Providence Flashbacks

BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Here is a funny story from the Congregational Annals of the Sisters of Providence: November 5th, 1970 - An amusing incident occurred this afternoon. A lady from an apartment house which borders on our property telephoned that she saw...

BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST The Sisters of Providence taught in Lancaster Ontario from 1923 to 1937. They lived in a cement house, known as St. Joseph’s Convent. The Sisters found it very cold in winter, telling of how they had to wear cloak and gloves to Morning...

BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Every summer the Sisters go to the cottage. Here are few fun images from the 1950s of Sisters of Providence at Marillac Villa on Howe Island:Shining shoes – July 1959Enjoying the shoreline – July 1957Catch of the DayAn afternoon on the...

BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST The Congregational Annals document the major events in the congregation’s history, but they also document smaller happenings in the Sisters’ lives, including what movies the sisters watched. Here are some excerpts from the Annals:...

BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST   The first week of April is Archives Awareness Week in Ontario! With that in mind, here is a behind the scenes peak into the archives of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul. All the photographs used for the Throwback...

BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST We came across this photograph from St. John’s School, Gananoque in the Archives. It didn’t have a date, or a good explanation of what is going on in the photograph. Based on the clothes and the cars, it might be the 1920s, and the...

Sr. Muriel Gallagher teaching anatomy at St. Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing, Montreal.BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Sr. Muriel taught at Sr. Mary’s School of Nursing from 1955 to 1965. The School was opened in 1925, and the Sisters of Providence ran it from 1943...

BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Daylight Savings Time (DST) was first instituted in Canada on April 14th 1918, but was canceled at the end of WWI by the federal government. Certain municipalities, including Kingston, continued with DST. The Congregation was unsure...

Farewell for Sisters in Batawa in June 1975.BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Batawa was established as a factory town by the Bata Shoe Company in 1939. Initially the children of Batawa attended public school in nearby Frankford. Father Dostol, s.j., the parish priest,...

BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Have you ever noticed the beautiful white marble statue of Mary above the entrance to the Motherhouse? It wasn’t always there. A niche for a sculpture was built when the entrance was constructed in 1932; however, the niche sat empty...