Women and Spirit Exhibit comes to Sacramento, January 24th through June 3rd 2012

Honored by both the American Catholic History Association and the US House of Representatives (who honored the women this exhibit memorializes), Women and Spirit, the exhibit on the history of Catholic Sisters in the United States, is coming to Sacramento --- its last stop on a tour of regions of the US over the past three years. The exhibit opens the eve of the 24th January and remains until June 3rd. There will be a special concentration on Sisters in California in this particular incarnation of the exhibit. The website devoted to the exhibit reads, in part:

[["WOMEN & SPIRIT: Catholic Sisters in America" is a traveling exhibit sponsored by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in association with Cincinnati Museum Center. It reveals the mystery behind a small group of innovative American women who helped shape the nation’s social and cultural landscape.

Meet women who corresponded with President Thomas Jefferson, talked down bandits and roughnecks, lugged pianos into the wilderness, and provided the nation’s first health insurance to Midwestern loggers. Discover sisters’ courage during the Civil War, the Gold Rush, the San Francisco Earthquake, the Influenza Epidemic, the Civil Rights Movement, and Hurricane Katrina.]]

or again,

[["Women & Spirit" offers history museums across the country an opportunity to display artifacts and images that have rarely been seen by the general public. With a balanced approach that draws upon first-hand narratives, visitors will discover an untold story in American history.

The exhibit is fully-funded for a three-year tour and includes supporting education materials as well as retail items. A comprehensive sales and marketing program will boost attendance in each venue, drawing upon significant contacts within the Catholic community. Public programming opportunities include volunteer docents, film and speaker series.

From the time the Ursulines arrived in New Orleans in 1727 up to today, women religious have made an incalculable contribution to this nation. Running schools, hospitals and orphanages from America's earliest days, these women helped foster a culture of social service that has permeated our society. Over the centuries these courageous women overcame many obstacles--both physical and cultural--to bring their civilizing and caring influence to every corner of the country. Understanding and celebrating the history of women religious is essential to understanding and celebrating the history of America.]] Cokie Roberts, news analyst and author

The exhibit is touted not as a feminist or feminine exhibit, but a significant historical exhibit which anyone with an interest in American History should be enthralled by. Sponsored by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, those unable to attend in person should consider buying a DVD of the exhibit. (Actually, I suspect a lot of us who ARE able to attend will do the same anyway!) The significant contributions made by women religious to the culture and history of the US is incredibly rich, and also incredibly underrepresented in history texts or common knowledge. At a time when we hear all too often about "Sisters in Crisis" or the supposed disintegration of religious life in the US, attention to the remarkable diversity, and rich intellectual and faith history through the past 225 + years can help us see clearly the courage, contemporaneity, and prophetic character of these women and the life they represented --- and of course, still represent!!

Personally, I am interested in seeing a bit more about the history of religious life during the late 1700's and early to mid 1800's. I had a great, great, great, great, great, . . . aunt (on my Mother's side of the family) who was a Sister of Loretto, not only in Kentucky (Motherhouse), but in a number of frontier missions. She taught German and music and was known for her fine singing voice. As a convert to Catholicism, I had been unaware of any Catholics at all for a number of generations; I heard about Sister (Isabella) for the first time about 14 years ago from a cousin I also had not known. I only just learned she was a musician about 3 years ago! It was astounding the kinship I immediately felt to her, and how important she became to me. To discover a pioneer like this on one's own family tree is a powerful experience --- especially in terms of religious life! After all, in my own admittedly humble way, I too am a pioneer of sorts with regard to canon 603 and contemporary eremitical life. (Of course, as Sister Simone Campbell, SSS reminds us, "Catholic Sisters are always pioneers. We don't set out to be pioneers. What we set out to do is to meet the needs that surround us.") Anyway, I hope to see a bit of Sister's personal world when I attend this exhibit; what it would be like to be a Sister on the US frontier in the 19th century is hard to imagine.