Marianite Provincial House
Archives
Marianite Provincial House
Our Lady of Holy Cross College
4123 Woodland Drive
New Orleans, LA 70131
Telephone number: (504) 394-8500
Website: http://www.olhcc.edu/olhcc/Library/index.html
Contact person: Sister Mary Kate Viellion
Access privileges: Closed collection. Scholars may call or write with specific questions.
Hours: Not applicable, please call for more information.
Repository Information:
The Provincial House houses only the archives of the order and maintains no other materials. This religious order of women, devoted to teaching, nursing and social work, was founded in France in 1841 and established in Louisiana in 1849. The congregation of sisters includes 265 members, found mostly in North America and France. The archives contain the story of the congregation of women and the records of many of those, living and deceased, who have been part of the congregation. Included are council minutes, proceedings of provincial chapter sessions, financial records, circular letters, chronicle of the houses, records of visitations, and other records. Much of the material is in French.
As reference material, the biography of the Foundress, Mother Mary of the Seven Dolors, and also the annals of the Marianites in two volumes (Annals of the Congregation of the Marianites of Holy Cross [1841-1941] and [1940-1991]), are particularly useful. The collection includes the Centennial book of the story of the Marianites in Louisiana (Marianites Centennial [1848-1948]). The records also contain the database (Microsoft Access) of the ministry positions filled by the sisters in the 1900s. The dissertations and theses of several of the sisters are also located in our archives.
The chronicles of the local community houses are available from the early years of their time in Louisiana . Many of the requests received concern schools and institutions celebrating anniversaries and wanting to know the numbers and names of the Marianites who taught or ministered there.