Skip to Main Content

Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word Archives: History of the Archives

The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word Archives holds the organizational records of the congregation, an apostolic order of women religious with roots in Lyon, France and beginnings in the United States in Texas in 1869.

Congregational Archivists

Rita Prendergast

 Sr. Rita Prendergast, CCVI: Archivist, 1975-1979

Jean Marie davis

Sr. Jean Marie Davis, CCVI: Archivist, 1980-1984

Clarencia Kavanagh

Sr. Clarencia Kavanagh, CCVI: Archives Assistant, 1980-1983

Josephine Kennelly

Sr. Josephine Kennelly, CCVI: Archivist, 1983-1993

Francisca Eiken

Sr. Francisca Eiken, CCVI: Archivist, 1993-2007; Archives Assistant, 2007-2010

LAY ARCHIVISTS:

Eva Sankey: Archivist, 2007-2010

Angel Lane: Archivist, 2010-2014

Donna Morales Guerra: Archivist, 2014-present

History of the Archives: The Sister Archivists

The congregation's archives have existed since its earliest days, and are maintained to centralize, organize, preserve, protect and make available records pertaining to the origin, history, spirit, charism, and continued growth of the Congregation, its apostolates and ministries.

In addition, Canon law of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church requires that parishes and religious congregations keep archives.

The congregational Constitutions of 1885 specified what records were to be kept, and indicated that a secretary would ensure that the archives were complete and in order, so that papers could be easily found when required. These records were kept in boxes and file cabinets in the Motherhouse, the Provincialates and other houses of the Congregation. 

In 1975, Sister Rita Prendergast was asked to write the history of the Congregation.  Sister found this impossible because the information was too scattered.  So, a request went out to all the houses to send their records to the Generalate.  Then, Sister Rita began the organization of them, in the basement of the Generalate building, thus being appointed the first archivist of the Congregation. This was the beginning of the modern organization of the archives.

Sisters including Sisters Jean Marie Davis and Clarencia Kavanagh succedeed Sister Rita in subsequent years. A Heritage Study Group sorted and indexed materials, using their skills to create good order. Sister Josephine Kennelly served as the congregational archivist for ten years, and Sister Francisca Eiken was appointed in 1993. Sister Francisca was the last Sister archivist, followed by the first lay archivists in 2007.

A Poem by Sister Rita Prendergast, First Sister Archivist

The first congregational archivist, Sr. Rita Prendergast, is also a poet.

Here ia a reflection on her work as an archivist, written in 1977.

Archiving Poem Rita Prendergast 1977

Types of Historical Records in the Archives

The congregational archives are a private archives, but a large percentage of the collections is available for research. Consultation with the archivist is required before fulfilling any research request. See "Research in the Archives" to find out about the process, hours, etc.
Records are organized in these main Series (which contain Sub-series):
  • Foundations
  • Government-General
  • Government-Regional: United States, Mexico, Peru, Africa
  • Personnel/Membership
  • Houses/Institutions/Ministries: United States (includes Ireland and Holland), Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, Guatemala & Africa
  • Vocations/Formation/Life Enrichment

  • Sprituality and Charism

  • Non C.C.V.I.
Each of the Series and Sub-series contain correspondence; information about leadership teams and the history of ministries; diaries, publications, reports, meeting materials, memorabilia, ephemera; scrapbooks, newsletters, photographs, oral histories, audio and audiovisual recordings, artifacts; spiritual works, and architectural heritage.
 
Also included are "Sisters' Works," which include books, papers, autobiographical writings, theses, dissertations, poems, paintings, and intellectual and artistic expressions of many varieties.

Congregational Memory (article by Sister Francisca Eiken, "Word Today,: 2004)

Staff LADR