Heritage and Research Center at Saint Mary’s Blessing Ceremony

Notre Dame, Ind. (May 18, 2026) —

The completed Heritage and Research Center (HARC) at Saint Mary’s, a collaborative archive of 10 Midwestern congregations of women religious, will be blessed by Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, on the Saint Mary’s campus, Notre Dame, Indiana. Tours of the building will follow. The event marks a milestone for the initiative—which began as a dream voiced and discerned by 27 Catholic women’s congregations in 2018.

HARC will house and preserve the member congregations’ self-curated historical collections, which tell their stories of their origins and evolutions, their daily lives and ministries. Documents, artifacts and digital assets will illuminate the leadership of religious sisters, who were often the first to address needs in their communities. In establishing orphanages, schools, health care facilities and other social services, they expressed their love for justice and others. The center also will highlight how the congregations and their sponsored ministries continue to actively work to relieve human suffering globally.

HARC will also serve as a gathering space, inviting researchers and the general public into scholarship, discovery and engagement through programming, interactive exhibits, classes and internships. These collections and opportunities will explore Catholic history and women’s history, including how sisters shaped the communities where they served.

“For generations, sisters have influenced education, health care, social services, and spiritual life in communities across the region and far beyond, yet many of these stories and records have remained inaccessible and untold,” says Barbara Gordon, HARC’s executive director.

“Archives are not simply records of the past—they are living legacies that continue to shape the present and future. HARC will serve as a place of scholarship, discovery, and connection, inspiring conversations and action around faith, leadership, service, and social impact while making the witness of Catholic women religious accessible for generations to come.”

While initiated by the women’s congregations, the center is guided and managed by trained professionals, including Gordon, who has directed multiple library facilities in Michigan, Dr. JA Pryse, lead archivist, and Jennifer Head, congregational archivist. The team will be accessioning the congregations’ collections over the next 12 months, while also undertaking preservation planning and design of exhibit spaces.

HARC is a partner with the National Archives Project of Women Religious, which is helping to coordinate similar archive collaborative projects throughout the United States. This unique networking will allow these projects to eventually link together for enhanced research and opportunities for learning.

Though not open to the public at this time, HARC is accepting research queries and opening its doors to scholars and students on an appointment basis.

Partnering Congregations

Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters

Huntington, Indiana

Sisters of the Holy Cross

Notre Dame, Indiana

Sisters of St. Casimir

Chicago, Illinois

Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Dubuque, Iowa

Sisters of the Most Precious Blood

O’Fallon, Missouri

Sisters of St. Agnes

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Cross

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Servants of Mary (Servite Sisters)

Ladysmith, Wisconsin

Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross

Merrill, Wisconsin

Sisters of the Divine Savior

Milwaukee, Wisconsin