Winter 2000 Volume 9, Issue 1
FROM THE ARCHIVIST ~ Loretta Greene
 The new year and the new millennium bring changes to the world – and to our Archives. The leadership team of Mother Joseph Province has officially appointed me Archivist for the province, with responsibility for directing the archives in both Seattle and Spokane and preparing recommendations for the future. I am pleased to accept this position and look forward to preserving and promoting the history of the community in the former provinces, documenting the new province, and continuing the documentation of all of the sisters' sponsored ministries.
I am also pleased to announce that a Visual Resources Archivist will join our staff in early Spring. Peter Schmid will coordinate preservation and access to photograph collections in both Seattle and Spokane, and will serve as a resource person to Providence Services and Providence Health System. Watch for more about Peter in the next issue of Past Forward.
A major activity this year will be preparing for the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the death of Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart, January 19, 2002. This will be another wonderful opportunity to learn more about Mother Joseph as a woman of Providence, her role in the development of health care and education in the west, and her continuing legacy.
Thank you for the all support you give the Archives and to Terri and me in our work. Please feel free to share with me thoughts about the Archives, its services and activities.
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ANNIVERSARIES IN 2001
September 23, 2001, is the 150th anniversary of the death of Mother Emilie Gamelin, a feast with special significance as she will also be beatified sometime this fall. Details of the world-wide celebration will be announced soon. (More about beatification.)
January 1, 2001, was the first anniversary of Mother Joseph Province, while December 8, 2001, will mark the 145th anniversary of the arrival of the Sisters of Providence in the west.
Other reasons to celebrate this year include anniversaries in both Providence Health System and Providence Services:
- Providence Medford Medical Center, Medford, OR - 90 years
- Mount St. Joseph, Spokane, WA - 50 years
- Providence Seaside Hospital, Seaside, OR - 20 years with Providence Health System (PHS)
- Providence Milwaukie Hospital, Milwaukie, OR - 15 years with PHS
- Emilie House, Portland, OR - 15 years
- Providence House, Oakland, CA - 10 years
- Providence Mother Joseph Care Center, Olympia, WA - 10 years
- Benefis Health Care, Great Falls, MT - 5 years (merger of Columbus and Montana Deaconess Hospitals)
- Providence Holy Cross Medical Center (Mission Hills, CA), St. Elizabeth Care Center (Toluca Lake, CA), Providence Marianwood Care Center (Issaquah, WA), and Providence Seward Medical Center (Seward, AK) - 5 years with PHS
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DID YOU KNOW THAT ...
… Mother Joseph was NOT declared the First Architect of the Northwest by the American Institute of Architects?
Yes, you've read it in books and articles and heard it said many times: That the AIA declared Mother Joseph the first architect in the Northwest in 1953. Unfortunately, this is incorrect.
The AIA did hold its 1953 national convention in Seattle. During the meeting, local author James Stevens wrote a feature article for the Seattle Times (June 14, 1953), headlined: "Mother Joseph, Builder of Hospitals, is Called This Region's First Architect." The article begins with mention of the convention, and then states: "This event has opened the question: 'Who was the first architect of the region, in terms of today's standards of architectural design and supervision of building construction?' The answer that has strongest support from veteran architects of Washington and Oregon is: 'Mother Joseph, who designed and managed the original buildings of St. Vincent's … in Portland, Providence Hospital in Seattle, the Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, and many other pioneer projects of large scale construction.'"
Apparently this article, and a similar story in a Yakima paper also alluding to the opinion of individual architects, were later misread as an official action of the American Institute of Architects. In fact, a thorough search of records and minutes in the AIA Archives reveals that there was no official discussion of Mother Joseph nor a formal declaration of her status as the region's first architect.
This is not to say Mother Joseph should not be honored for her role in designing and supervising construction of hospitals and schools. Although she was not the first to practice architecture in the northwest, her skills and activities in the field are well documented through chronicles, correspondence, oral history, and newspaper reports of the time, and have been acknowledged by architectural historians. So, while it is not correct to say that she was acclaimed by the AIA, it is definitely appropriate to state in more general terms that Mother Joseph "is recognized as one of the first architects of the Northwest."
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BOOKS OF INTEREST
Two new books represent the contributions of the Sisters of Providence in the building of the Catholic church in the Pacific Northwest through photographs and documents from Providence Archives in Seattle and Edmonton, Alberta.
 Spirited Women, by Deborah Rink, tells the fascinating story of all the communities of women religious who have ministered in British Columbia. The Sisters of Providence were the second community to serve in the province, arriving in 1886, almost 30 years after the Sisters of St. Anne. They founded St. Mary Hospital in New Westminster, and then expanded their ministry to numerous schools, hospitals, and orphanages. Several members of Holy Angels Province continue to serve in the Vancouver area. Spirited Women also documents how the Sisters of Providence provided hospitality and assistance to the members of many other communities as they came to serve the people of western Canada.
Spirited Women is available through the Sisters Association of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, #215 7700 Francis Rd., Richmond, BC, V6Y 1A2; telephone 604.873.4168 ($27.95 Canadian, plus postage.)
Abundance of Grace, original research by Patricia O'Connell Killen, tells the history of the Archdiocese of Seattle, 1850-2000. This sesquicentennial publication is a beautifully illustrated chronicle of the founding and growth of the church in western Washington, with particular attention to the contributions of the many cultural and ethnic groups within the archdiocese.
The role of the Sisters of Providence and other early religious communities in building the church is also recognized: "The history of the Sisters of Providence illustrates how women religious constructed and expanded health care, social service, and educational institutions in the state . . . . Women religious outnumbered priests nearly five to one for over seventy-five years in the diocese. Besides providing essential services, these women were living symbols of Catholic belief, practice, and community."
Arriving in 1856, only six years after the Diocese of Nesqually (as it was then known) was founded, the Sisters of Providence were the first religious community of women in Washington Territory. They served alone in the diocese until 1880, when joined by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Mother Joseph and her companions forged a close relationship with the early bishops. They cared for Bishops Blanchet and Junger in the last years of life, and when Bishop O'Dea moved the seat of the diocese from Vancouver to Seattle, the community followed. In later years, the expansion of the Providence ministry in Washington corresponded to the bishops' commitment to Catholic education and social justice.
Although Abundance of Grace touches only lightly on the sisters' story, it is a lively and accessible introduction to the history of the Archdiocese of Seattle.
Abundance of Grace is available through the Archdiocesan Archives, 910 Marion St., Seattle, WA 98104; telephone 206.382.4352. Order online at www.seattlearch.org ($26, includes shipping).
NEW ONLINE
Collection inventories, including a brief history and description of the records in the archives, have been posted for the following schools:
Holy Family School, Seattle, WA
John F. Kennedy High School, Seattle, WA
Sacred Heart School, Tacoma, WA
This completes our project of processing the Sacred Heart Province parochial school collections. Still to come are inventories for the sisters' academies in Vancouver, Olympia, Yakima, Steilacoom, Fort Colville, and Cowlitz, Washington.
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