Providence Hospital School of Nursing, Moose Jaw
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST The School of Nursing at Providence Hospital in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan was founded in 1917 by Sister Mary Raphael McCann. There were 14 students in the first class. Conditions were crowded and instruction was carried on by the doctors...
A Lenten Letter
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Mother Mary Clement was General Superior from July 1927 to July 1930. She wrote a letter to all the Sisters for Lent in 1930 that was sent to all the convents and missions. Here are a few extracts: Dear Sister Superior and Sisters:- I...
Dating Architectural Photographs
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Many photographs in the Archives do not have dates, but we can try to use clues in the photographs themselves to establish a date range. I can often narrow down the dates of photographs of Sisters based on what type of habit the...
The Novice in the Sewing Room
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Muriel Black entered the Sisters of Providence as a postulant in August 1950 and received the Habit in March 1951. Sister Black made first profession in August 1952 taking the religious name Sister Stella Maris. As a novice, Sister...
Learning Home Economics
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Sister Mary Anita taught Grade 7 Home Economics from 1954 to 1958 at St. Michael’s Academy in Belleville, Ontario. Here are a few photos of her students during those years.
A Summer Outing
A vintage postcard of the Varuna, a passenger steamboat that plied the Bay of Quinte from 1880 to the 1920s.BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST A lovely summer excursion by two Sisters in Trenton to Lake on the Mountain near Picton, as described in the Annals of St....
Looking Back to the Smallpox Epidemic of 1879
Postcard of Mill Street, Deseronto, ca.1900. Courtesy of the Deseronto Archives.BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST The COVID-19 crisis has been likened to the 1918 Flu epidemic; yet, if we look in the Archives there are also many similarities with smaller localized...
Celebrating Jubilees During a Pandemic
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVISTCOVID-19 is not the only pandemic in the Sisters of Providence’s history to prevent Jubilees from being celebrated. Historically jubilees were not celebrated altogether annually in June the way they are now. Instead they were celebrated...
St. Michael’s Band, Belleville
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST St. Michael’s Band, a rhythm band, was formed in 1934 in Belleville by Sister Mary Mercedes. The students were originally recruited from Grade 1 at St. Michael’s Academy and many of the same children stayed in the band into their high...
Remembering the 1918 Influenza Pandemic
St. Mark’s Convent in Prescott, OntarioBY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST The Fall of 1918 was a tumultuous time as the First World War wasn’t over yet, but soldiers were starting to arrive home from Europe bringing with them an unwelcome guest – the Spanish Influenza....