Deborah's Place Recoreds Reopened

Founded in December 1984 in response to the lack of services for growing numbers of "bag ladies" on the streets of Chicago, Deborah’s Place helps women who are or were homeless to achieve their goals of stable housing, sustainable income, and greater self-determination.  Serving hundreds of women per year, Deborah’s Place consists of several locations that each provide different services:  Deborah’s Place itself is an overnight shelter that functions primarily to meet basic needs and offers women temporary relief from the streets; Irene’s Daytime Program provides a safe, secure environment for regaining self-confidence by helping women meet grooming needs and learn job-related skills; and Marah’s Place is a transitional housing program that allows women to rent rooms for up to two years.  Additionally, Deborah’s Place maintains several apartment buildings that offer apartment rentals to women on a sliding scale. Finding Aid

Phyllis Zagano Papers

Phyllis Zagano was born in Queens, New York, on August 25, 1947 to Paul L. and Elizabeth Kerwick Zagano. She was graduated from Sacred Heart Academy (High School) in June 1965 and holds the B.A. from Marymount College in Tarrytown, NY, (1969) a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (1979), and three Master’s degrees: communications from Boston University (1970), literature from Long Island University (1972), and theology from St. John's University (1991).  She also served 31 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve as a public affairs officer and retired with the rank of Commander.

Dr. Zagano taught at Fordham University (1980-1984) and Boston University (1988-1999) where she taught in the College of Communication, the School of Theology, and the Program of International Relations, and was Director of the Institute for Democratic Communication.  She was a Coolidge Fellow at the Episcopal Divinity School (Cambridge, MA) in 1987 and has held research grants from several institutions, including the U. S. Institute of Peace (1987-89), the Louisville Institute (1998) and the Wabash Center (2003).  In 2005 she was Visiting Professor of Catholic Studies at the Yale Divinity School and a consultant to the Templeton Positive Psychology Project “Spirituality and Living Well” at the University of Pennsylvania. A former visiting professor of Catholic Studies at Yale Divinity School and Aquinas Chair of Catholic Studies at St. Thomas Aquinas College (NY), Dr. Zagano was completed a Fulbright Fellowship to lecture at the Mary Immaculate College of the University of Limerick in 2009. 

Dr. Zagano is presently the Senior Research Associate-in-Residence and Adjunct Professor of Religion at Hofstra University.   Finding Aid

Mary Ann Smith Papers

Mary Ann Smith, a Mundelein College graduate, has lived in the Edgewater and Uptown communities for thirty years with her husband, Ronald C. Smith, a professor at John Marshall Law School, and her two sons.  Long before her appointment as Alderman to the 48^th Ward, Smith dedicated her time and efforts to the improvements of the ward. She was first involved with ward politics as part of the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization (IVI-IPO), working with Edgewater activists Marion Volini and Kathy Osterman, who both served as 48^th Alderwomen. In 1989, Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed Smith to replace Kathy Osterman who took a position with the Daley administration, and she was elected in her own right two years later. Smith enjoyed several successful reelections, the last in 2007 to her fifth full term as alderwoman. Smith retired in February 2011 as alderman.   

The Smith papers range from 1978 to 2009 and consist of 45 linear feet of material. The collection is a reflection primarily of Smith’s public works and not her personal life. Thus the business of the 48^th Ward dominates the content. Finding Aid

SisterSerpents Records

SisterSerpents is a radical feminist art collective that was formed in 1989 in Chicago, IL. SisterSerpents’ work was generally done anonymously, however, among the founding members were Chicago-based artists Mary Ellen Croteau and Jeramy Turner. The group was most active from 1989 through 1998.

SisterSerpents’ members carried out multiple public art operations including poster and sticker campaigns all over Chicago. They held annual art exhibitions and performances, which included women artists from all over the country who had responded to calls for submissions that SisterSerpents placed in art magazines and Ms. Magazine. SisterSerpents’ art has been exhibited in Chicago, New York, Germany and Denver, CO. Members have represented SisterSerpents on numerous panels that addressed women’s issues and have given talks on topics of interest. They have also been interviewed by a number of authors and researchers, usually on the topic of using art for political activism. The collection spans from 1989 to 2001 and reflects the collective's art and politics. Finding Aid 
See also the Mary Ellen Croteau Papers

 Immaculata High School Records

Immaculata High School, also known as “The Immaculata” and “Mac”, was a Catholic, all-girls school located in Uptown on Chicago’s northeast side.  The Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) conducted the school from its opening in 1921 to its closing day sixty years later, preparing thousands of young women during its operation for their futures as women of faith, household managers, mothers, college students, and career women. 

During the inaugural year, classes were held in the historic Greenlee Mansion while the main building, Mary Hall, was still under construction.  The following year, the school moved into the new building on Irving Park Road at the Lake and the Greenlee Mansion was redesignated as the faculty convent.  Over time, the school acquired Carmel Hall, an apartment on Bittersweet Place, and the Greenlee Mansion was demolished to make room for St. Philomena and St. Joseph’s Halls which were built to accommodate the growing student body and faculty.

The student population increased steadily over the first forty years and peaked in the early 1960s with 1,225 students.  From that point on, however, enrollment declined, and although Immaculata could boast of student representation from over 70 different countries, enrollment barely reached 500 during the 1980-1981 school year.  Coupled with rising expenses of building maintenance, increased cost of faculty, and enrollment trends accelerated the Board’s decision to close the school.

The campus buildings, including Mary Hall which made the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and was named a Chicago landmark in 1983, still stand at Irving Park Road and Marine Drive. Finding Aid and Digital Exhibit

Other collections Recently Opened:

Ann Credidio, BVM, Margaret Hoffelder, SSJ-TOSJ, Mary Anne Hoope, BVM, Barbara Kutchera, BVM, Kathryn Kucera, Jacqueline Moses, Ruth Lisa Schechter, Susan Sensemann, Mary Tobin, Mundelein College History Project, Mundelein College Oral Histories (reprocess), and Church Women United of Peoria, Elmhurst, Villa Park, and Lombard.