Erin Everson
This past June Sacred Heart educators, in partnership with the Society of the Sacred Heart, came together for the Sacred Heart Stories workshop, at which they conducted primary source research that would help bring more of the rich history of Sacred Heart Education to U.S. and World History courses throughout the Network of Sacred Heart Schools.
This project is co-led by Robert Cole, PhD, History and Social Science Department chair and upper school World History teacher at Convent of the Sacred Heart (91st Street) in New York City, and Caroline Richard, archivist and director of Le Petit Musée and Shrine of Saint John Berchmans in Grand Coteau.
Cole and Richard noted that the two-century-long history of Sacred Heart education in the United States and Canada is both rich and complex, intersecting at many points with the larger forces that have shaped our modern world: the history of human enslavement and liberation; migration and diaspora; ideological conflict; the struggle for civil, political, and human rights; and the transformative effects of technology. Their goal is to help tell the history of Sacred Heart education in a way that is both honest about the past and hopeful for the future.
Therefore, in late June, eight educators from across the Network of Sacred Heart Schools, including Cole and Richard, convened at the Society of the Sacred Heart United States – Canada Province Archives in St. Louis. The group spent four days working with one another and the archives staff — Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ, Michael Pera, and Mary Charlotte Chandler, RSCJ.
“It was wonderful to see our collections being used by Sacred Heart educators and to be able to share some of the wealth of history and spirit of the Society," said Michael Pera, assistant archivist. Sister Chandler added that the educators brought such energy and passion to their work and “lots of laughter too.” The community building among all present was apparent and a welcome change of pace for the archives staff, as they don’t often host working groups like this one.
Each participant brought their own research interests to the project, said Cole, ranging from Napoleon's interactions with the Society to the history of racial integration at Sacred Heart schools to the experience of the Cuban Revolution of the Religious of the Sacred Heart.
Participants in the workshop included: Katherine Bain, upper school Theology chair at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Maryland; Marian Campana, director of Education to Mission and Campus Ministry at Sacred Heart Greenwich in Greenwich, Connecticut; Angelo Gallo, upper school Social Science chair at The Sacred Heart School of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec; Heidi Reinhart, History Department chair at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Omaha, Nebraska; Ednamae Sahuc, middle school Social Studies teacher at Academy of the Sacred Heart, Grand Coteau; and Jillian Wolf, director of library services at Sacred Heart Greenwich.
Cole shared that all together the group assembled nearly 100 primary sources that bring a Sacred Heart lens to some of the major themes of U.S. and World History. Richard added that “it was an incredible opportunity for Sacred Heart educators to come together and work with Society archivists on ways to bring some amazing historical materials into the classrooms.”
The group looks forward to presenting its work at the Sacred Heart Summit hosted by the Network of Sacred Heart School this fall in Chicago.
Robert Cole and Caroline Richard contributed to this article.
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