WLA graduate assistants and Master’s in Public History Angela and Emily, pose with fellow graduate Matt before their Commencement ceremony on May 7, 2019. Angela and Emily each earned a Master’s in Public History and Matt earned a Master’s in United States History.
It’s graduation time at Loyola University Chicago, and I’ve enjoyed looking back at commencement photographs from the collection of Mundelein College. Mundelein College, founded and operated by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM), provided education to women from 1930 until 1991 when it affiliated with Loyola University Chicago.
I helped reprocess the Mundelein College Paper Records and wrote the collection finding aid alongside Project Archivist Caroline. We arranged, described, and housed archival objects for patron use. The Women and Leadership Archives, in Piper Hall on Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus, holds the many, many boxes of processed materials from the Catholic women’s college. Today, Mundelein’s skyscraper building is known as the Mundelein Center for Fine and Performing Arts. The Women and Leadership Archives preserves the college’s memory through a variety of records.
Those records include alumnae files (see my blog post about them here), academic files, and a wonderful photograph collection (see Hannah’s blog post about digitizing the Mundelein College photos here), just to name a few. Through those photos, I’ve enjoyed learning about Mundelein’s religious traditions, faculty histories, student life, and internal structure.
I’ve worked with many other fascinating collections over the last two years, such as the papers of Marjorie Tuite, O.P. and other feminist Catholics, Lyrl Van Hyning, and the 8th Day Center for Justice. However, I’ll always remember Mundelein’s collection fondly. Since graduation is fast approaching, I wanted to share with you some photographs from Mundelein’s commencement ceremonies over the decades.
Commencement in front of the Skyscraper, Mundelein College Photograph Collection, 1969
Commencement in between the Skyscraper and Piper Hall, Mundelein College Photograph Collection, 1966
Commencement in front of the Skyscraper, Mundelein College Photograph Collection, 1961
Commencement in front of the Skyscraper, Mundelein College Photograph Collection, 1931
Commencement in front of the Skyscraper, Mundelein College Photograph Collection, 1971
Commencement hug, Mundelein College Paper Records, 1981
Summer commencement, Sr. Mary Ignatia Griffin, BVM-Dean and Sr. Mary Griffin-Assistant Dean (center), Mundelein College Paper Records, 1965
Richard Green and Barbara Loescher Green, Mundelein College Paper Records, 1963
Mundelein College graduate Mollie West, school President Sr. Susan Rink, BVM, and commencement speaker, Addie Wyatt, Mundelein College Paper Records, 1978
Angela is a Graduate Assistant at the WLA and is in the final year of Loyola University Chicago’s MA in Public History. Originally from the West Coast, she is enthusiastic about pub trivia and is a devoted National Public Radio listener.
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