University of St. Francis Library Archives

In 1969, the College of St. Francis in Joliet began a cooperation with Lewis College in Romeoville. Students at both schools could choose to take classes at either campus, with CSF named the South Campus and Lewis named the North Campus. (The students also joked that Statesville Prison located between the two was "Central Campus") In 1970 the cooperation became an official trial merger, and Lewis-St. Francis of Illinois was created. The students at this new school quickly adjusted to the new co-ed environments and expanded curriculum taking classes at both campuses using the student bus system to travel between locations. While the merger did not become final, the changes that it brought strengthened both schools, creating co-ed environments with thriving athletic departments and growing academic programs. The Lewis/St. Francis Merger/De-Merger Collection (10-260) at the USF Library Archives contains 10 boxes of documents and information related to these years of cooper...

The fall semester is underway and the USF Library Archives is as busy as the rest of campus. ** August 31st saw the release of the book The University of St. Francis , a pictorial history of the school. There are copies for sale in the USF Bookstore or the Joliet Area Historical Museum as well as copies available online at Amazon , Barnes & Noble and Borders . ** Founder's Day was September 8th and once again the Archives created displays in various buildings on campus. These displays will be up for the month of September so take some time to visit the Library (just inside the interior doors), the Motherhouse San Damiano hallway (across from the Solutions office) and the Moser Performing Arts Center gallery space. ** Homecoming is the weekend of September 24th-26th . Linnea Knapp, Archives Librarian, and Sister Marian Voelker, Archivist for the Sisters of St. Francis, will be presenting at the Senior Saturdays event , Saturday the 25th at 10:00am in the Library. The...

The USF Library Archives is very appreciative of all the donations that have been received for the collections over the years. In recent history the largest one has been The Barbara A. Cooke Musical Theatre Special Collection , a donation from Ms. Cooke that consists of sheet music, books and other materials related to musical theater. In addition to this generous donation, the Archives has received smaller gifts of materials that both enhance the Archives' materials and increase our knowledge of the history of USF. A recent donation from Mr. James Sczepaniak included materials that his late wife, Mrs. Mary Clare (Gordon) Sczepaniak ('57), collected while she was a student and an alum. Some of the items pictured below will be used in this year's Founder's Day displays in the Moser Performing Arts Center gallery space. If you or someone you know has materials related to the University of St. Francis or its history please feel free to contact the USF Library Archives. ...

In 1997 the St. Joseph College of Nursing joined the College of St. Francis and on January 1, 1998 became the College of Nursing and Allied Health at the newly renamed University of St. Francis. But before this storied nursing school joined USF they had been training nurses in Joliet for almost eight decades. Here's an abbreviated timeline about the history of St. Joseph School of Nursing. 1866 - 4 women form the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Seelback, Germany 1876 - Those 4 Sisters arrive in Avilla, Indiana 1881 - The Sisters traveled to Joliet to care for those affected by an epidemic of typhoid fever 1882 - Joliet donates $600 towards the creation of a hospital to be run by the Sisters 1882 - The Sisters of the Sacred Heart purchase the Motherhouse on Broadway from the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate to use as the St. Joseph Hospital *** So begins the relationship between the two congregations. The Sisters of St. Francis provided education for the Si...

The University of St. Francis has a long tradition of celebrating the accomplishments of our graduating students. In the early years of the school the highest honor for a graduating senior was to be named "Miss St. Francis." Elected by secret ballot by the student body and the faculty, this senior was most representative of St. Francis ideals. In 1935, Grace Maguire, president of the senior class, was crowned the first "Miss St. Francis" at a formal coronation ceremony held in the College Auditorium on May 19th. She had 11 ladies in waiting and four local children who formed her court. The tradition continued until 1960 when it was decided that the Baccalaureate Graduation and Honors Day should be combined onto the same day. This merger of events left no room for the ceremonies involved with crowning a senior "Miss St. Francis" so the event was dropped. In the 1954 photo below Sister Elvira Bredel (president - 1953-1962) crowns Geraldine Knowles who ...

The Joliet Area Historical Museum is hosting a special exhibit: Sisters of Saint Francis of Mary Immaculate - 145 Years Serving God, Serving Community . "The Sisters of Saint Francis of Mary Immaculate transformed the landscape of Joliet through their ministry and the Congregation's building of a Motherhouse, an academy, a college, an orphanage, and a retirement home. This exhibit features facts pulled from their rich history, continuing the journey that Mother Alfred Moes began 145 years ago." Visit the Museum from June 6 through October 10, 2010 to view this amazing collection of photographs, information, artifacts, artwork and more about the Sisters' century and a half in Joliet. The Motherhouse of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Mary Immaculate - ca. 1912

What would a room full of amazing books be without bookends. Luckily for the USF Library Archives there have been several pairs of decorative bookends donated over the past few decades. They can be seen on display with the John L. Raymond Special Collection and the Rare Books Collection. The two sets of bookends above were donated by John L. Raymond. Come and see these helpful pieces of art in the USF Library Archives on the second floor of the USF Library.

The USF Library Archives has added more sheet music to the Barbara A. Cooke Sheet Music Collection . There are now 203 separate pieces available in the online collection. Some fun facts about the new additions: * You Gave Me Your Heart (So I Gave You Mine) is a song that was featured in the 1922 silent film Blood and Sand staring early American heart-throb Rudolph Valentino . The cover of the sheet music in the Barbara A. Cooke collection features a picture of Valentino from the film. * Four songs in the online collection, An Old-Fashioned Wife , City of Dreams , Till the Clouds Roll By , and You Never Knew About Me , were written by P. G. Wodehouse , the popular British author who wrote, among others, the Jeeves and Wooster novels. Jeeves and Wooster were made famous on television in the early 1990s by Hugh Laurie (House) and Stephen Fry (Bones, Alice in Wonderland). * Mon Homme (My Man) was sung by Miss Fanny Brice in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1921. Fanny Brice was the singer...

The hours for the USF Library Archives will change slightly for the months of May, June and July. The Archives will be closed on Friday afternoons from May 14th through July 30th. Please be sure to visit us during the rest of our open times to explore our collections: Monday - Thursday 9am-4pm Friday 9am-12pm Here's to a great summer! Hope to see you here soon.

As the semester winds down, I thought I would take this opportunity to do a re-cap of the digital collections available through the USF Library Archives . There are six online collections, each offering something different. Take time to peruse the images in these collections and definitely feel free to contact the Archives with any questions or requests. Sharing Our Past - A Visual History This online collection contains digital images of photographs, brochures, press releases, newsletters, posters and other materials related to the history of the University of St. Francis, the City of Joliet and Will County. It is a visual history of the school showcasing Sisters, Faculty, Staff, Students, Buildings, Activities, Athletics and much more from the school’s founding in 1920 to the present. The Encounter Student Newspaper The Encounter Student Newspaper Collection includes digital images of the USF student newspaper from 1976 through 2008. The Encounter emerged as the student newspap...