History in the Making: Renovating Our Archive

For many years, the archive area of Mount St. Scholastica has been bursting at the seams. Given that the Mount has a 163-year history, with 76 sisters currently living and 674 who are deceased, it is easy to understand why we needed to expand our archive space. The Mount also houses archival materials for seven other Benedictine monasteries, along with the Monastic Congregation of St. Scholastica, the Conference of American Benedictine Prioresses, and the American Benedictine Formation Conference. 

In January through April of 2025, a 6400-square-foot space containing a sewing area and an exercise/game room in the basement of the monastery was cleared out and renovated. Renovations included redoing water and sewer lines and installing new lighting; pulling up linoleum and cleaning the floors; building walls; moving existing shelves and installing additional shelving; painting; and transferring materials from the previous 1500-square-foot archive.  

We are grateful to all those who worked on this project: Sisters Rosann Eckart, Elaine Fischer, Chris Kean, Loretta McGuire, Helen Mueting, and Barbara Smith, along with members of the maintenance staff and volunteers John and Karin Hosler.  

The archive now includes greatly expanded stacks that are handicapped accessible, separate temperature and humidity controls, a sizeable work area for staff, and a new reading and research room for guests that will include built-in cabinets for displays and bookcases with reference materials. Work on this room is still in progress. 

If you have a research question, you can reach our archivist, Elaine Nadeau, via the contact form on the Mount website: https://www.mountosb.org/about/archive/. Visitors to the archive at the Mount are welcome, but appointments are encouraged. Some of the Mount’s collections and exhibits can be viewed at the following website: https://mountosb.omeka.net/.