Jewish museum highlights work of Catholic nuns

[antonivs]

Interesting exhibit in a Jewish museum on the history of Nuns in the US:

A new exhibit at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage near Cleveland highlights the history of Catholic nuns in the United States, including building hospitals, schools and orphanages.

The exhibit, “Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America,” has drawn more than 6,000 visitors since it opened last month. It will be there until August 28 and then move on to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York.

Countless organizations owe their beginnings to the work of nuns, including the Mayo Clinic, Alcoholics Anonymous and many charitable groups.

The $4 million exhibit is sponsored by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an organization that represents 95% of the nation’s 59,000 nuns.

source: ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3908252,00.html

 

[Dale_M]

Yep, this interesting sounding exhibit is on tour, having started at the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington DC.

Why an exhibit about Catholic nuns at a Jewish museum?

The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland played a key role in bringing it to the Maltz Museum, which raises the question: Why a Christian display in a Jewish museum?

“It makes a strong statement about interfaith dialogue and interfaith collaboration,” said Sister Cecilia Liberatore, head of the local province of the Sisters of Notre Dame.

“The stories of the sisters coming to America, facing language barriers and discrimination, are the stories of Jewish settlers coming to America.”

Added museum director Feniger: “It made perfect sense to us. We’re a museum of diversity and tolerance.”

blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/06/exhibit_at_beachwoods_maltz_mu.html

After its summer stay at the Maltz Museum in Cleveland, it will head to the Statue of Liberty National Monument/Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York from Sept. 24 to Jan. 22. After that, it comes to Dubuque (yay!) for a couple months. Then to Notre Dame Univ. for the final four months of 2011.

Here is a bit about it from an earlier review:

The dimly lit S. Dillon Ripley Center at the Smithsonian Institution holds more than a few nun’s habits and artifacts. The exhibit also features state-of-the-art multimedia images, photos and historic narratives depicting the impact Catholic sisters have had in the U.S.

“It’s really amazing to see all they’ve done for our country,” Smithsonian spokeswoman Becky Haberacker told Catholic News Service during a recent tour of the exhibit, which made its Washington debut Jan. 15. “It’s also really interesting to find out how rugged they are. That just isn’t something I imagined before when I thought about nuns.”

The exhibit includes an 1804 letter from President Thomas Jefferson to an Ursuline nun, braided corn husk shoes worn by pioneer sisters, the nurse’s bag of a nun used during the Civil War and student work from the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first all-black community.

catholicreview.org/subpages/storyworldnew-new.aspx?action=7864

And here is the website for the exhibit:
womenandspirit.org/index.html

 

[LoyalViews]

Thanks!