Heritage and Research Center Celebrates Grand Opening at Saint Mary’s
By TESS HAYES ’25
Building is a central theme for Catholic women religious in the United States, and the Sisters of the Holy Cross are no exception. In July 2024, the Sisters broke ground on the Heritage and Research Center (HARC), a collaborative space that will be home to the archival collections of 10 women religious congregations, with the purpose of maintaining their rich histories, lives, and ministries. On May 26, 2026, a ribbon was cut, celebrating its grand opening.
HARC is part of the National Archives Project for Women Religious (NAPWR), sharing a technology platform with partner archives at Boston College, Santa Clara University, and in Cleveland, Ohio, providing researchers access to collections across the country. The facility, which utilizes and expands on what was once the College’s Welcome Center, is built to standards approved by the Society of American Archivists, designed with environmental sustainability in mind.
The space includes a secure, climate-controlled archival vault, staff offices and workspaces, a flexible classroom and research room, and two exhibition spaces. One room will feature permanent exhibits that document the histories and charisms of member congregations; the other will showcase rotating exhibits curated from the collections.
HARC exists because many people believed that the stories, records, and enduring contributions of women religious deserved not only preservation, but a forever home worthy of their significance.
- Barbara Gordon, Executive Director of HARC
Barbara Gordon is HARC’s inaugural executive director. “Today is the realization of a dream made possible through collaboration, vision, and determination,” Gordon said. “HARC exists because many people believed that the stories, records, and enduring contributions of women religious deserved not only preservation, but a forever home worthy of their significance.” Gordon introduced HARC's archival team, JA Pryse, lead archivist, and Jennifer Head, congregational archivist.
Bishop Kevin C. Rhodes provided the blessing of the Heritage and Resource Center, and spoke of the lasting impact of women religious across the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend and beyond, as well as the lasting impact on his own vocation. “The word heritage comes from ‘heir’. How much we have inherited from the sisters who came before us,” he said. “You were women of the church and have helped to build up and continue to build up the present body of Christ.”
In her remarks, Katheen Sprows Cummings, PhD, Director of the University of Notre Dame’s Global Catholic Research Initiative and the 2025 Madeleva Lecturer, said that the space is about bringing archives to life in new ways, and providing access to students, who will be able to work directly with archival materials through innovative and hands-on teaching modules. She said, “HARC asks us to see these collections as windows into much larger global histories, histories of migration of education, of cultural exchange, and the circulation of people, ideas, and traditions across the Catholic world.”
This summer, the Center’s resources will be used for a student/faculty research project between Saint Mary’s student Lilian Lewen ’27, and professor of Humanistic Studies, Laura Williamson, PhD. Their grant-funded project is titled Filling the Void: Preserving and Amplifying the History of the Congregation of the Holy Cross Sisters.
Williamson said she and Lewen will focus on early intersecting histories of the Sisters of the Holy Cross and Saint Mary's College, drawing on 19th-century archival materials held at HARC, the Congregational Archives, the Saint Mary’s College archives, and materials held at the University of Notre Dame. Their goal is to identify key figures and untold stories of the women whose lives are at once independent of the College and deeply woven into its founding narrative. Williamson is a member of the Board of Directors at HARC.
The facility will open to the public in 2027. Until then, the team is available by phone and email to answer research inquiries; appointments are required to visit. For students and scholars across the tri-campus community of Saint Mary's College, the University of Notre Dame, and Holy Cross College, HARC will offer archival internships, course-integrated research projects, public history initiatives, and digital humanities collaborations.
The 10 members of HARC’s Council of Partners
Ladysmith Servite Sisters (Sister Servants of Mary), Ladysmith, Wisconsin
Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters, Huntington, Indiana
Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dubuque, Iowa
Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross, Merrill, Wisconsin
Sisters of Saint Agnes, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Cross, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Sisters of St. Casimir, Chicago, Illinois
Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana
Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, O’Fallon, Missouri
To learn more about the Heritage and Resource Center, visit harcsm.org.
May 28, 2026