grieve over my father's and nephew's death. I grieved over Sister Mary Dorcas's death longer than for anything in my life. We were very busy with school work and novitiate duties, so there was no time to get homesick. Very early even in my postulancy I served in the dining room and I felt that this was kind of clever, being able to do this without dropping things down people's backs. Also, it was discovered that my voice was a very strong one, so I was asked to read. I had an interesting experience with this. We were up in the gallery. My first attempt was at prayers. In the old prayer manual, in one of the litanies there was the phrase: "From the sins of the damned, preserve us oh Lord." Actually, It was: "From the sins of Adam, preserve us oh Lord." The A in Adam was left out. On the way out of prayers, Sister Electa Boyle corrected me. She always sat up in the gallery off to the side. She told me that I wasn't very intelligent that I didn't know that the A was missing from Adam. As I was reading that, from down below in the chapel, dear Sister Ferdinand Love had a lovely voice. She kept perfect time in praying. In fact, Mother Mary Francis McCullough, when she corrected me, said that Sister Ferdinand was the only one in the chapel praying correctly, and I would do well to follow her example. That's just one of the things that I remember from early times. During our novitiate, we also had Mother Mary Francis, our Novice Mistress for classes. We had Father Sullivan teaching us religion classes. We worked up in the infirmary and were impressed with people like Sister M. Christina Riley, who was so terribly crippled. SBMG: At the end of our last session, Sister Suzanne, you were beginning to talk about some of the sisters you met while you were still in the novitiate. You had mentioned Sister Christina. Now you may want to tell about some of the other sisters you met in your early days. SSMCI: I remember that I was so impressed with sisters in their last illnesses. I suppose that my father's death and my nephew's death made me feel that I could be around the dying. I was never good with the sick if they had a great pain or showed signs of fever or had a cut and were bleeding. I would have to quickly get someone else to tend to them. I'm no good with the actual sick, but when they reach the point where they are finding their way towards God, I don't have any difficulty with being able to stay with them. I'm glad of the fact that even in the novitiate and my days as a professed sister I have been with several sisters much of the time when they were having their last days on earth. One sister I especially remember was our dear and loving Sister Carita Duffy. I say this just to remind us all no matter how much we think we are doing, at the end, sometimes God does ask us for a special thing. He seemed to ask Sister Carita during those last three days to find it very hard to give up this life or to come out of whatever was disturbing her. I remember kneeling at the foot of her bed as often as I could get there and praying. There was always an older sister at the top of the bed who would say: "Say the Apostles Creed." I recall how peaceful and calm sister would become and a nice smile would come over her face. We said this prayer many times and as a result I have become very devoted to this prayer. I also remember Sister Callista M. Hughes who was smaller than I. She was a little senile at the time , childish actually. She was just as sweet as she could be, but when left to herself she was always on the way home to her mother because she wasn't allowed to be out so late in the afternoon. She knew where the door was to let her out, and so she would slip out very quickly. Anyone ofus who saw her of course took her to the infirmarian. The power of obedience was shown to me one night. I had done the reading in the novitiate. I was by myself. Suddenly I looked and there was little Sister Callista. She had found her way up to the third floor. I didn't know what I was going to do as she probably would have become very upset ifl touched her. I did begin to talk to her, and of course got the same story that she had to go home to her mother because she couldn't be on forty-sixth street after four o'clock. When I was about to despair, Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers came around the comer. She had not yet gone . down to dinner. It was so wonderful! She just smiled sweetly and said: Now Sister Callista, what are you doing up here? Sister Callista said: "I don't know, Mother." Well now dear, said Mother Rose Genevieve, we'll go down to your room. It's time for dinner. Not a word. Her mind was perfectly clear for that minute. She knew Mother Rose Genevieve and that she was the superior, so she went down to her room. I went to my room being very impressed that this dear, sweet sister was keeping her vow of obedience after all these years in the Community. SBMG: Thank you very much Sister Suzanne. Now is there anything else you would like to share with us, especially from your novitiate? SSMC: Yes, I have some very pleasant things that I recall. Back in the novitiate, we got much practice in Gregorian Chant. Our singing was fine. There was an elderly priest who came from Europe. He was well versed in Gregorian Chant. He came from Pine Gregorian School in Europe. The Gregorian was not the most important thing that I recall. He stayed for a month or two and took us for classes. He was such a delightful, elderly priest. He walked every day underneath the porch on the novitiate side of the building. Mother Mary Francis also wanted us to take a walk each day. The half hour or so before dinner seemed to be the best time, and this is when Father took his walk. He used to tell us many interesting stories. The one I remember most was about St. Teresa, the Little Flower. Father was a personal friend of the Little Flower's family. When the Little Flower was just a small girl he visited and told us that she sat on his knee. He made the story very human. He said: "Oh, she sat on my knee." She wasn't so well trained. If she didn't get what she wanted.s he complained. Her Biography tells us that her father did spoil her. Father wanted us to know that we too could become saints. I liked to walk back and forth with Father because he wasn't much taller than I. One day we asked him to tell us more about the Little Flower. He looked at me and said: " Oh she wasn't so much bigger than you. " I hadn't had too much devotion to the Little Flower. She was canonized in I believe 1925, so she wasn't any older than I was then. So I thought...What did she ever do to become a saint? I hadn't read very much yet along those lines. I went out on mission, my first to St.Philip's in Crafton. I decided one Sunday afternoon to go over to the school which was close to the convent. The school door sometimes gave you trouble. When I had finished doing what I wanted to do in the classroom I left. I locked the door, turned the key to take it out and it would not come out. I hated to admit that I had gone to the school by myself and hadn't learned to use a key properly. So I said: "Well Little Flower, in this hour, show your power. If you get this key out for me, I'll tell everybody about you from now on." The key came out, and from that time on at least at the beginning of the year, I took time out to tell whatever class I had about the Little Flower. I also say her prayer which Mother Claudia Glenn gave me when I entered. I haven't become any great fan...I like Teresa of Avila better, but I remember that little incident from the novitiate of a priest who knew her personally and said that anyone who really tries can be a saint. SBMG; Well, that was very interesting, Sister. Do you remember any other experiences that you had with other sisters who were novices with you? . SSMI: Oh, I could go on for hours, but I'm going to tell you two things. Sister Dominica O'Connor, Sister Joanna Gleason and I were close :friends through the novitiate and also through our years as professed sisters. One day we were down on the first floor and we were experimenting, I guess. One of us said: "I don't know why we walk up five flights of stairs when there's an elevator here." The elevator was one which brought things up and down to the tearoom. Sister Joanna said:" We don't know how to use that." I said: "Well, there seems to be nothing to it. Anytime I've seen it, all you do is push the door open and the elevator stops and you go out." Sister Dominica, being sweet didn't disagree with me. Sr. Joanna hesitated, but we got in the elevator. Sister Joanna went in first since she was the senior, so she was closer to the back. I was close to the door since I knew all about this elevator. As we went up, we pushed the elevator and it did start. I don't know what we pushed. I've forgotten now. We went to the first floor and the second floor, but when I tried pushing something it didn't work. We got a little :frightened, at least I did. Anyhow, I said: "Oh you're just supposed to push it." So I did and we walked out. It was the third floor and Sr. Dominica and I got out, but Sister Joanna was still in the elevator and I pushed the door which closed. The elevator kept going up and all we could think was that it was broken and when it reached the top, it would fall clear down to the ground and Sister Joanna would·be killed. I was leaning over into the elevator shaft waiting for it to come down and Sister Dominica pulled me in. She held on to me very tightly and said:"There' s no use in two of us being killed." We would have been killed if she had not pulled me in. The elevator didn't come down and then we wondered...Where is Sister Joanna? We saw nothing. We thought she was dead. We went up another flight of steps and eventually we heard her laugh....a smutted laugh. She was so overcome with laughter that she couldn't speak, and we were so frightened that we were crying, -at least I was. Then we got mad because she hadn't told us. It had stopped on the sixth floor. There was something right about what I had said. It did automatically stop if you left it alone. Sister Joanna got out of the elevator when it stopped. She was finding her way down when she heard our cries and sobs and she began to laugh about all of that. Well, that was one incident. The other is a very beautiful one. It includes one of my favorite :friends...Father Reeves. When I went to Seton Hill, Father Reeves was a young priest. That was the class of 1928 to which I belonged although I didn't stay with it. However, I'm always included in reunions etc. Sister Joanna knew Father Reeves. She had gone through school to the Sisters of Mercy until she went to Seton Hill. In the process of determining her vocation, she talked to Father Reeves, and so he considered her to be his postulant. We were both taking a Bible class with other novices at the time. All novices sat toward the back of the Visual Education Room, which is where Father taught the class. The College students sat further up in the room. Sometimes the college girls were not too quiet during class, and I imagine occasionally that the novices weren't either. Father was usually pretty patient, but this particular day he expressed himself rather strongly to the girls and then to our chagrin he said: "And you novices had better behave yourselves or you will be out of the class. I'll report you." Well, we felt we had been disgraced. When class was over Sister Joanna and I felt that Father had really been out of place. He had no business talking to us that way. We were Sisters. He should show some respect. So we talked this over and decided we would go down and tell him about it. We walked down to his office which was in the Psychology Lab. He greeted us by saying very cheerfully .....hello! We were very severe in our response. We proceeded to tell him how out of _ place he had been. He was shocked that we would have the nerve to question him about this. He was very hurt, especially at Blanche, which was Sister Joanna's name before she entered. He didn't know me well enough at the time as when I was in College before entering, all I ever had to say was: "Good morning, Father." Well, we left him rather chagrined. He told us to go rather angrily. As we went upstairs we began to talk about it and decided that maybe we were out of line and should go back and apologize. The next day, we ate humble pie and went back to apologize. When we knocked on the door, Father smiled and told us to come in. We began to apologize and say how sorry we were. Father said: "Oh, that's alright." We must have said: "Well Father, we hope you will forgive us. We feel that we have committed a sin, and we'd like you to forgive us." I have never forgotten what he said. Forgive you? My dears, I forgave you shortly after you left here. Otherwise, how could I say the Our Father at my Mass this morning? He said: ''Now you've been forgiven for many hours. Now go and forget about it." I've always remembered this, although I've not always practiced it. By the next day we were good friends again. After that, when I was home in the next year, Father was very much at ease with me. Father was a marvelous teacher, but he was also a very holy man. Some people said the sisters spoiled him. Maybe they had. He didn't have a strong physical make-up. I remember Father on Sundays going out on the missions to teach CCD. I went with Father Reeves and some of the others to teach CCD classes. He taught in some distance outside of Greensburg in an Italian setting. Father Ree¥es, if you remember him was always spic and span. He was immaculately dressed....a handsome man at all times. I remember one Sunday in particular where classes were taught in what was the only room, the Hall, which had been used by the group the previous evening. It smelled very much of good wine, but nonetheless wine from the previous night. The Hall wasn't especially clean, but I marveled that through all that Father didn't show any signs of being annoyed. He patiently waited for the women to set up for Mass, at which he gave a beautiful homily in Italian and English. He was so much at home with those people up in the coal mining region of Greensburg. Those were some of the side things about Father Reeves that everyone didn't see. I had wonderful experiences also with Sister Helen Cecilia Dwyer in going out to teach CCD. The area we went to was far away. I have forgotten the name of the area now, but we left at seven o'clock in the morning. We packed our lunch the night before. We went via taxi cab immediately after Mass on Sunday morning. . Sister and I taught in a one­ room public school. It had a pot belly stove in it. The boys would put the coal in that was needed. We taught the children from when we got there, which was about nine o'clock until ten thirty. Then we would pile the children into a truck or some vehicle supplied by families to the church for Mass, which was at eleven o' clock. You understand that i.f they were going to Communion, they were still fasting. If Sister and I were going to Communion we would still be fasting also, but usually this was not the case. After Mass, we took the children back to the school house where then they were taken home. Sister Helen Cecilia and I stayed at the school house to eat our lunch. I learned to like black olives through this experience. Sister Helen Cecilia liked them, so she always packed some in our lunches. We ate our lunch around the stove. Then at one o' clock, the taxi or cars would come back packed to the gills with other CCD teachers, who like myself were going to teach other CCD classes in the afternoon. They picked Sister and me up. I was the first one dropped off then at the nearest place where I was going to teach. It was not the same place where I had taught in the morning, you understand. I have . forgotten the name of the place. The others were dropped off along the road at other places. It was in the various homes in outdoor wash house facilities that I taught. They were lovely Italian people, very clean and hospitable. A young girl from Greensburg was dropped off with me, but she did not like to go into the homes. One day after I had started to teach, they informed me that one of the grandmothers was sick. Would I go to see her? I said: "Of course." They took me to their home. The daughters were there and treated me like bad news , but they didn't dare say anything because Papa and Mama were there. I went inside, where a darling mother, a beautiful woman with lovely black hair and a beautiful voice was in bed. You could see that she was suffering. Her husband was there. He spoke very little English and his hands were very rough. I visited Grandma for a few Sundays. Being very young, I didn't ask many questions. She didn' t seem to be able to say what her problem was. She.blamed the doctors, who she said burned her back. Then one day when her husband wasn't in the room, she showed me her back. It was a hard thing for my young eyes to look at. She was indeed dying from Cancer. Her husband whispered to me that his hands were rough due to working in the mines, so that he couldn't rub her back without hurting her, and so she was scolding him. It was sad, and so I said I would do it if it was alright with her. She was happy about that. My hands of course were soft, not having done hard labor. She did get some kind of relief and peace from my doing this. I was really glad for this, so I did this every Sunday. When I came home, Mother Mary Francis was always concerned about me as I didn' t look well. I didn't dare tell her about this because I was afraid she wouldn't permit me to do this any. more due to my young age. So I would say: "I don' t do well in automobiles, Mother, and let it go at that." In reality, I did feel sick because I would imagine that the odor of Grandma's illness was inmy habit. So, I couldn' t wait to take it off and wash it. Because of this, I always wore my old habit on Sundays while doing this. In spite of this, it was a wonderful experience because after this she was resigned to her illness. Every Sunday, even though I said no, underneath the pillow, she would put a one dollar bill in my hand for me to say a prayer. She never asked for anything else. I'd take it and put it in the poor box or have a candle lit. That was an early experience, but I had many others in my CCD work. SBMG: Now Sister, did that experience happen while you were in the novitiate or at a later time? SSMcl: That was when I was in the novitiate. It was during my last year in the novitiate when I was brought home after teaching for three years at St. Philip's in Crafton. I was very fortunate, because during those three years, Sister Mary Edna Trexler and I were instructed to go to Pitt. I had a full year of college in addition before entrance to the Community. The Sisters of Mercy were not permitted to go to Pitt nor other religious communities except perhaps some older members. Sister Maria Francesca Urnauer ( Swester) and Sister M. Cyril Aaron kept us straight. Sister Cyril had a wonderful experience at Pitt dealing with bigotry. She was in class with a young man who was a one book professor. Sister Cyril was a well read woman, and between herself and Sister Stanislaus McVay, they kept her well supplied in the history of the course she was taking, so that anything the young man said that could be debated , that is, anything which was wrong, she had an answer for. The professor must have had a very bad year, but sister never left the class. However, due to that, per Sister Stanislaus, I was told that I was . not to sign up for any history classes at Pitt. Instead of that, I signed up for a wonderful course with a Mrs. Carmalt. She had been a teacher in the Public Elementary Schools. The class was made up of principals, teachers, administrators, and educators of all kinds. She took as much interest in me and Sister Mary Edna as though we had been very important administrators too, even though we were the youngest in the class. One day when I believe she felt that these principals, administrators, etc. were thinking that we were out of place, shouldn't ask questions, etc. that perhaps we shouldn't be in the class, she stopped and said something I will never forget. She said: "My dear students, I want you to remember that if no teacher ever existed, the human mind would learn. The human mind learns. You do not learn for them. They learn on their own, so don't feel so terribly important. Without you , the human child will learn. Without me, you will learn." I also took a class at that time in American Poetry. Sister Mary Edna also took the class. We had a young man who sat on top of the desk with his legs crossed, and we spouted poetry by the yards. I wasn't really impressed with his teaching. I don't think he particularly liked catholic sisters. We managed the course very nicely. SBMG: Now Sister Suzanne, at that time it was a five year novitiate. Would you tell me what kind of habit the novices wore and then tell me what you did each of those years and that will bring you up to your last year. SSMCI: Yes, I received a lovely brown habit on July third, 1925. The day of course couldn't have been hotter. I had two petticoats on, two pair of sleeves, the cape and apron, and two caps(one inner cap). By that time, I had twenty guests for the afternoon. I couldn't wait until they went home. I wasn't homesick, so I was very anxious for them to go home so that I could get something off. My second habit was an older brown habit. I had to make that one from someone else's good one. It was a little bigger. I could do a little sewing, so Sister Agnes Francina Kearney, God love her, put me to work sewing my own clothes. So we had brown habits.. Now while I was in the novitiate, it was decided that having the brown habits was not a good idea as the colors were changing. The bolts of material were not the same color. The Community decided that by the next December the eighth, whoever entered the next September when they got their habit, it would be a black one. That was the famous twenty group, all of them stayed, no one left. So they were very proud of themselves. They entered and got a black habit. I still had a brown habit, but when they were going to have the black habit on December the eighth, the word came that every novice would wear a black habit that day. So, whether I needed it or not, I got a black habit. I wore the brown habit during the week, and the black habit on Sundays. I had a long and happy novitiate. I could go on for a long time telling many things, but I won't. In the fifth year of my novitiate, I had been out on mission at St. Philip's in Crafton for three years. Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers decided in June of 1929 that the next year she was going to see that anyone who was practically ready would get that degree...that they would walk up the aisle in Sullivan Hall like any girl and receive their degree from the Bishop. We were very proud, you know, and have always been, that our work at Seton Hill is one hundred percent par excelleClancynce! You make it or else. Mother thought that it would be good from that time on for the sisters to receive their degree in this manner so that it could be seen that we did in fact receive a degree just as the students did. So in September of 1929 I was kept home . for college courses . Sister Rose Angela Cunningham, Sister Maria Serafina Mazza, Sister Hildebert Mudler, Sister Raphael Dimond, and a couple of older sisters who still had college courses to complete were also kept home. Of those who had to stay home, I had the least number of credits because I was the youngest or if I wasn't the youngest, I had not been in school. Sister Rose Angela had been at Seton Hill a little bit longer. She had been kept home longer. The first Semester of September of 1929, I did a full college course schedule. That was sixteen credits. The second semester I had seventeen credits of course work. How I ever got through, I don't know. I also taught a couple of classes in the Academy a few days a week. I taught CCD every Sunday. This was the year I taught all day long in nearby mining towns as afore mentioned. I served Mother Rose Genevieve's table three times a day, washed dishes...silverware and glasses in the college dining room after each meal, but you know I enjoyed all of it. We lived through it. I did get lots of permissions to study late at night. Fortunately for me, there was a Franciscan from one of the mid-western states getting her degree. She was getting her degree the easy way at the insistence of her father. She was taking Spanish that year, as was I from Senora, whose idea of an easy Spanish lesson was her reading you a two page newspaper in Spanish, and then she expected you to be ready to discuss this paper in Spanish the next day. Senora and I got along rather well, but I admit it was very difficult for me to keep up with the assignments. However, I did end up with a "B" in the course, so so be it. Apart from the heavy course work, and other duties mentioned above, I also had many happy ex­ periences with the sisters and with acquaintances made with the college girls. Did I walk up the aisle to receive my degree from the Bishop? Sad to say....no. At the last minute the day of Com­ mencement, the older sisters who were to graduate got cold feet. They said they were too old to do this with all of the young graduates, so shortly before the Graduation Ceremony was to begin, those ofus who were graduating were instructed to go to Mother Rose Genevieve's office and it was there that we received our degrees from the Bishop who would have been Bishop Hugh Boyle. I was a bit peeved about the situation as I had been obliged to be fitted for a habit which in fact did not fit me. As it turned out, I didn't have to wear that habit. We sat up in the balcony during the ceremony, so I wore one of my other habits. Since we didn't walk up the aisle to receive our diplomas, I didn't think too much of it, so I tossed it on my novitiate shelf and went downstairs to serve dinner. During night prayers, before Graduation, Mother Rose slipped into my pew and said: "Dear, Can you be ready to go with Sister M. Celesta Deignan at seven o' clock tomorrow morning? You can substitute for Sister Kathleen Kennedy in eighth grade at Holy Cross in Sharpsburg." Now I've had the experience since then that I could say I have taught every class from Pre-School, through High School, College, Advanced Education , and languages from ten different countries. While I've had marvelous experiences, how well I've taught, I don't know. I'll never forget my fear of going to teach Arithmetic at the end of a school year with no preparation. The next day on my way in to teach, Sister Celesta said: "Dear, do you wear glasses?" I said: "Oh, I only wear them when I have to." She said: " Well dear, from now on you wear them all the time when you are teaching that class. Besides, they make you look a little bit older." If you knew Sister Kathleen Kennedy, you knew that her students were well taught. By the way, it was Sister Kathleen's golden jubilee year and the Community was sending her to Ireland, her place of birth. Everyone was very happy for Sister Kathleen. She was a darling! I didn' t really do badly in Arithmetic in grade school. I had a bad experience in the seventh grade. I skipped the sixth grade. Sister Carlotta Murray turned the pages with her class when they moved from sixth to seventh grade, so she never reviewed. I just had John McGrady to cheat for me. lfl hadn' t had him, I don't know what I would have done, although I passed all the examinations. I didn't mind teaching fifth and sixth grade Math when I taught at St. Philip' s in Crafton. However, having to teach Math in the eighth grade was a different story, as you had to know the whole thing, especially as it was the end of the year. One big thing which was to my advantage was that Sister Kathleen, kept from year to year, bundled up neatly all the standardized diocesan tests which were given. I took a packet of these home every evening, worked out all of the problems, and then it was these problems I used every day. They were a real life saver! It was actually a very happy time. I was there with two or three younger sisters and with two or three older sisters. Sister Ernestine Palmer, who had taught me at St. John' s was there as a teacher. Sister Anne Frances Tighe was there. I got to go with her when she went to visit the Good Shepherd Sisters who were up on Troy Hill. They were enclosed. I saw the Magdalenes, and heard all about that Order. That was the end of 1930, and when I came back to Seton Hill, I was supposed to have been professed. Mother Rose Genevieve said: "My dear, if you don't soon go down to the professed sisters area, they'll think you' re not coming." So, with that being said, she escorted me to where the professed sisters resided. That was the end of my novitiate days. SBMG: So, in other words, the vows that you made, you made at Christmas time, so that on May third, you were automatically a professed sister. There was no other ceremony. I see. I guess I always thought that it was at Christmas time, that you became professed sisters. SSMCI: You were professed according to the five years that you had the habit. You made a three months postulancy. I entered on February second, and received the habit on May third, the Feast of the Holy Cross, which it no longer is. I would be professed then on May 3, 1930. SBMG: What was your first mission as a professed sister? Where did you go then? SSMCI: This is one of those things that you will also laugh at. I'm not trying to make these things up. They actually happened. When I came back from teaching at Holy Cross, Sharpsburg, I was told I would teach Senior High School English to a large group of Sisters. There must have been at least twenty-five in the class. Perhaps five or six of those were novices. All of the others were professed Sisters. Some of these were sisters who had taught me years before in St. John's Grade School. At that particular time in 1930, the Sisters of Charity had decided that everything had to be fixed up according to Harrisburg, PA. So wonderful sisters, young and old were put through sometimes a couple of high school classes for the second time. This was very hard on the sisters. If there was any doubt that a particular class would receive the proper credits, the class was repeated over sometimes for the third time. I would often look at those dear old sisters who had taught me and would just wonder.....why! I took my senior notes from Mother Claudia's English class and centered my teaching around these notes. Nothing could be better! I took the novices aside separately as they were my friends, many of whom were with me in grade school, but took the Commercial Course at Saint Augustine's, and therefore didn1t have Senior High School English. They had to take this English Course from little old me. However, I said to them: ''Now if you're going to take this course, you're going to take it from me. You're novices, and you're young. So, everything I teach you, and everything you're supposed to do, I'll expect it from you." There are going to be two sets of colored sheets in this class. Don't ask any questions. You just do your kind. I'11 help you if I can. I would look down at times and see an older sister's head down on her chest. I felt very bad about that. After about two days, I went to Sister Aloysius Blakely, who was in charge of summer school. I knew Sister from being around Seton Hill. She was a wonderful person. I told Sister Aloysius that she probably would want to change teachers of that class. She said: "Oh, I would, would I. What makes you think I should?" I said: "Well, I just want you to know that I don't intend to give Sisters, who know more than I'll ever know in my entire life, a test that would possibly give them a low grade. So, if that's cheating, so be it." I realize Sister Aloysius that we just recently had a lecture telling us that we had to teach our sisters using the same guidelines as those used to teach the girls in the college. Sister Aloysius stood very tall. She rifled through a few papers and then said to me: "I don't know why you're bothering me in the middle of the afternoon. Go and teach your classes the way you're supposed to teach classes and teachers don't bother telling other teachers what they are doing." That was my permission to do what I pleased with that class. We had a happy time. I tried to help those sisters. Some few of them, all are deceased now, used to tell me years later that they enjoyed that class, that I had been sympathetic. That was the summer of 1930. Then you asked me where I first went on mission after profession. At the end of that summer, I was sent to St. John's in Scottdale. Sister Angelica Little, who was a-wonderful English teacher, was changed, so I was sent in her place. Sister Marietta Flynn, a very fine Spanish teacher and Sister Mary Paul Coleman, an excellent History teacher were changed, and so I was sent in their place. I believe these sisters did other things besides teaching. However, I was sent to do the teaching work of these three very fine teachers. SBMG: It is now September 17. 1986 Sister Suzanne, your first mission after you were professed was at St. John the Baptist High School in Scottdale. Would you like to tell me something about that? SSMCI: I think I mentioned something about taking three peoples' places. I don't want anyone to misunderstand me. It just so happened that those sisters were needed in some high school in Pittsburgh. Incidentally, Sacred Heart was going to start a special program which would require an expert, so Sister Angelica Little, went to Sacred Heart. I don't know at this time where Sister Marietta Flynn went. However, I was missioned to Scottdale after receiving my BA. At that time, as I told you, we were working very hard on sisters' requirements. So I set an example for other sisters by continuing my education. We were probably one of the best Apprenticed Teachers Groups in the country, thanks to Mother Rose Genevieve Rodgers, Sister Aloysius Blakely, Sister Jane Elizabeth Smith, Sister Mary Cyril Aaron, and Sister M. Eucharia O'Hagan. Sister Mary Reginald Farrell also contributed by being a faithful secretary and keeper of the files. I was sent to teach English, Spanish, some History, and my home room Religion. There were other side jobs that the sisters had, such as directing singing. Now, Sister Angelica had and still has a beautiful singing voice and is very knowledgeable regarding the piano. You can imagine my taking the singing over, but that's what was so. Sister Harriet Omlor was accompanist, but she had a chronic sinus condition and did not sing.....ever ! She simply said: "Oh yes, Sister Angelica always taught the singing. I just played the piano." I didn't know exactly what I would do. I could never teach singing from notes. Well, we decided to go through all of the songs, and picked out the ones I knew by heart. These were the songs which we used for the remainder of the year, and it turned out pretty well. Sister M. Joanna Gleason came the following year. She played the piano, so she could do things better. I have to say that I did enjoy the singing classes, and the children liked to sing. Sister Angelica also had the school paper, which was a new thing added to my duties. I worked along with that as best I could. Sister Marietta Flynn, who taught Spanish, also taught the girls' basketball team. Fortunately, as had been done by Sister Angelica, Sister Marietta had also trained the students well, so that the girls took over the coaching, and I did the supervising. I decided that one of the best, healthiest, things to do in a physical education program was to take long walks out to the cemetery and around the parish grounds. I don't know who took care of the boys. I had nothing to do with teaching them physical education, thank God. Another of Sister Angelica's jobs which became mine was the library. Again, it was a beautiful library. It was set up with the help of the sisters at Seton Hill and help from the parish. Father Lambing had the high school built on top of the grade school with provisions for a very fine library. The high school lasted until 1933. Father Lambing was deceased at this time, but I don't think that he would have let it close, ifhe was living. To sum up then: I had English, Spanish, American History, my home room Religion, the Library, Music, and class plays. I'm not being a martyr. I managed that year with a lot of fun. We had a number of good sisters there. We even inaugurated during that year, with the help of Sister Rita Catherine Cole, Mother Seton Clubs on the order that Mother Claudia had when I was in high school. At that time, our main business was to do the works of Charity....visiting the sick, caring for people, etc. I felt that the children at St. John's in Scottdale did a wonderful job. During that first year, there was a young couple who had a really sad disappointment. The young man had lost both of his legs at work due to an accident. They had a two year old child. He was at home for a long time and was very depressed. His wife took care of him. The boys and girls from St. John the Baptist helped that family out. They went to the home two or three times a week. always on Saturdays to relieve the young mother so that she could go out to shop, to visit her own home, etc. The boys kept the young man entertained in his own bedroom by getting him interested in other things. The girls took care of the baby and the boys and girls cleaned the kitchen and bathroom. That was one incident. There were others besides that. Understand that I was working with some remarkable students, who later entered the Community: Like, Mary Watson, later to become Mother Richard Ann, Sister M. Germaine Helwig, Sister Frances Louise Honeychuck, and my own postulant, Sister Agnes Joseph Hines. I was thinking the other day that we have had at least twenty vocations to the community from Scottdale. It would seem to me, that having a high school in a parish is a plus. I can't leave St. John the Baptist without talking about Father Lambing. He was a very spiritual man and a wonderful Religion teacher. His instructions were intellectual, theological, nothing none sensible about it. He had a marvelous memory. He'd send a boy over for a book he wanted, direct him to the shelf, and the page on which was the answer to the question he had in mind....no need to get the book. He loved St. John the Baptist High School. Whatever any other high school had, St. John's would also have. So, when debates were put in the high schools by Father Coakley, we thought that they were too far away for us to take part in them. We didn't count on Father Lambing. We couldn't give him that excuse at all. Therefore, we did participate in the debates in Pittsburgh. That's when I learned not to sleep very well in the early part of the night. I sat in front of stoves long into the night at Scottdale. We did well in these debates. We even defeated Sacred Heart, which was a terrible thing. We. never should have done it. We also went to other areas which were having debates, such as: Uniontown, Connellsville, St. Justin's, etc. Toward the end of the second year, Father Lambing was seriously ill. In fact, he was a dying man. I asked the Curate ( don't remember his name at this time) ifhe could persuade Father Lambing to cease being on the debate teams. Father Lambing said: "Oh no, my sickness has nothing to do with the children in the high school. They're not to be made suffer in any way. Even should I die, just go on with the regular schedule. These debates were a very fine beginning for the catholic forensic league which was inaugurated in the dioceses some years later with the help of Sister Rosalee O'Hara. I don't know of anything else that I should say about St. John's except that we had a lovely convent, wonderful sisters, great grade and high school. The old church was quite small, but packed to the hilt for all services. I was there for two years. By March of 1933, I had to go into Pittsburgh hospital due to severe back problems. That was the end of my days at St. John the Baptist. The high school closed at the end of the 1933 school year. After the death of Father Lambing, Father Grainey, the new pastor, didn't feel that he could financially continue to keep the high school open. I was hospitalized for three months with the back trouble so that when it came time for the new school year to start, I was sent to the DePaul Institute for the Deaf simply because there was no room for me at Seton Hill. We didn't have Assumption Hall yet at that time. It was a wonderful experience for me. It gave me that extra something that I always brag about......teaching from first grade on, also teaching the deaf. I was given charge of a dear little; five year old girl for a short time, who had decided early on that she didn't care about eating. Therefore, she would just sit at the table with her little lips closed and wouldn't eat. Well, this couldn't continue to go on. In those days the children stayed at De Paul over night. She was from a little town. I was there with not much to do except to entertain the boys on Saturday afternoons by writing the ball scores on the board and keep them happy while they tried to get some news as to how the games were progressing. Well after a while Sister Teresa Vincent Mahoney and Sister M. Bernadette Hayes told me that I could be a great help to them. They asked if I would sit with Lelona ( the five year old girl previously mentioned) while she ate her lunch. Today, when it's lunch time, you just sit there too. We're going to tell Lelona that she will have to sit at the table until she eats. Here I was with nothing else to do. The sisters thought that this would be the end of the eating problem with Lelona. I hate to tell you, but by two-thirty going on three PM, I was completely exhausted. I tried in every way I knew to make an impression on Lelona as to why she needed to eat. first by being sweet and then by being severe. I never got anything but a black look from Lelona. The sisters laughed. They said: "Well, there's one person you can't do anything with." However, while I was there, Sister Teresa Vincent and Sister Emmanuel Manning often talked about the fact that Sister Emmanuel was never able to get any class work towards her Master's Degree as she had to teach, and the classes were always offered in the morning. I happened to say: "Too bad I can't do anything. I just feel terrible." Sister Teresa Vincent who knew me very well said: "And why can't you?" I said: "Well, I can't teach the deaf." She said: "Oh yes you can!" lfyou can teach, there's nothing about teaching the deaf here that you wouldn't do with anyone else. We don't use sign language here, so what do you think we do? They're used to reading your lips, provided that you stand with your face to the window. They can see the light on your face. Make sure you don't mouth anything. Just talk naturally. Well, I really thought that was strange, but if she was willing to have me, I would do it. I had a semester of teaching three wonderful people a young man who got his PHD from Carnegie Mellon and from a university way out in the west, working in scientific, electronic things, another young man who wasn't interested in getting a PHD, but rather in having a business of his own, which he indeed has out in Lawrenceville, and Anna May, who had really just lost her hearing as a child. So, her speech wasn't completely gone. She just wanted to be a very fine woman...get married and have a family. That's exactly what she did. I taught these three students all morning. It was an enjoyable experience for me and it helped Sister Emmanuel Manning to get her classes that she needed. Sister M. Bernadette Hayes was a real mother to me. Sister Marie Antonio McLinden let me get away with murder when we had recreation. You know she used to be a little severe. When we had recreation, I used to go up, put on the music, and get Sister Teresa Vincent Mahoney to dance with me. Other sisters joined in the dancing...Sister Mary McClory and Sister Rosaline Walsh were wonderful dancers. Sister Marie Antonio would just sit, rocking during recreation watching us. This came to an end when a call came from Sister M. Emily Miller in Tucson, Arizona stating that we would have to take the junior high or she would have to come home....couldn't stand it any longer. The priests had been running it in between their priestly duties. That was hard on teaching, discipline, on everything at the other end of the hall. Sister Emily said that we (the community)-had to take care of the entire school. The priests would be welcome to visit, teach, etc. anytime. So, on February 14, 1934, I arrived via train, after being sick from Chicago out to Tucson, where I spent nine and a half of the happiest years in my life. I was not included in the list of six names of the sisters who opened the school in 1933. These sisters taught grades one through six. Between September and October things got to be too much. There was a seventh and eighth grade at the other end of the hall, but these were not under Sister Emily. Rather, they were taught by Father Patterson, who was a very good Benedictine, and Father Gattis, the priest who had invited the Community there to teach. They were both good men, but as mentioned, their priestly duties took precedence over the teaching. The children were very undisciplined. If they felt like sliding down the stair-way railing, they did so. They paid no attention to any correction made by another teacher. I came in time for dinner on February 14, 1934, and was teaching by one o'clock PM the next day. SBMG: Sister Suzanne, Could you tell me a little bit more about how your going to Tucson came about and then go on to tell about some of the things that occurred during your time in the West? SSMCI: I may be repeating, but at that particular time in Tucson they needed someone to help Sister Emily Miller out in the junior high. My time at De Paul, even though I helped out, was really a time of recuperation. I was just twenty-seven years old, a little young for retirement, so when the call came from Sister Emily in Tucson, it was decided that perhaps the sun in Arizona would be good for me. Having consulted with m-y sisters before they said anything to me, and finding that Irene thought it would be good for my health, and also after consultation with Mother Claudia Glenn, who was my sponsor, ( she was Sister Claudia at the time), they then informed me that I was going to Tucson, Arizona. I felt a little sad leaving De Paul, but I knew that without further education, it wouldn't be possible for me to continue work with the deaf. Most sisters traveled alone when they went West, but they sent Sister Hildegarde Eichenlaub with me, probably due to my frail health. Sister Hildegarde and I went out via regular coach. Sister Francis Joseph Malloy and Sister M. Romano Donovan fixed us a very nice lunch. My brother, John, who had lived in Chicago for several years was very happy to meet us and take us to dinner. He became very disturbed with me because I wouldn't eat a full meal. I settled for a sandwich. Sister Hildegarde did enjoy the steak dinner, as did John and his companion. We then took a train for the remainder of the trip to Arizona. As mentioned earlier, I was ill. spent much time in the rest room. We arrived about five o'clock PM on Valentine's Day. It was a beautiful evening, The sun was shining brightly. The sisters in the house extended a very cordial welcome to me. They were: Sister M. Emily Miller, Sister Cecelia Vincent McCartney, Sister M. Ermanilda Knepley, Sister Francis Mary Coleman, Sister Mary Estelle Hensler, Sister Mary Inez Clark, Sister Rose Catherine Ward, and Sister James Marie Malone. These sisters had been here since September, and I was to be added to the group. The next morning, Sister Emily suggested that we go up to see the rooms and be introduced to the children. About eleven o'clock AM, Sister Emily said: "Sister Suzanne, do you think you could handle the seventh and eighth grades together this afternoon?" Whatever it is in me, I don't very often say "No" in the community, so I said:"Surely Sister, I'll try." Sister Emily was grateful because it gave her an opportunity to take Sister Hildegarde around to see some of the sights in Arizona. I didn't know what I was going to teach. We pushed all of the desks into the eighth grade classroom. I happened to spy someone's desk which needed to be straightened up, so we cleaned desks according to a system my system, which demanded that every book did this and every paper did that etc. So we were all kept very busy. They were all very well behaved and seemed to be happy enough. One little girl looked a little sad, but she didn't say anything. I noticed that her desk was very untidy and I was nasty enough to say: "Well, I hope your drawers at home don't look like that." I suppose I learned this from my experience with Lelona at De Paul. I was a very brash, young sister and of course over the years learned when or not when to say anything. Anyhow, that was the end ofmy first day. The next day I was in what was my regular classroom, the seventh grade, for about an hour and a half when Father Patterson came to the door and said:"Sister, there' s a lady downstairs who would like to speak to you." Well, I had just begun to learn names and had things settled and thought it wouldn't be good to leave and besides I had been well trained at St. Philip's in Crafton. Neither Sister M. Beatrice Gority nor Father Kelty would have approved of that, and you always held Father Kelty above your principal. So, I said:"Father, I just came to Tucson and don't know anyone. Take all that business to Sister M. Emily Miller. She's the principal." He said: "Oh go on now!" Well, to make a long story short, I finally said:"If you stay in this classroom and promise not to leave it, I'll go downstairs." I went downstairs and stood very severe at the door and looked at a very lovely woman who also looked at me a little strange. Finally, I said:"I don't know you and you don't know me, so what could your business be on the first day?" She said:"Well, my little girl feels that she will have to leave this school." I said:"Does your little girl always tell you what she's going to do?" Well Sister, she feels that you don't like her. I said:"I think she's a little conceited. How could I dislike her when I don't even know her?" I'm too busy to talk about that now. If you want to talk to the principal, alright, but I have to go back whether your young daughter wants to stay in the school or not. Then she smiled and said:"Oh Sister, we w on' t talk about it today. I'll talk to Madeleine." It turns out that Madeleine had described the very tall, jovial sister (Sister Hildegarde) who looked like she would be hard on children. I hadn't made any impression at all. So Madeleine and I became the best of friends. She was a lovely girl. Mrs. Johnston ( her mother ) has always been my best friend. Sister Brigid Marie, would you like to see Mrs. Johnston's picture? SBMG: Surely. Was she the little girl whom you told that her desk was untidy? SSMCI: Madeleine was the little girl, and she turned out to be a perfect lady and a wonderful sweet girl. I have her marriage picture, and ifl can find it, I'll show it to you also. Mrs. Johnston' s picture is when she came to Pittsburgh to visit me and gave me a birthday party at The Gateway Towers. SBMG: When did she come and have the birthday party for you? Do you remember the year that would have been? SSMCI: Mrs. Johnston came to New York first to bring her daughter-in-law in hopes that she would cheer up and benefit from the trip. Mrs. Johnston's only son had been married to this woman, but was killed in World War II during one of his parachuting expeditions. I knew the son also who had written a letter to me saying that he was going to take me on a trip to Rome. I was teaching at Seton Hill at the time, so that was in the 1960's. SBMG: Sister Suzanne, could you tell me something about the convent that the sisters lived in? I know that it was a regular house. Tell me about your life there, not having air-conditioning and . things that went with being a pioneer. SSMCI: We were pioneers, but we were so happy that we didn't find too much fault with the lack of things. It was a family unit, in fact a small one. It had two bedrooms, a bath, a living room, a dining room right close to the living room. When a sister had a phone call at meal time, one would have to get up to let the other one out. Next to the dining room was a not too small kitchen. It had a refrigerator that would accommodate perhaps two people, but not for a house full of eight or nine nuns who wanted ice-water. We never thought of it. We walked up to the school cafeteria to get ice. Sister Rose Catherine Ward was there the first year and she would get the ice. After that, we had Sister Mary Terence Clancy. She went up to the school regularly. One day, Father Davis, later Archbishop Davis was there. He asked Sister Mary Terence why she had come up to the school and Sister told him that she needed to get ice for the sisters because we were without it. The next day, Steinfelt's big truck drove up to the convent and presented us with a good sized refrigerator which Sister Emily didn' t know anything about. She was very much upset, and we couldn ' t understand why she was upset. She was a wonderful Sister Servant and Principal. She kept all of her worries to herself. She told us very emphatically that we were to ask for nothing. It wasn't until sometime later that we found out that Father Davis was not a good administrator regarding money matters. Getting money was not a priority with him. He was later replaced by Archbishop Green. We had a very fine music program at that time. Sister Mary Inez Clark took care of it. I really don't have any official information, but I feel that the money brought in by Sister Mary Inez took care of our expenses. When we returned to Seton Hill for the summer, we were expecting to go back to a new convent. Father Patterson was not able to dispose of the old convent. People objected to the fact that the people he had intended to sell it to were going to use the facility for a Rest Home. So, for a while, we were to live in the old house. However, during the Summer, Father Patterson began to have construction of an addition which · provided four bedrooms in the front of the house and garages in the rear·of the house. The older sisters came out to Arizona via automobile, which was donated by Sister Mary Inez' parents. Sister Mary Inez was the driver. This was the first car which the Community had. Those of us who went out by train, went out the day before. We stopped off in Chicago where my brother lives. We stayed at the Mercy's Business Women' s House overnight. We were very giddy the next morning. We weren't sure we were in a catholic church. The priest's Latin was okay, but.he had black vestments on, a woman was saying the Stations of the Cross, and an unrecognizable hymn was being sung from the gallery. Remember, this was in 1935, long before Vatican Il. At that time, Pittsburgh Diocese was remarkable. We had Father Rossini who was in charge of the music in the diocese. If you didn' t walk the chalk line, regarding the liturgy, the name of your parish was listed in the Pittsburgh Catholic. Father Coakley was put off the air because he didn' t agree with all of Father Rossini's directives. Because of our education and instruction regarding the Liturgy, we were- overcome that morning in Chicago. To backtrack a bit, my brother met us the day we arrived in Chicago. He took us to dinner and then afterwards to the Mercy' s Business Women's House overnight. My brother took us for a ride around Chicago after dinner. We. almost lost Sister Mary Terence Clancy. She and I were sitting in the front seat of the car. As we went around a comer, the car door flew open! I held on to her apron and my brother did everything he could to help. We did rescue her. After breakfast the next morning, we took the train to Tucson. When we got to the convent, the four bedrooms were completed, but there was much to be done by way of cleaning up. We were very much afraid that Sister Emily wouldn't like this and would have expected Father Patterson to call and perhaps have us wait for a month before coming. So, we got to work and didn't complain as we didn' t want to be sent back East. We didn' t want to lose this mission. During the time it took the sisters who were coming via car, we managed to get things cleaned up with the help of my nice boys from the Junior High. We also decided that since we had such wonderful help that we would fix the Chapel up. So when Sister Emily arrived, she could see that we had painted the altar white and had freshened up the Chapel. After that it was on with the teaching. I taught Junior High which consisted of seventh, eighth, and ninth grade. That meant we taught Latin, Spanish, Literature as well as Grammar, as was taught in the Public Schools. SBMG: It is September 30, 1986. This is a continuation of the oral history for Sister Suzanne McIntyre. Sister Suzanne, I hope that you will be able to tell us more about your experiences in Tucson during those nine and a half years. SSMcl: I remember, I believe it was in 1937, that we participated in the National Spanish­ American Contest. We had two winners: Joseph Walsh won the first national prize, and John Swarlick won the first state prize. History was very important to the people in Tucson. I was presented with a bouquet of flowers ( as teacher ) for the occasion. Apart from the regular teaching, we had a lot of plays. While we were waiting for the car driven by Sister Mary Inez with Sister Emily and others to arrive, after we had completed cleaning and freshening up, we took a tour downtown, kindness of Father Patterson. We wanted some things for the chapel, which we did get...candle sticks and a Ciborium. We also discovered a beautiful Spanish seminary for boys ...St. Patrick' s. One of the big things we discovered was a large auditorium, not in very good condition, but nonetheless there. It had a full sized stage with stairs on either side. So, we convinced Father Patterson to obtain permission for us to hold plays there. It didn't take much coaxing. The Bishop gave full approval as did Monsignor (couldn't make out his name, only that he was French), who was the pastor. We got our cleaning crew together and scrubbed everything. Some of the parents also helped. So we had a wonderful full school play...down to the first grade. I taught the "Minuet" to the first grade. I've forgotten all the details of it, but everyone said it was great! Besides using that auditorium for plays, we introduced a lot of people to that hall, one of whom was a professor from "The University of Arizona." His name I believe was Fitzgerald. He had graduated from " Gregorian University" in Rome. He had considered being a priest, but health problems prevented his doing this. He was out in Arizona due to his health. He married a woman, who kept him stepping. He wanted to teach teachers who did not yet have their degree. In those days, you could teach if you had taken a two year course. Nevertheless, he willing taught these teachers at four thirty PM daily. Not too many people would do this. So, I and some of the other sisters attended Mr. Fitzgerald' s classes. I already had my degree, but always enjoyed taking courses. We had marvelous classes in Poetry...American and English, mostly English. He never needed a book. He had everything memorized. Our classes in Shakespeare were outstanding. Mr. Fitzgerald also turned out to be quite an actor. Some time after I had left Tucson, he developed a very fine Tucson dramatic club. It' s quite a large center in town. I know it' s gone now, as it wasn't there when I visited Tucson in May. She doesn't say which May. Just to say that we had two happy years of using this auditorium for many school plays. While in Tucson, we were good friends with the High School personnel, and had a number of plays in the auditorium there. When Bishop Green came, he objected to the plays encompassing the entire school during the holy seasons. He wanted "The Upper Room", and only the ninth grade. Bishop Green and I became very fine friends, despite our differences in opinions. I spoke to Sister Emily, and she said"Don' t argue. Just have the play, and if it's a failure, Father will learn. If it's good, you'll be happy." It turned out to be a beautiful play. That's the last of the plays that I remember. We had clubs at St. Peter and Paul. First of all, I introduced the Mother Seton club. I was always proud to say that I was a student at Sacred Heart in Mother Claudia Glenn's class when she began the Mother Seton club. They were just seventh, eighth, and ninth graders, but were very proud to be in the club. We had ribbons with insignias on. So we had Mother Seton girls. In a few years, we had the boys complaining that the girls got everything. So, said I: "Would you like to be Knights of Seton?" Absolutely was the boys reply. Well, a mother of two of the boys asked me ifl would like something for the boys, and of course my reply was in the affirmative. She had real gold with blue insert pins made with the letters K OF S on them... Nothing like them. The girls were sort of woebegone about it. We needed a library, so we turned the room which had been the resting room for the sisters into a library. The Knights of Seton were a tremendous help in getting this room together. The girls helped too, but it was the boys who did the heavy work required. Sister Melania Grace, our librarian at Seton Hill sent me all the information needed to have the library be a proper one. We did have a good library, but we had no librarian in it all day long. I was teaching school all day. So was Sister Emily and everyone else. The Mother Seton Club (Girls) and the Knights of Seton (Boys) were a big help. The Knights of Seton were the most helpful. They kept Court once a week for those who got into any trouble. Other than assisting in the library, the boys and the girls did the usual things that were part of being in a Mother Seton Club home and hospital visiting, etc. I should mention here, that we were the first school to win "The Golden Eagle" award for Girl Scouts. SSMcl: Sister Brigid Marie, may I read you a letter written to me by a woman whom we taught in Arizona expressing her gratitude and thankfulness to the Sisters of Charity? SBMG: Certainly. That would be wonderful! To the Sisters of Charity at St. Peter and Paul School in the 1930'2: Throughout my life, I often think of how lucky I was to have been taught by you. You really gave us a great education in every way. Like Hallmark, you cared enough about us to give us your very best. I especially remember Sister Mary Felix Clarey who taught me in the fourth grade. I think she was my favorite because she was genuinely happy to see you every day of the year. I also remember Sister Estelle Hensler teaching us about the great artists on little cards. It was then that I decided that Raphael was my favorite painter. The day it snowed, when we got out early to play those were Sister Emily's orders, practicing and singing every year in the Lenten and Easter procession, every May bringing flowers for the Blessed Mother Statue, singing "Oh Mary, We Crown Thee With Blossoms Today", having our May crowning out on the front lawn ( a prized area). These are all such wonderful things to remember. How we all loved to have read Chesterton Brown's stories to us on rainy days! Sister Suzanne would tell us how far ahead of the public schools we were. When I had to transfer to a public school I found out how true that was. I made straight A' s the first year without even trying. I also recall how Sister Mary Inez Clark taught us some things about Music. But most of all, you taught us about God. I live a very simple life. I've been smart enough to know that loving God and trying to serve Him, trusting everything to Him is all that matters. He has never let me down. I learned this trust, this sureness of God from you, and I could never thank you enough for that. I don' t know how anyone makes it through this life without God. Every time I meet someone who is unsure of Him, I think to myself: "There but for the grace of God through the Sisters of Charity, go I." Thank You Very Much, Norma Kennyport I would like to mention the time and effort that Sister James Marie Malone spent working with the boys on their sports. Sister James Marie was a martyr to the cause, but was the apple of the boys' eyes. Day after day, hour after hour she was out in the sun. Then at night, she spent hours getting her clothes clean. I used to wonder how she did it, though she said she enjoyed it. She explained how this love for ball sports came about. When she was very young, her mother died. Her Father used to take care of his little girls her and her sister Rosella by taking them on Saturdays and Sundays to the ball games. She could tell you every single, solitary thing that happened in a game. When Father Patterson discovered her love for sports, he gave her the sports magazine w eekly. Our habits were not quite suitable for the Arizona climate. When we went back to Pennsylvania for the summer, Sister Mary Gerald Conley, who was in charge of the clothes room for the Community, had found soft, washable, black fabric and it was agreed that we would do away with the back pleats to allow for a little more comfort. We wore these habits during the week while teaching, but of course on Saturdays, Sundays, and other special days, we wore our regular habits. Every Wednesday we went to the Childrens' Hospital. From that day until now, I can never see a banana without thinking of little Bobby. There were two sections. One was where the children were crippled in some way. The other is where the children had some form of Tuberculosis. There was some concern about going to this part. However, I have never been afraid of anything, so I took the Tuberculosis section. Bobby was my favorite little patient. He was always lying on what I would describe as an ironing board, with a hole in the top for his little head to look down in. He had to lie on his stomach constantly. After observing his tray for a period of three weeks or so, I noticed that he always got a half of a banana. There was a lovely, older nurse who worked there, and when I asked her about this, she explained that Bobby had a difficult time eating meat. So, eating the banana every day helped to take care of the need in his body. This elderly nurse was a war nurse. I discovered this after receiving a letter from her in which she said how much she enjoyed my visit to the hospital every Wednesday. She sent me a magnificent Hummel from Germany. Some years later I was told that Margaret (nurse' s name) was seriously ill in the Bethesda Hospital. I traveled with Sister Agnes Joseph Hines to Bethesda. Sister was visiting with her sister, and I visited with Margaret at the Bethesda Hospital. I remember Margaret saying that she was very pleased with Mother Seton, but that she wasn' t going to ask for any special favor. I think she knew her condition, and would just be happy with a very peaceful death. She looked at me very deliberately and said: "If you want me to pray to Mother Seton for a cure, I will do so earnestly." She didn' t receive a cure, but had a peaceful death. I believe that having a peaceful death was the cure Margaret received. Going back to Arizona now I had a boy in the seventh grade who came from New York. His mother was out there due to a severe arthritic condition. I went to see her a few times. One time I hadn' t any medals, but I had a little red book. It had a picture of Mother Seton on the inside. When I went back to see her a week or so later, she said: "Sister, I hope you won' t be offended, but I tore the picture of Mother Seton out of the book you gave me." I said: "Well, dear I left the book with you to do as you like. It is yours." I'm sure that you had a good reason for tearing the picture out of the book. Then she told me why she had done this. She said: "There is a young man down the hall so very crippled up with arthritis that they can't do anything for him. During the night a terrible thing happened to him in his abdomen. His sister ,who is a nurse came over and told me that the doctors said there was no hope for her brother. At the hospital, the doctors said that the only possibility of saving her brother would be if they could operate on him. They felt that he had some sort of obstruction. However, his arthritic condition was so severe that they weren't sure they would be able to operate. The sister came to the woman to ask her to pray for her brother. The woman thought of the picture of Mother Seton and gave it to the sister saying: "Here, you put this picture of Mother Seton under your brother's pillow. I'll pray to Mother Seton and you pray too." So the sister took the picture to the hospital, knelt and prayed all night with a picture of Mother Seton in one hand and a crucifix in the other. The next morning, the doctors were to make their final decision about surgery. They couldn't believe the change in the boy's condition and had no medical explanation for his recovery. There was no need for surgery. He continued to have his arthritic condition. I know I had much to say about our teaching, but would like to add something about the teaching we did outside of the class room situation. We went to Children's Hospital on Wednesdays. On Saturdays, the Sisters went to the pre-ventorium. I didn't go there. I did remedial teaching on Saturdays. On Sundays, we taught the deaf and the blind. SBMG: Well then, how was it that you left St. Peter and Paul's? Did you come back East from there? SSMcI: Oh, before I leave St. Peter and Paul's, you have to hear about my summers. We did some of the most important things during those summers. In the Summer of 1935, which was my first summer there, I went to California as a companion to Sister Mary Felix Clarey, to visit Sister's brother, Father Hyacinth, whom she hadn't seen for years. Sister Mary Felix had planned to have this trip for a long time.· The morning we were to leave, I accidentally knocked my glasses on the floor, breaking them. Sister Mary Felix said: "Take your glass prescription with you. You are going to California." Father Hyacinth (her brother) met us in San Diego. The first thing he had to do was find an oculist for me to have my glasses taken care of. The World's Fair was in San Diego that year. I of course went to it and enjoyed every minute of it. From San Diego, we went up to Sierra Madre. We went to visit the Japanese Maryknoll Sisters in Pasadena. They have a Rest Home or Hospital there for their sisters and for other people too. I saw their little Sister Suzanna. She was about my size. She was a patient there. We became friends. I must admit I was a little bit ignorant in asking Sister Suzanna how long she and her family had been catholic. She looked at me very sweetly, smiled and said: "Sister we go back to St. Francis Xavier. My family lived on the island that he gave instructions to." She made me feel so small, not intentionally, but she could trace her catholic ancestry back over three hundred years, and I don't know where my great grandfather came from. My connection with Sister Suzanna was before the war. She became a prisoner of war in Arizona some years later during the second world war. She was in a camp with about seven others. It certainly wasn't cruel like the war camps in Europe, but they were not treated very nicely either. We went to a popular beach on the Pacific Ocean (I couldn't determine the name of it) while in California. This resort area belonged to a wealthy oil man who the Passionists knew. So, Father Hyacinth was able to make reservations for us to stay at the cottage (was really a beautiful home) belonging to this gentleman. I have never before nor.since lived in such a luxurious place. We had three weeks there. It was glorious! I've never been too fond of the Atlantic Ocean since this experience. The Pacific Ocean is peaceful and calm whereas the Atlantic is rather rough. That was the end of the 1935 Summer. The next Summer, 1936, Father Hyacinth felt that we should have another enjoyable one. That Summer, Father Hyacinth came for us. He brought with him a French, Japanese gentleman driving the car. We went via Reno all along the coast where the Missions were located. I got to see all of them. We had a frightening experience along the way. I could see a great deal of fog, but our lights didn't seem to be doing any good. I knew something was wrong. Sister Mary Felix was getting nervous as she knew that Father Hyacinth would be upset at my saying something. However, Sister Mary Felix finally said: ''Now listen Raymond (he was the French, Japanese gentleman), you'll just have to listen to Sister Suzanne. If you don't, she's just going to make us a nervous wreck." So, Father Hyacinth instructed Raymond to stop the car. Sure enough, our lights were dead. So after traveling very slowly, we came upon what looked like an army camp. They fixed our lights and we were on our way. We were supposed to be in Sierra Madre, but this wasn't possible. We stayed in a Motel over night. Sister, I can't remember what happened in 1938. One thing that we did do that Summer was to go to Chandler, at Father Patterson's request to teach the Mexican children Religion. Sister James Marie Malone and I did this. Father wanted us to live in a remote area, which would have made things difficult for us. Father Patterson maintained that he would come and take us to Church, shopping, etc. However, I persisted in telling him that we were not going to do this, and that surely there was somewhere we could live during those summer weeks. We ended up in what really was a shack. We scrubbed and cleaned, with the help of some older boys who lived in the area. That was a real experience that summer. My sisters decided, of all things to come to visit me that summer. I made the Sacred Heart Novena. It surely is powerful. There was a woman who lived nearby. Her husband was a newspaper editor. He was not a catholic, but she was. She wanted to know if there was anything she could do to help. I told her about my sisters coming and she said they would be welcome to stay at her house. She said she had a spare bedroom with a private bathroom, which they would be welcome to. So the problem was solved. Father Patterson saw to it that they had a trip to the Grand Canyon. Irene and Mary (my sisters) said that was the best trip they had in their entire life. They thought Father Patterson was wonderful. Irene and Mary bought some First Communion clothes for the little Mexicans. They were a large Communion class. There were thirty-nine children, ages nine to nineteen. Sister James Marie had a class of seven and eight year olds, who also made their First Holy Communion. They were all very polite children. Sister Rita Ann Woods was also with us. She worked upstairs with the babies teaching them to sing. I went back the next year with: Sister James Marie Malone, Sister Mary Cletus Murphy, and Sister Rita Ann Woods. This year, Father Patterson would not permitted us to go back and live in the shack which we inhabited the previous summer. We had made our point. The people in Chandler were impressed that we would live the way we did for their children. A lovely young family went to Father and said that they were going East for the entire summer, so the sisters will be welcome to stay at our house. We lived in a nice, comfortable, place that summer. The couple made no restrictions regarding the use of things. We were never neglected by the people even when living in the shack. For example, every morning we would find fresh grapefruit outside our door, and even though it was not good grapefruit season for eating, we had delicious freshly squeezed juice. Father Patterson himself, who was once a Benedictine, would never let himself forget how the .people lived. He was no longer a Benedictine, due to health problems. The third year we went back, Sister Mary Cletus Murphy was not with us. We were: Myself, Sister James Marie and Sister Ann AugQ.Sta Schroth. We lived in a different house that summer. It was someone's house again. That seemed to start a pattern. This was a much larger house with lots of room. We didn't get any company from the East as last summer when my sisters Irene and Mary came. Sister Ann Augusta had to have an emergency appendectomy that summer. We always had large classes in the summers. I should say that we managed to have Mother Seton Clubs during our summers, so we were spreading devotion to Mother Seton in Tucson and in Chandler. So, I had three happy summers teaching Religion in Chandler. For some reason, I believe Father Patterson was negotiating to start a regular school in Chandler, so we didn't go back to Chandler the fourth summer. In Tucson, they had started a CCD program by that time. I was asked to be principal of the Junior High CCD. We had the use of the public school buildings and facilities for the summer. We had eight grades. There were: Two Sisters of St. Joseph, one Immaculate sister, who taught the Music and a class, two volunteer teachers who taught there during the school year, and some High School girls, whom I had taught. The enrollment that summer was about three hundred. This was the year of 1941 when I didn't have an assignment in Chandler. The summer of 1942, we went to Ajo. In the beginning, we lived in luxury in the house of someone who had gone East as in Chandler. In Ajo, the Copper Company had built a beautiful church...The Immaculate Conception. There was a large hall which was very adequate for our teaching. Sister Dominica O'Connor was with me that summer. However, Sister Dominica became quite ill with Rheumatic Fever and had to be hospitalized. She was not permitted to teach for the remainder of the summer. Father Connare (the priest who had invited the sisters to teach for the summer) was concerned about proper accommodations for Sister Dominica, so he graciously moved into the house where we were staying, and we moved into the Rectory. Both in Ajo and Chandler, we found that the people had great devotion to the Blessed Mother, particularly to May devotions. When June came, the people in both places also were deeply devoted to the Sacred Heart. As a - result, I learned many hymns in Spanish to Mary and many to Jesus. SBMG: Sister, I was wondering if you spoke Spanish to the people in Chandler and Ajo when you were there. SSMcl: When I could make myself understood I sometimes spoke Spanish. However, we were working on the principle that the children had to be educated in English. Therefore, we spoke English more frequently. I also want to say here that the people in Ajo were educated. They had a fine school. They were also religious. They had many religious customs, as in May devotions. They had a procession every night. This also happened in June for devotion to the Sacred Heart. SSMcl: When I returned to Tucson after being in Ajo the summer of 1943, I was told my ticket had been bought, and that I would take the train to Pennsylvania the next day. I said: "What is so important in Pennsylvania?" I did laugh, but I was angry. However, I said that I wouldn't go without stopping in Chicago to see my brand new niece. We did stop off, and stayed in Chicago. Then we went home. I had been out in Arizona from February of 1934 until June of 1943. I had a class of seven sisters in Spanish that summer at Seton Hill. The only name I'll mention is Sister Mary Eleanor Frederick , because the sister who the class was really for wasn't interested, but Sister Mary Eleanor and I had some good times. After the course was over, I went up to Erie with Sister Mary Dorcas Smith, my dear friend. Her family owned a cottage in Erie. So, we had an enjoyable week there. In those days, the Mission list (our assignments) were read in Cecilian Hall. As we weren't going to be there to hear our assignments, I ventured into Mother Claudia Glenn's office before leaving for Erie and asked if she could let me know my assignment. She said: "Oh yes, dear. You're going to go to Johnstown Central High School. Father Cauley wants you to teach a Spanish course there." Well Johnstown seemed to me to be farther away than Tucson. My first reaction was: "My sisters don't drive a car and it's harder to get to Johnstown than Tucson." They won't have any way to get there, nor would I be able to go home. Well, I cried for about fifteen minutes. Then as usual, Sister Mary Dorcas said: "Okay Suzanne, that's enough now. Dry the tears. Nothing is going to happen. Everything is going to be alright." I had an enjoyable time in Erie with Sister Mary Dorcas and her family. I came home and went to Johnstown. I was never sorry about those two years. They were happy ones. I lived with wonderful sisters, like Sister M. Gregory Farrell. The boys in the school were very fond of her and in fact, considered her to be saintly. I also lived with Sister Marguerite Guinagh who was very holy. So the three ofus then taught in the high school-Sister M. Gregory, Sister Marguerite and me (Sister Suzanne). We lived at Our Lady of Mercy convent in Prospect. It was a poor convent. In those years 1943, I suppose were war years. Sister M. Hortense Barclay, the superior would hurry to the store at noon with food stamps trying to buy enough substantial food for our dinner. The people didn't always know we were in need, but when they did, they would bring us loaves of home made bread. If you have this, it helps to take care of your need for food. We were definitely in a deprived situation, though I must admit I was never hungry. I must remind you of the great kindness of the sisters and of the people. We traveled to and from school via car. There was a young lady in the parish who generously and lovingly transported us daily to and from school. The high school was wonderful. Father Cauley was the principal and was indeed an excellent one. I had almost all boys with six girls in my Spanish class. I made just one mistake. I learned a great deal in those two years. The mistake was: One day, one youngster, for a little longer than I could put up with became annoying by interrupting. After giving him what I felt was fair warning, he persisted in this behavior. I simply said: "Take your books and leave. Report to Father Cauley's office at three-fifteen." I didn't ask anything else. I didn't give him a chance. In the high school at that time, we could put a finger on a little box which would connect us with the office. All I said at this time is that I was dismissing a certain young man(gave name). Father Cauley did try to speak to me about accepting the boy back in class, but I said, no, he can't return to my class. Father taught me a lesson by saying:"Don't speak quickly and tell someone they can't come back." He went on to say that the saddest part of the situation was that the young man had to graduate from a public high school. His family for three generations graduated from a catholic school. His mother is broken hearted that he will graduate from a public school. I was glad, some years later, to meet another young man from that class. He told me that the young man whom I had expelled was doing fine. He turned out to be a fme lawyer and a good catholic. He also told me that he ( boy who was expelled) thinks highly of me. I think it is interesting to note that I taught all boy classes while in Johnstown. I had all boy report rooms..freshman one year, juniors the next year, Religion, etc. It's really nice to teach boys' religion. They listen to what you have to say. It means something to them. The second year there I had an all boys history class. The only class which had a mixture of girls and boys in it was Spanish. SBMG: Sister Suzanne, you said that you were in Johnstown for two years. You became ill the Spring of the second year. Did that have anything to do with your leaving Johnstown? SSMcl: I don't know that it contributed to my having to leave, but nonetheless I left in the summer . At this time, I was under the care of Doctor Deptha in Pittsburgh. At the end of the summer, I was missioned to St. Luke's in Carnegie to teach Spanish. I had six very pleasant years in St. Luke's. I loved St. Luke's children. The reunion in 1985 was a remarkable thing when all those children came to the Hilton. I have a whole envelope of pictures about th(;! event. I went to St. Luke's in 1945 and was there until 1951. While in Carnegie, I worked with Sister Rosalee O'Hara on some speech projects. We also had debates. What I do remember about Carnegie is that it always reminded me of my own high school. While in Carnegie, I was with a lot of sisters who were my contemporaries. It made it very interesting to discuss, to argue, etc. We had Sister Rosalee O'Hara, Sister Mary Bernard O'Brien, Sister Marie George Abbot, Sister Alexine Beam, Sister Mary Rose Knorr, Sister Edith Marie Fullen, Sister Mary David Doyle, and Sister Marie Dolores Haney. As we know, these sisters were all good teachers. We all had strong personalities, so it made things interesting. Sister M. Emily Miller was our superior and a fine one at that. Sister Emily was like the rock of Gibraltar. What I remember about Sister Emily is that she had a dish at her place in the community room. Every day she would put change in it for people's possible needs. Today we would call that money petty cash. A sister remarked to her that it was pretty risky putting money out in that way. She replied: "Sister, every sister has taken a vow of poverty as I have. Each one can keep their vow of poverty. I don't have to keep anyone else' s." I forgot to mention Sister Mary Carlos Smith, who was our wonderful cook at St.Luke's for several years. I taught CCD work at St. Barbara's while in Carnegie. I liked being able to continue this ministry. SBMG: Sister Suzanne, you mentioned traveling to Pitt by train. Is that when you got your master' s degree? SSMcl: Yes Sister. Sister Marie George Abbot and I went to Pitt. In the summers, I stayed at DePaul Institute which was very much to my liking. Ifl hadn't had a sick spell I would have graduated the summer of 1949. I got my degree in August of 1951. I had a major in English and a minor in Spanish and History. SBMG: Where was your next assignment after St. Luke's in Carnegie? SSMcl: I was assigned to St. Jame' s in West End. For four months I had a happy time. I had the Junior boys and girls. We were getting along fine and then unfortunately I came up with a very painful arthritic condition. I was put in Pittsburgh hospital under the care of Dr. Ballantyne who I didn' t get along with. After being discharged, I went to Seton Hill to recuperate. This really began my career at Seton Hill. There was Miss Geyer who became very ill and died. So, I was given some of her courses to teach. Also, I had been helping Sister Miriam Joseph Murphy who went off to Wisconsin to work on her doctorate. I taught her classes in American literature, which she didn't like, but rather preferred English literature. I was then at Seton Hill this time from 1952-1962. Those ten years were very happy years at Seton Hill. I enjoyed all the advantages that there were from being at Seton Hill. SBMG: Then where did you go after you left teaching at Seton Hill college in 1962? SSMcI: Again, I had become ill. I had an exploratory operation in Pittsburgh hospital to determine the reason for my illness. As it turned out, they removed my gall bladder. I recovered from the surgery, but developed a kidney infection. After being discharged from the hospital, I was at Assumption Hall where I received wonderful care. Sister Philippa Henry and Sister Mary Carol Murphy were the nurses and saw to it that I was given such care. In 1963, Mother Claudia sent for me. At this time, she showed me a letter from my sister, Irene, requesting that I be permitted to go to the canonization of Mother Seton. I told Mother that I couldn' t go. She said: " You can' t?" I said: "Well, no, all the sisters ...all the sisters who are out on mission working hard, and I haven' t done a thing for a year." She then said: "Would you like to go?" I said: "Is there anyone who wouldn' t want to go?" Mother then said: "Well, just go out of obedience to satisfy your sisters." So I did. I was one of the twenty that the Community sent to the canonization. We started in Portugal at the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. So I got to pray for everyone there. Then we went to Rome and were very close to the Pope when he was saying Mass. In the afternoon at the Basilica, due to my size I would have been way back where it would not have been possible for me to see. However, I pretended not to understand the directions on my paper regarding seating arrangements and ended up sitting with Sister Macaria Nestor and Sister Mary Amy Connelly near the main altar that the Pope spoke from. They were waiting for me. The next place we went to was France. We went to the shrine where Our Blessed Lady had appeared to Saint Catherine Laboure. It was one of the most prayerful experiences I have ever had. We also got to pay our respects to Saint Vincent de Paul. The next day we took a train to Lourdes. Of all the sisters who were on the tour, only two took advantage of the bath at the shrine in Lourdes. One was a Daughter Of Charity from Missouri, and the other was Sister Suzanne McIntyre from Greensburg, Pennsylvania. It was a wonderful experience. I can't tell about it on this tape, but I do feel that I am alive today due to Our Lady Of Lourdes curing me. I gave orders at the hotel that I was to be called early in the morning. So I rose at six a.m. in order to be ready to go to the Basilica. From Lourdes we went to Ireland. When we got to Dublin, you knew it was Lent. In Dublin, morning, noon, and night, people were going to Mass and were looking like they were fasting. We were told that we were exempt from fasting as we were on a tour. Of all of us, about twenty sisters, I was the only one who returned home without getting sick. I didn' t so much as have a sniffle. That was Lourdes and all those holy places! When I returned to Greensburg (Assumption Hall), I wrote a letter to Sister Theodosia Murtha requesting to move over to Seton Hill and perhaps even teach some classes. So, in June of 1963, I went over to Seton Hill. I did teach one class in Children's Literature, and helped out at the main desk in the Administration Building. At the end of the summer, Mother Claudia Glenn sent for me and told me that I was going to go to Sacred Heart High School to teach Spanish. You understand I had been ten years at Seton Hill and had not taught one Spanish class. During those ten years, I had concentrated on American Literature, particularly in Wisconsin. I had taken other classes in Literature, Journalism, and Research, but nothing in Spanish. I did a little arguing about this to no avail. I landed at Sacred Heart in September. So I was back at my Alma Mater. I had a Freshman home room. I taught two classes of Senior English, two classes of Spanish, and a class of Freshman Religion. You will remember that John Kennedy was assassinated in November of that year. I had a sick spell which put me in the hospital for a week. I do feel that his death had something to do with this. As a result, when I returned home, my teaching schedule was greatly reduced. They kept me on that year to teach Spanish. However, after that year, I managed a full time schedule for a number of years. I'm still here at Sacred Heart, and I could go on for hours Sister Brigid Marie about all the wonderful people here. SBMG: What about your work with the Spanish Honor Society in Pittsburgh? I know you used to be very involved with it. SSMcl: Thank you, Sister. Yes, the AATSP, the American Association of Teachers for Spanish and Portuguese. I should never pass that up. For some reason or another, some lovely gentleman in New Jersey nominated me to be the National counselor for the AATSP. My first meeting with the organization was in Atlanta, Georgia. This was a delightful experience for me because I always met with very kind, intelligent, humble people. We did a lot of good things. A highlight was a trip to Madrid. We did our convention work during the daytime. Therefore, we got to see many things. I met up with a group of the Daughters of Charity while there. I had the privilege of having the final five days to rest and enjoy. During this time I met many fine people...mostly in the dining area. The food was delicious. We didn' t have any waitresses. They were all waiters. I spent these five days on the coast of Del Sol, which was within walking distance of the Rock of Gibraltar. I stayed in a family oriented hotel. It was delightful! During my time with the AATSP, I had other trips. One was to Toronto, Canada. There was a trip to California, which I wasn' t able to go on due to sister, Irene becoming very ill. SBMG: Sister, when you were talking about teaching Religion in St. John Evangelist, Tucson, it struck me that you were the first or one of the first Sisters to bring the Word Of God to the people in the West. Could you summarize that for me, please? SSMcl: Well, I went out to the West in February of 1934. In 1935, Father Stohler, managed in December to get the chapel. At first, I went out alone with a companion girl to teach catechism. The other Sisters were all spread out teaching the deaf and blind, etc. They also went to many of the distant areas to teach catechism. This .was in 1935. I continued to teaching catechism until I left Arizona. In 1938, I went to Chandler. I wasn't alone in Chandler. Sister James Marie Malone and Sister Rita Ann Woods were with me there. I was in Chandler from 1938 until 1941. From 1942-1943, I went to Ajo. Sister Dominica O' Connor accompanied me there. SBMG: Looking back on her life, there are a number of things that Sister Suzanne would like to tell us about. SSMcl: After looking at a picture last evening, I think it is important for me to tell you about the Mariachi Mass in Puerto Baca,Mexico (I don't know if this is what Sister is saying though I tried to determine.) The Cathedral in Puerto Baca was built by the early Spanish settlers there. You could put this entire Cathedral in Sacred Heart Church. There was a very fine Bishop there. The Mariachi singers connected with the Mariachi singers from Mexico had composed music to be played at Mass. The Bishop there gave them permission to use a record of this music at his Mass. So on a Sunday while I was there I attended this Mass. It was most reverent, but also definitely Mariachi. The people came in bus loads to that Mass. Much to my surprise, there was a bus load of Daughters of Charity in full regalia. Even though the Spanish people were not prone to accept religious in religious attire, they were most accepting of these Sisters probably because they manned the hospitals in the poorer sections of the cities. The people in Mexico still had laws in their books against priests and sisters. I too was suspect, but when asked to change, I said: "I don't ask anyone from Mexico to wear something American when they come to the United States, and as a citizen of the United States, I believe I should be permitted to wear what I please." Mass begins at the back of the church and it is also where the presiding priest delivers his homily. This is where the Baptismal Fount is, quite a large one in case any adults want to be Baptized. The Sunday I was there, there must have been about fifty priests accompanying the Bishop. The Bishop then intones the Confiteor, which is the beginning of the Mass. We have windows above our altars, but they have balconies above theirs. Important people sit up there during the Mass. At the Sign of Peace, the Bishop and the accompanying priests walked the full length of the Cathedral extending the Sign of Peace to everyone. The Blessed Sacrament is not reserved on the altar, but in a separate room. This was so that no one could do any harm to the Blessed Sacrament. A person really had to know their way around in order to find this separate little chapel. There is another thing I would like to tell you about. In 1955, Mother Claudia Glenn sent me out to Tucson. I had never been asked to work with the young sisters, but in this case, I was sent to help Sister Mary Ann Farrell and Sister Esther Marie Phillips, both of whom were postulants. I'm not going to say any more about it. Perhaps some day these two sisters may relate the experience. I want to say now that the Community has been most gracious with me. I have had opportunity to learn, opportunity to travel, opportunity to improve my spiritual life, if I would. In spite of all the opportunities received, I feel that I have been a financial burden at times. It seems that since 1962, I spend time in the hospital every other year or so. SBMG: I really don' t think we have much room left on this tape. So, I think we'll just close, thanking you very much for your giving us this information. I feel that we have some very valuable information. I learned a lot about you and feel that anyone listening to these tapes would have the same experience. Sister Marie Arthur Hamilton: I transcribed this oral history on Sr. Suzanne McIntyre from cassette tapes. It is somewhat edited. I completed it on January 12, 2011. 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 Suzanne McIntyre Subject The topic of the resource Sister Suzanne McIntyre Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Suzanne McIntyre, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1925 until 2001. The interview was conducted by Sister Brigid Marie Grandey on September 9, 10, 16, 17, 25, and 30, 1986. Sister Suzanne McIntyre was born on August 11, 1906 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of Patrick J. McIntyre and Margaret Josephine Barry, Lillian Margaret McIntyre entered the community on February 2, 1925 as Sister M. Suzanne McIntyre. Sister Suzanne initially ministered as a teacher in the Congregation’s schools in the Southwest United States and taught English and Spanish at Saints Peter and Paul School, Tucson, Arizona. Beginning in 1943, she taught in schools throughout Pennsylvania, including Johnstown Central High School, Johnstown; St. Luke High School, Carnegie; St. James High School, West End, Pittsburgh; and Sacred Heart High School, Pittsburgh. She taught English at Seton Hill College from 1952 to 1962. Sister Suzanne earned her B.A. in English with minors in Spanish and Social Studies from Seton Hill College in 1930, and earned her M.L. In English with a minor in Social Studies from the University of Pittsburgh in 1950. She did further graduate study at several other universities. She was a member of several societies dedicated to language education, and was the National Director of one of them, La Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica, from 1977 to 1979. Sister Suzanne McIntyre passed away on May 18, 2001 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 1986/09/09 1986/09/10 1986/09/16 1986/09/25 1986/09/30 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-35 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/c0839a57be1bda7613853e4ced8d1db2.mp3 5b5036fbd3691b6c2e2d6e4c628cea1f 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 Paul Gabriel Wilhere Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sister Teresa Clare Kernan 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.) 31:02 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound OH29-1 This interview is being conducted as part of the oral history program of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewee is Sister Teresa Clare Kernan. The interview is being conducted by Sister Paul Gabriel Wilhere at Assumption Hall. The date is August 24, 1982. SPGW: This is August 1982. We are at Assumption Hall getting an Oral History on Sister Teresa Clare Kernan. We are involved in getting Oral Histories on a number in the community. So I am pleased to be allowed to interview you because I hope to find out some things that I don' t know. Sister Teresa Clare, where do you come in your own family? STCK: Well, I am the eighth child often. But, the last two died as infants. So I always say I was a baby three times. I think that accounts for some of the things that you'll learn. SPGW: What about the older members of your family? STCK: Well, we had John and Ray who are the oldest of the family. No, Nellie was the oldest. I'm sorry. Nellie was the oldest and then John and Ray and Father Jim, and then Julia and Frank and Mary and I. Of that whole group, Mary and I are the only two now living. SPGW: Mary worked in a... STCK: She worked in a city department from high school. She went to school at Peabody High and had a position there before she graduated and continued to work there for a number of years until it became necessary for somebody to be at home with mother and unpaid who could drive the car and so Mary stayed home for a number of years. She didn't go back to work until she went to Sacred Heart as one of the office secretaries. SPGW: You and Mary have always been very close. I remember reunions at Oakmont where it seemed several generations gathered. Everybody belonging to everybody else. STCK: That's right. It's a strong family feeling from the youngest. I can remember one of our youngest ones one time at one of the family reunions just stood and looked at everybody and then she went to her Dad and she said, "Do they all belong to me?" That's very characteristic. I think the whole family feels that way. We all belong to each other. That' s good. SPGW: You mentioned Father Jim. His last assignment was as Pastor of Saint Luke's which was with our sisters. STCK: That's right. He was there as Pastor until he had to retire at the age of 75 according to the Diocesan regulations although he felt he could have continued for another few years. But he did remain there at Saint Luke's and died in 1981. SPGW: He wrote a family history, I understand, it's available ifwe want to know more about the Kemans. STCK: That's right. And his history is well done. SPGW: I would expect it to be. How did your parents feel about your entering? STCK: Well, my father was dead, but I don't think that would have brought him any pain and my mother was very happy about it. But, I was only 16 when I finished high school and she thought that was too young, so she told me if I waited until I was 18, she would be happier than if I were to go at 16. I was glad I did because in that interim time after high school I had a semester that I stayed home and helped at home because mother wasn't very well and somebody had to be in the house. Then I got into the teacher training school, which I probably would not have done, if I had gone right out of high school, you know. It was in that time that I learned about it and made application and was accepted and I graduated from there at the end of January 1923. I entered on the 2nd of February 1923. So, it was like a continuous education. SPGW: You entered from Saint Kieran Parish. Did you always live there? STCK: Yes. My father built the house that we lived in before he was married. He brought my mother there as a bride. My mother didn't live any place except that until after most of the family was dead and Jack built two small houses, one for him and one for mother. Those two are around Saint Mary's, so we really never left Saint Mary's, which is in the East End of Pittsburgh. The lands join to the same side of the road. SPGW: You said you entered from Saint Kieran's. Were you taught by the Sisters of Charity there? STCK: Oh, yes. The Sisters of Charity had come there early in the history of the community in the Pittsburgh Diocese. I don't remember the exact date, but I know it was a well­ established school when I went to it. Sister Zita was the Principal there when I was there. She was there for a number of years. She was related to Father Doyle who was our Pastor. There always seemed to be somebody of that relationship at Saint Kieran's Convent, and that was good. I think it was a good thing. SPGW: What year did you say you entered? STCK: I entered on February 2, 1923. SPGW: What was happening,just as a matter of interest and history, can you remember any of the things that were happening either in the city or in your neighborhood and in the country at that point? STCK: The First World War had just ended. All the time I was in high school we were, you know, making things for the soldiers. Father Coakley, who had been our Principal, went as a Chaplain and he sent us some forms of what was taking place and what the needs were. So all through high school time we were either making bandages or we were knitting or we were doing something to help in the First World War. So the City was just really recovering from the First World War by 1923. So in the industries, there weren't many men, particularly the steel mills, and then that had quieted down a little bit at that time. There was no depression or anything. The aftermath of the World War I was not the best thing. SPGW: What kind of work did your father do? STCK: My father was a brick layer , but he was a, I think what you would call an industrial brick layer. In other words, he had learned the trade in England, where he was from. He was born there and educated there and learned his trade there. Then when they came to this country and the steel mills were beginning to be, he was hired by Andrew Carnegie, in one of the first steel mills. They were the men who lined the furnaces with fire brick to make the steel, the grade of steel that they wanted. So it was a very professional job. He trained all the other men who worked under him to do that particular kind of thing. (As I remember, when he' d be reading a newspaper or a magazine or a book or anything , around the margins you could always tell about where he stopped because there would be a little snitch in pencil around that). A new kind of ceiling where the brick would merge in a certain way and there would be different kinds of arches and what have you at the part of seaming because the draft of the air to purify the steel, the iron as it was being converted into steel, had to be exact and that was the bricklayer's job. So it was always considered an important job in the steel mill. He and Andy Carnegie were on first term speaking thoughts. That's how close it was to the beginning of the steel mills and making an empire of steel in Pittsburgh. SPGW: Did any of your brothers follow that line of work? STCK: Yes. My oldest brother, Jack (John), and Ray both followed in his footsteps. They were trained under him and became expert bricklayers themselves. During the First World War, Jack went to the Army and was in service overseas in England. Ray took my father' s place in the mill. He was the Superintendent. When Jack came back from the service, Ray was already installed because Ray had married and Jack thought that that should be his place. So, Jack then went into independent work as a bricklayer and he went into construction work himself. He never went back to the steel mill after that. He developed the John J. Kernan Construction Company. SPGW: About the community, who was the Mother Superior when you petitioned to enter? In those days did you have to come up and asked to join the community? STCK: Yes. I came up. I remember I came in the summer. Because Sister Barbara, I was going to be Sister Barbara's postulant. Sister Barbara was from Saint Kieran. Her brothers had also worked in the steel mills with my father. Sister Barbara and Sister Charlotte Judge were both from Saint Kieran. In fact, I saw both of them, but I was Sister Barbara's postulant because she was the older of the two. That was in the summer of '22 when I petitioned, but I didn't enter until '23 because it was the decision of the superiors at that time that I should finish the teacher training program and graduate. SPGW: Who was the Mother Superior? Do you remember? STCK: She died in office. Mother... (Mother Mary Raymond Creed - transcriber's note) SPGW: It was not Josephine? STCK: No, later than that. I should remember because I looked it up. SPGW: What do you remember about your postulancy? Now in 1982, postulancies are very different. I think it would be interesting to know what your's was like. STCK: I enjoyed my postulancy very much. SPGW: Did you change clothes the day you entered? STCK: Yes. In fact, we had a funny experience coming. Father Jim, and Mother, and Mary and I came up together. The only means of transportation was by train. So, we had taken the train that we thought to Greensburg. Here it turned out to be the one that went out on the cut off toward Oakmont and that section. So we had to come back to East Liberty. So by the time we arrived at Seton Hill, it was well after seven o'clock at night. SPGW: Oh, my. STCK: They thought I got along the way and decided not to come or something like that. They often teased me about it as the years went on in the novitiate. SPGW: Did you have your supper? STCK: We called and told them that we had made this mistake and we were delayed. They said, "Now, don't stop and get supper any place. Come on up and we will have something for you." They had the table set up in the students' dining room and we all went in there to eat and the sisters came with us to accompany us. Then they took me upstairs and had me dress as a postulant before Mother and Father and Mary left so they'd see me. So by that time, it was almost time for night prayers and so that's as much as I had on the first night. SPGW: What was the postulant dress? STCK: A plain. It was made at home. Aunt Peg made it. It was a plain black dress. It buttoned up on the shoulder and down the one side. It had a little white sash across the one shoulder. Now the cape, which had also been made at home; it came down to our ankles. We were very comfortable and all looked very nice. They always wore a little white ribbon collar with it. The black dress had a high neck line and then that was just like a little edging on that. And the same way with the cuffs. The cuffs were just an edging on the long sleeves. I remember somebody in the family had done hemstitching on my cuffs. It looked very trim and neat. And the postulancy, you know, only lasted for a few months in those days. I entered in February and I received the habit in May, about three months. It would have been the extension, the ordinary extension. I could because I didn't think it was necessary, but that's the length of time it was for me. During that time, some time in February, ifl remember, it must have been around the 12th or the 131 something about Lincoln's birthday, around that time, a sister became ill who was teaching at Saint Mary's, so they asked ifl could go down and take her place in the boys school. So, I had everything from the first to the fourth grade in the boys school, which I liked very much. SPGW: You always liked boys. STCK: That's right. You know those little tots. We had a lot, I think something like 22 of them in the four grades. I remember them very well. I remember how excited they were when I was going to get the habit. You wouldn't think that would make any difference to them. But they were very excited. So I had one day that I was on retreat and then the next day I had the white cap on. So the next day when I went back to school with my white cap, they met me at the door and accompanied me into the classroom. SPGW: What did they call you before you got the habit? STCK: Sister. Sister Teresa. No, Sister Kernan. They used to call me Sister Kernan. Then, of course, I got Sister Teresa Clare for my name, and they liked that. I'm sure they changed it to suit me. SPGW: Did you ask for your name? STCK: No, but I was the first one to receive the habit following the beatification of the Little Flower. So, I was pretty sure... We were making a novena to her. I just felt that for sure they were going to put Teresa in some form. So I thought that Teresa Clare was a good combination. SPGW: That's right. Was it a one year white cap novitiate? STCK: Yes: SPGW: What did you do that year? What did that entail? STCK: As a white cap, well we did... SPGW: Did you continue teaching the boys? STCK: I finished out the year with them. I got the habit in May and then I finished that term. Then in June, or in August, I didn't come back to Saint Mary's. We were supposed to learn to do all the kinds of household work that was necessary. That meant having charge of the kitchen and the dining room. At that moment, I was assigned to the priests' dining room. So, at least part of that year I was in the priests' dining room. That was an art form itself. You know, at that time when we had a priests' dining room, but we had two priests and we had all the lay faculty. SPGW: Men. STCK: All the men from the lay faculty in the priests' dining room. That was on the ground floor of Saint Joseph Hall which had just been built and opened in the same year as I entered. So it was practically a brand new set up. But that's the way it was. There was a dining room on the west side of the building on the ground floor and a visitors' dining room across the hall from that. And as long as we worked there, I had the responsibility for the guests' dining room and also go out to the kitchen and get all the hot food and bring it in and do all that kind of thing. It was lots of fun. That was a part of the work. Then the other kinds of odd jobs that had to be done. You know. ­ The other novices who hadn't completed their high school were in class most of the time. So, a lot of odd jobs fell to me, I enjoyed that, one of them being the novitiate itself. Since I never liked to go to bed early, I used to do that charge after night prayers were over. SPGW: How soon did you go out on mission? STCK: I went out on mission the following year. I was a white cap for a year and then that summer I got the black cap, one year following the day I got the white cap. Then I was ready to go and the sisters went on mission in August. I went to Sheriden, Holy Innocents, my first assignment off the campus. So that would have been 1924. Is that right? SPGW: That's right. STCK: We were very welcome at Holy Innocents as well as necessary. I had the fourth grade to start with and that was a great treat. I really enjoyed that. Father Shields readers were being introduced about that time into the whole educational process and that was quite an aberration from the old, completely phonetic method of teaching. It was a challenge to me as well as to the students to the way that they were taught. But, I think they learned. SPGW: Yes. I know they did. You did go to Saturday school, though, as I remember. STCK: Yes. SPGW: You and a very tall sister. STCK: Sister Mary Dolores? SPGW: She died. No. Agnes... STCK: Agnes Clare. Yes. That's right. We were both teachers at that time. I did go with sister later. Then I continued to go to Duquesne for Saturday class and I used to meet the sisters from Crafton. They were going to Duquesne. I got on the same train with them on Saturday mornings. In those days, there were Saturday morning trains. And then we' d get off at Fourth Avenue Station and walk up the hill to Duquesne. They would do the reverse about coming back. There was an afternoon train that we could get. It was convenient as far as Sheriden was concerned, and it was also convenient for Crafton. That's what I remember about going to Duquesne. SPGW: This year we were talking about the 100th Anniversary of the Sisters coming to Seton Hill and then talking a great deal about Mother Seton, about Saint Vincent, and that sort of thing. What do you remember of the orientation of the spirit of the community in those days, was it pretty much oriented to Saint Vincent or were Mother Seton and Saint Vincent given equal seniority? STCK: Saint Vincent's Day was the biggest day of the year outside of Christmas, as I recall, and that was always the 19th of July. You prayed a novena in preparation for it and everybody came and it was an exciting day for the whole community. A chance to see the total community. Of course, Mother Seton was always regarded with reverence, but she had not yet been made venerable, or beatified or canonized. That kind of, in other words, I've only known her by her pictures, very simple pictures of her hanging in the novitiate, and I think the community room had one too, picturing her in the black cap and the simple black dress which our postulants very much liked, a cap and a little bit of white trim. But I would say the orientation at that time was toward Saint Vincent because Mother Seton, her cause had not yet come into existence. SPGW: Do you want to stop? STCK: No. SPGW: We will continue. Since you taught novices 50 years ago, and continue to orient them to the community now, what were some of the contacts you've had with novices through the years? STCK: Well, as a Supervisor of Schools, I had had them usually the previous year for orientation to classroom, like Introduction to Teaching or some place like that. Then when I went to their missions, I tried always to go if I knew they were brand new teachers in the school to be there as early as possible so that I could help them get oriented to the classroom. We would have lengthy discussions and lesson plans and all that kind of thing. They always said they were very helpful. Often times during my visit there, I would come in and have me take over and demonstrate a lesson so that they could pick up the method with their own children being there. Whatever way was possibleJ'd help them with their lesson plans and try to get... I'd try to have them to like to teach, like I liked to teach. I thought that was an important contribution to make, if I could help somebody else like to teach. I trained most of my novices. SPGW: You used to say that most of the people you taught have learned to like to teach. You mentioned in the schools what was your educational role, was that in the diocese or in the community? When you were Supervisor of Schools. STCK: Well, as a Supervisor of Schools, I was based in the diocese and in the community because at that time the diocese had a plan that there would be a supervisor in each school conducted by a particular community for every so many sisters. I don't remember at this point the exact number of sisters, but I would say off hand, maybe every 50 sisters. Maybe it was higher than that. It meant any community that had less than 50 sisters teaching in the diocese did not have a member of their own community who belonged to the board. If you did have, in our case we had, when I started out as a Supervisor. Sister Generosa and I were the active supervisors and then you'd have an older sister at Seton Hill who worked, to whom we reported regularly. Her name just went off of my head. SPGW: Sister Norberta? SICK: Norberta. OK. Sister Norberta had been the active supervisor. At that time she was no longer active, as least she didn't attend the meetings and she didn't do a lot of things, but she had a lot of contact with the sisters and always was very helpful with us. Any time we came back to Seton Hill, we would have a visit with her to bring her up to date with what was going on and ask her advice on whatever we were doing. So that kind of continuing contact with both the diocese and the community, I think was very good. SPGW: When you say the diocese, the Pittsburgh Diocese then encompassed what is now... STCK: The Greensburg Diocese SPGW: What about Altoona? STCK: Altoona was also, we say, in the diocese. Remember all three of them were in the Diocese of Pittsburgh at one time. So we always continue to think of it that way. Then Altoona became a separate diocese. SPGW: You supervised Altoona as well. When the schools opened out West, did they have their own supervisors? STCK: No. They never had a person who resided there who·was the supervisor and so we made a trip at least once a year to the West and remained long enough that we would visit all of the schools and be whatever help we could be to these young... In those days, very young sisters, who had not yet been trained were rarely sent to the West. One advantage that they had was that they were all experienced teachers when they went. SPGW: You mentioned working with Sister Generosa. Considering that it might be that her name may come up as we talk about the oral history. Sister Generosa... STCK: Cuniff was her family name. SPGW: And she transferred to the Dominicans, I understand, in Austin, Texas. Somewhere in the 1940's, probably 1946 or 1947. STCK: She had been the Principal and Sister Servant at Crafton, Saint Philip's. At the end of that term, she was released to go to Texas. I remember when she came to Seton Hill and said good-bye to the community. SPGW: Am I correct in thinking that you and Sister Generosa and Sister Marie Monica were probably involved in some of the very early departmental work back in 1928? STCK: That's right. It was really just being introduced into the diocesan program and we experimented with it in our own situations. And from that learned that there were things that would have to be rectified or would have to be made balance so that you didn't have too much emphasis on one thing and not enough on the other. 9 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 Teresa Clare Kernan Subject The topic of the resource Sister Teresa Clare Kernan Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Teresa Clare Kernan, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1923 until 1989. The interview was conducted by Sister Paul Gabriel Wilhere on August 24, 1982. Sister Teresa Clare Kernan - born Margaret Anne Kernan on October 5, 1903 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in February of 1923. Sister Teresa Clare received a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1930. She continued her studies there and went on to receive a master's degree in English education in 1937 and a doctorate in the same subject in 1949. Sister Teresa Clare served as a supervisor of schools and was based at St. Anselm Elementary School in this capacity from 1945-1952. She then taught English at Sacred Heart Elementary School from 1952-1957, returning as Sister Servant and Principal from 1963-1968. Sister Teresa Clare also served as a Councilor and Director of Education from 1957-1963, later serving as Seton Hill College's archivist from 1968-1981. Sister Teresa Clare Kernan died on March 29, 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 1982/08/24 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-29 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/c9439b350b97485b17c2b8041163d8b5.mp3 52c4ffe2cad8a96421405d4599583276 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/d1949a7b45d57ff469ea1a84031991c2.mp3 4613747ec82ab117dfe4959331deb1b4 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 Teresa Martin Henry Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio cassette tape Location The location of the interview St. Luke Convent Carnegie (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.) 31:33 08:08 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 Teresa Martin Henry Subject The topic of the resource Sister Teresa Martin Henry Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Teresa Martin Henry, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1931 until 2003. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on February 14, 1987. Sister Teresa Martin Henry - born Geraldine Roberta Henry on May 5, 1914 - entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in September of 1931. She received a bachelor's degree in education from Duquesne University in 1947 and a master's degree from St. Mary's College in Notre Dame in 1955. She taught social studies and religion at a number of schools including Sacred Heart in Pittsburgh, St. Luke Elementary School, and Bishop Boyle High School. She also served as Dean of Freshman at Seton Hill College from 1949-1951. Sister Teresa Martin died on September 8, 2003. 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 1987/02/14 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-61 Bishop Boyle High School Carnegie PA Duquesne University Sacred Heart School PGH Seton Hill College St. Luke's School St. Mary's College 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. Corinne Omlor Sister M. Harriet Omlor 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.) 12:04 Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound 41-1 Sisters Harriet and Corinne Omlor The following interview is being conducted for an Oral History project sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The interviewees are Sisters Harriet and Corinne Omlor. The interviewer is Sister James Marie Malone. The date is March twenty-fow-th, nineteen eighty­ fow-. We are in St. John Evangelist Convent in Tucson, Arizona. These two Sisters will combine their responses as their life experiences have been so interwoven. SJMM: Sister Corinne, could you give me an example of yow- togetherness? SCO: Yes, Sister Harriet was born in nineteen Hundred Five, and I in nineteen Hundred Six. Sr. Harriet was born on April twenty-third, which was Easter Sunday, and I on May twenty-fourth, Ascension Thw-sday. Since we had very few Catholics in our home town of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, no parochial schools were available, so we were instructed by our parents. Our mother' s Sister was a St. Joseph Sister from Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. In all her letters, especially when we were teenagers, she mentioned many times how one could become a Sister. I really think that was our intention when we petitioned. However, Sr. Harriet went to Seton Hill College, and was greatly influenced by the Sisters, particularly with Sister Carmelita Quigley. After her Freshman year, we both petitioned. I was sponsored by Sr. Miriam Francis Cunningham, who was a good friend of our mother. We keep in touch with our Protestant friends who claim we broaden their views on the Catholic Church. We were advised to enter on September sixth to be near the head of the group. We never really understood this reason. We left on Sunday, and when we were a few blocks from home, I realized that I didn't have my violin. Upon entering the house on our return, I found our mother crying. Later we realized what a great sacrifice our parents had made. SJMM: Sr. Corinne, would you like to tell about some of the Missions you were on? SCO: My first Mission was Holy Innocents in Sheraden. Some of the people I taught there have always kept in touch with me. The second Mission was at St. Stephen' s in Hazelwood. How well I remember that event, for we both had fifth grade. Our fine Principal was Sister Borgio Casey. She was great for having contests between our two classes. I spent a year and a half at Immaculate Conception in Irwin, nine years between Altoona and Johnstown, seventeen years at Resurrection, one year at Sacred Heart, three years and a Summer at St. Jane de Chantal in Bethesda, Maryland, a year at St. John Evangelist in South Side, and finally. my last year 1980 at Cathedral in Greensburg. SJMM: Sister Harriet, Would you tell us about the House of Mary? SHO: I was teaching Music at St. Benedict's (now Cathedral) in Greensburg. Every weekend I rode the bus in to Pittsburgh to help at the House of Mary. I stayed with Sister Cyril Aaron and Sister Angelica Little at Roselia Foundling. All the Sisters were very kind to us. It entailed much walking and it seemed that every family we visited lived on the top floor. After being out on Saturday, we were really tired. The huckster would bring vegetables for us to give or sell to the poor. We would start out again, regardless of the time of day. Sister Angelica Little was an example of great endurance in aiding these people. Policemen wouldn't be seen on some of the streets where we visited people because they were too dangerous. After the house was ready for us to live in, I stayed there for two Summers. Sister Cyril wanted me to stay for the year, but Mother M. Claudia Glenn said that I was to return to Greensburg to teach Music at St. Benedict's. SJMM: Sister Harriet, when you talked about teaching Music at St. Benedict' s, what were the living conditions at that time because the parish did not provide a convent for the faculty teaching there? SHO: Mr. Cramer, the Undertaker, came for us early in the morning at Seton Hill and came back after school and took us back. I was still at the school. One Sister waited for me until six o' clock PM. The truck driver from Seton Hill came for us an-d drove us home. These were hard times. The days were long. Many of the prayers which were said during the day were said at night. Our maintenance man would drive to Seton Hill at Noon to get our basket of food which was prepared by the kitchen employees at Seton Hill. SJMM: Sister Harriet, would you like to mention your other Eastern Missions? SHO: Sister Corinne and I were stationed at Resurrection in Brookline together. We got interested in teaching classes there. Two years that we spent in Washington, DC, in Workshops gave us an opportunity to visit Washington. After teaching Music at Resurrection, Mother Claudia Glenn assigned each of us to a second grade when the Missions were announced in Cecilian Hall. From that time on we have been in the classroom. When I was Sister Servant and Principal at St. Bruno's in Greensburg for three years, I developed Sclera Derma. The last year, I was limping quite a bit, and Sister Mary Donald Cusick came to supervise At Noon, she went to Assumption and returned with a wheel chair. All the children enjoyed wheeling me from class to class and many times were breaking the speed limit! The Parishioners were very attentive in transporting me back and forth between the school and the convent. At the end of the third year, I asked to go West, and was sent to the Casa Elizabeth Seton in Tucson, Arizona...the only year I was off duty. Sister Mary Inez Clark and the other Sisters were very good to me. The next year, nineteen sixty-seven, I went to Chandler, and have been there ever since. SJMM: (I couldn' t clearly hear this question). I'm sure though that she was asking Sr. Corinne about going West. SCO: Since it was a difficult time for Sister Harriet, Mother Victoria Brown gave me permission to go to St. Teresa' s in Phoenix. It was in August and was extremely hot. It was in nineteen sixty-seven. I was fortunate to have Sister Macaria Nestor as Sister Servant. She wanted me to see so many beautiful sights. I spent four years there teaching the fourth grade. I left St. Teresa' s in nineteen seventy-five and came to St. Mary' s in Chandler where we celebrated our Fiftieth Jubilee. I taught fourth grade for several years, and then part time teaching Religion because the teacher was not a Catholic. I am now in the Library assisting Sr. Harriet and enjoying it immensely. I play the violin at the nine o'clock Mass on Sundays. SJMM: Sr. Corinne, it's a good thing that you came to share your talents with the children. SCO: Yes, I'm happy to be using my talents in the service of the Lord. We both now are semi retired. We don't receive a salary. Since we have more time of our own, we are Eucharistic Ministers...give Communion to the Sick, and visit the lonely. SJMM: Sr. Harriet and Sr. Corinne, I realize that there have been others who have had Sisters in the Community, who have become Sisters of Charity on the same day, but I doubt that there have eee t-nm-thet: ha-ve been others who have lived their lives so closely together. Thank you, and may God continue to bless both of you. Sr. Marie Arthur Hamilton: I completed the transcription of this oral history of Sisters Harriet and Corinne Omlor on Thursday, January thirty-frrst, 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: Sisters M. Corinne Omlor and Harriet Omlor Subject The topic of the resource Sister M. Corinne Omlor Sister M. Harriet Omlor Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sisters M. Corinne Omlor and M. Harriet Omlor, Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill and blood-sisters. The interview was conducted by Sister James Marie Malone on March 24, 1984. Sister M. Corinne Omlor and Sister Mary Harriet Omlor were biological sisters who were daughters of Hubert Omlor and Cora Ann Noel. Sister Mary Harriet was born on April 23rd, 1905 in Waynesburg, Pa. As well as Sister M. Corrine, who was born on May 24th, 1906. Mary Helen Omlor and Cecelia Adelaide Omlor entered the community on September 8th, 1925. Mary Helen Omlor was 20 years old and entered as Sister Mary Harriet Omlor. Cecelia Adelaide Omlor was 19 years old and entered as Sister M. Corinne Omlor. Sister Mary Harriet received her B.M. in Music from Seton Hill College in 1937. She was a piano teacher at Cathedral, Greensburg from 1950-1951; Sacred Heart, Pittsburgh from 1951-1955; Resurrection, Pittsburgh from 1955-1959; St. Teresa Munhall from 1959-1961; Holy Cross, Youngwood from 1961-1963; St. Bruno from 1963-1965; St. Mary, Chandler from 1967-1969; Basha Elementary from 1969 to 1978. She received her B.M. in Music from Seton Hill College in 1937. Her Final Procession was on May 1st, 1949. Sister Mary Harriet Passed on December 10th, 1984 at the age of 79. Sister M. Corrine Omlor received her B.M. in Violin and Minor in Piano from Seton Hill College in 1947. She taught music in grades 3, 4, and 5 at Resurrection, Pittsburgh from 1950 to 1961. She taught at St. Jane de Chantal, MD from 1961-1964. She taught at St. Teresa, Phoenix from 1967-1974 where she then taught at Basha Elementary from 1974 to 1986. Overall, she taught for 46 years. Her Final Procession was on May 15th, 1949. Sister M. Corinne Omlor passed on September 5th, 2007 at the age of 101. 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 1984/03/24 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-41 Basha Elementary Brookline PA Cathedral School Chandler AZ Glyndon MD Greensburg PA Holy Cross Youngwood Munhall PA Music Teacher Piano Pittsburgh PA Resurrection PGH Sacred Heart PGH Seton Hill College St. Bruno St. Jane de Chantal MD St. Mary Chandler St. Teresa AZ St. Teresa Munhall Violin Waynesburg Youngwood PA https://scsharchives.com/files/original/5fa60a920d9b2212a2ea28291d13e608.mp3 c373936cd11f2ce8a63b8e08e12c19b7 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/e2debceb682860730a1609dff32c3ee5.mp3 642befeefb9391284fb2db595c2778b8 https://scsharchives.com/files/original/6d4284029da6aa0bfabc1ea83990bc7e.mp3 730b91fc043ed0009d4d0e43c715590c https://scsharchives.com/files/original/ae23ee88e865b86718c4522afbf36194.mp3 46e5405aa6d19239cb5eb35450a3e55c 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 Mary Josephine McClory 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.) 31:03 31:01 31:00 31:02 14:20 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: Sisters Mary Josephine McClory Subject The topic of the resource Sister Mary Josephine McClory Description An account of the resource An oral history of Sister Mary Josephine McClory, a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill from 1921 until 1985. The interview was conducted by Sister Marie Corona Miller on February 19 and 20, 1985. Sister Mary Josephine McClory was born on July 14, 1891 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Daughter of John McClory and Elizabeth Boyce, Anna Marie McClory entered the community on June 3, 1921 at the age of 19 as Sister Mary Josephine McClory. Sister Mary Josephine worked throughout her ministry as a housekeeper for many of the Sisters of Charity’s convents throughout Pennsylvania, including Cathedral, Altoona; Our Lady of Mercy, Johnstown; Sacred Heart, Shadyside, Pittsburgh; and Saint John the Evangelist, Southside, Pittsburgh. She retired in 1943 due to poor health, and later worked as a switchboard operator at Assumption Hall. Sister Mary Josephine McClory passed away on June 2, 1985 at the age of 93. 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 1985/02/19 1985/02/19 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-23