Exhibit on the Contributions of
Women Religious to US History

LCWR is working on mounting an exhibit that would document the impact that Catholic sisters have had on US social, religious and civil history -- an impact often not recognized by the general public, nor even by the persons we serve.

Women religious nursed both Confederate and Union soldiers during the Civil War; they cared for afflicted populations during the epidemics of cholera, typhoid, yellow fever, smallpox, tuberculosis and influenza during the 19th and early 20th centuries, and many died as a consequence of their labors. They participated in the expansion of the West, traveling vast distances to minister in remote locations, setting up schools and hospitals and working among native populations on distant reservations. They built colleges, orphanages and charitable institutions that served millions of people; they staffed and managed complex organizations long before these positions were open to other women. They created the largest private school system ever known. They financed and administered these institutions, struggling with, and at times resisting, male secular and religious authority. Their efforts prepared countless immigrant children to enter the mainstream of US life. They were among the first to stand with minorities, to educate women, to work among the urban poor, and to exemplify and promote the leadership of women.

In October 2005, LCWR held a charrette to design an exhibit that will recount this story. The vision is to open the exhibit at one of the nation's most prominent museums and then travel the exhibit to other sites throughout the United States. The following people participated in the charrette:

Melissa Berry -- Design Island Associates
Barbara Cervenka, OP -- Siena Heights University
Mary Charlotte Chandler, RSCJ -- Center for the Study of Religious Life
Carol Coburn -- Avila University
Mary Dacey, SSJ -- LCWR President-Elect
Mike Devine -- Devine Design Group
Shalini D'Souza, SCN -- Sisters of Charity of Nazareth
Nanci Edwards -- Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History
Jerry Enzler -- Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium
John Fialka -- Wall Street Journal
Irene Fugazy, SC -- Sister of Charity of New York
Helen Garvey, BVM -- LCWR History Committee (chair)
Patricia Grey -- The Pittsburg Foundation
Mame Jackson -- Wayne State University
Karen Kennelly, CSJ -- LCWR History Committee
Kathryn Lawlor, BVM -- Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Kathy Mangum -- Walt Disney Imagineering
Mary Oates, CSJ -- Regis College
Katherine Ott -- Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History
Constance Phelps, SCL -- LCWR History Committee
Annmarie Sanders, IHM -- LCWR Staff
Nancy Seruto -- Seruto and Company
Carole Shinnick, SSND -- LCWR Staff
Shim Yokoyama -- Illustrator and Designer

	Katherine Ott
Mary Oates, CSJ and Mame Jackson listen to ideas on the exhibit design
	Nanci Edwards
Shalini D'Souza, SCN and Melissa Berry
	Barbara Cervenka, OP and Patricia Grey
Constance Phelps, SCL; Helen Garvey, BVM; and Melissa Berry
	Jerry Enzler
John Fialka
	Mary Dacey, SSJ
Shim Yokoyama with his illustrations of possible exhibit designs
	Kathy Mangum and Mary Oates, CSJ
Mary Charlotte Chandler, RSCJ; Nancy Seruto; Carole Shinnick, SSND; Jerry Enzler
	Annmarie Sanders, IHM and Mike Devine
Helen Garvey, BVM and Kathryn Lawlor, BVM
	Irene Fugazy, SC and Katherine Ott work in their small group during the charrette
Below are three of the sketches of Shim Yokoyama of exhibit design ideas