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Album 9: Josef Steinhage, Sacred Heart Church, and Alamosa

 Sub-Series — Box: OSBCHI-C-200.8
Identifier: OSBCHI-C-248

Scope and Contents

From the Series:

The nine scrapbook albums in this series document the archival research trip of June 12th - July 3rd that Sister Vivian Ivantic, OSB made to Colorado, mainly in search of material related to the Summer Schools of Religion that Sisters held in small and larger towns in Colorado. The scrapbooks also hold material related to parishes where the Sisters lived and worked year round.

Types of materials in scrapbooks

From the Series:
  1. guide to the entire series
  2. sets of photographic prints and descriptive metadata by Sister Eleanore Hillenbrand, OSB
  3. itinerary of the trip
  4. photocopies of maps with highlighted routes and towns
  5. issues of Archives Newsletter dedicated to that leg of the trip
  6. postcards of flora and fauna
  7. postcards of scenic views and significant buildings including churches
  8. historic photographs acquired on the trip
  9. historic photographs taken from elsewhere in the archives, i.e. 1961 Centennial exhibit or dismantled albums
  10. photocopies of newsclippings
  11. pages or entire publications devoted to local history
  12. travel notes
  13. the occasional piece of material culture that fits in a plastic sleeve
  14. parish bulletins

Dates

  • Creation: circa 1890-1991

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This series is unrestricted. The materials are open to researchers.

Biographical / Historical

Sister Vivian Ivantic, OSB and her team visited Alamosa, Colorado where the Sisters had held large summer schools of religion for many years. Sister Johnette Sawyer, OSB was on the staff of Sacred Heart Church in pastoral and music ministry. At the time of this research trip, the Sisters in Chicago were in the midst of renovating the St. Scholastica Chapel and restoring its murals. Hence, the great enthusiasm for meeting with Josef Steinhage, the original mural painter who had taken up residence in Alamosa. When he painted the murals in Chicago, Steinhage was using the preliminary designs of Notker Becker, OSB, a monk of Maria Laach Abbey in Germany. In Alamosa, Steinhage did work in a similar style in Sacred Heart Church and had taken up the art of sculpture.

Extent

43 Sheets

Language of Materials

From the Record Group: English

Other Finding Aids

For photographs taken on this trip, numbering on the back pertains to the SET #s established by Sister Eleanore Hillenbrand, OSB in her indices to prints, negatives, and albums. These indices often contain captions for the images.

Photographs with a numbered label or a number written in ink on the front pertain to the 1961 centennial exhibit created by Sister Ignatia O'Connor, OSB. The catalog of that exhibit oftne provides a caption for the image.

Additional photographs were added from the archives or donated by Sisters who had served in Alamosa in the past. Many of these have labels with more details or they may have metadata written on the back.

Repository Details

Part of the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago Archives Repository

Contact:
Archives
Benedictine Sisters of Chicago
7430 N. Ridge Blvd.
Chicago Illinois 60645 United States
(773) 764-2413 ext. 203