Onyx Anneau Fall 2021

The Sisters of Providence hearse was showcased opening night of the exhibit.

Above: Susan Dolle, director of grants development and chair of the Historic District Committee of SMWC and Sisters of Providence; Alexandra Baver, an SMWC junior and intern at the Swope; and Edward Trover, adjunct faculty member at SMWC.

One item dates back to the beginning of what we all know and love of campus today. “Ego dormio sed cor meum vigilat.” Translated from Latin to English, this means “I am sleeping, but my heart is awake.” This is the engraved lid from Saint Mother Theodore Guerin’s vault, which was inside the crypt located underneath the Big Church where Mother Guerin was reinterred in 1907 as she was relocated from the cemetery along with her companion sisters who traveled together from France. The lid, a hefty concrete block with handles attached for lifting, displays a plaque which reads, “Mother Theodore Anne Therese Guerin. Born October 2, 1798. Died May 14, 1856. Founded St. Mary-of-the-Woods October 22, 1840.” While Mother Guerin was not transported in a hearse in the modern sense, many Sisters still are today. On display outside of the Swope for the exhibit opening was the Sisters of Providence’s 1940 Henney Packard hearse — a gothic-looking vehicle still in use today which was acquired for $1,750 in the late 1940s. Today, it has logged only 67,000 miles. What’s on display is only a sliver of Woods history. “The district changes all the time,” Damiano said. “It’s being changed today. It’s learning. The SMW Historic District was influenced by leaders and architects — but also by the thousands of sisters, faculty, staff and students of Saint Mary- of-the-Woods College who have come through the front gates over these many years and call The Woods their home. Whether it’s for four years or a lifetime.” The walls of the Swope are lined with a cohesive story of campus that intertwines the vision of the College and the Sisters of Providence. You cannot help but to feel inspired. “It looks and feels historic,” King said, “however this history is a stand-alone representation of our long ago past, it is a window into the innovation and the forward-thinking nature of the sisters who were planning and building a future for our Woods. Our history is also a comment on the collective vision of all those who came before to build this great and enduring institution.”

Above: President King speaks to guests at the Opening Reception on Aug. 6, 2021, at the Swope Art Museum.

Above: The lid to Saint Mother Theodore Guerin’s vault, which was inside the crypt located underneath the Church.

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