This transfer-ware companion piece to last week’s featured purchase. This item is numbered “12” which means it belongs to a series. Estimated date of manufacture is mid-19th century. All items are house in the Vincentiana Collection at the Archives and Special Collections Department of the John T. Richardson Library at DePaul University in Chicago.
The Vincentiana Collections at DePaul University’s Archives and Special Collections has recently purchased this small mid-19th century transfer-ware plate depicts Daughters of Charity as “Angels of the Battlefields.”
Christian Ianniello is a first year student majoring in journalism. Christian comes to DePaul from California and is an active blogger. In the future, she hopes to work in a job that combines her passions for journalism and photojournalism with her passion for social justice.
Have you ever been listening to someone speak and you understand so perfectly what they are trying to say that their words begin to move inside of you? Before you know it, you are standing up and the words seem to be guiding you, and you realize the words are now flowing out of your mouth and dancing in the air creating harmony. The one way to describe that feeling is humanity.
Well, on Wednesday, October 1, 2014, many DePaul students and I shared that feeling. We listened to students from all different backgrounds chant and speak about the injustices within the police force. The demonstration was not about one ethnic group but about any ethnic group who is stereotyped and profiled, which ultimately leads to injustices. The words that were making us experience that harmonious feeling connected us because of the simple fact that we are all human beings – brown, black, white, rainbow. We all have hearts, feelings, and a voice.
The group leaders, from clubs such as JASA (Just A Sister Away) and MOVE (Men of Vision and Empowerment), directed the group, who had their hoods on and hands up in honor of Trayvon Martin. We began in front of the Student Center, moved to the SAC and the Vincentian Circle and onto Fullerton, and ended by coming back to the Student Center.
As I was taking pictures, I could feel the power through the lens of the strong faces looking, not towards me, but towards justice. Bystanders were curious and, after understanding the chants, some even joined in on the marching. I did not intend to be a part of the demonstration, rather behind it taking pictures, but before I knew it, I was chanting as I snapped photos.
I was profusely sweating while I tried to be vocal, take pictures, and not get in the way. When we arrived back at the Student Center, I realized my heart was pounding and my camera’s memory card was almost full. I had never participated in a demonstration before, and I was proud to call the DePaul Injustice System Demonstration my first demonstration. I hope it will be the first of many more because it was quite the DEMONstration.
JASA and MOVE hosted and organized the DePaul Injustice System Demonstration, which was sponsored by The Sankofa Student Formation Program.
More information about JASA can be found here.
More information about MOVE can be found here and here.
More information about The Sankofa Student Formation can be found here and here.
The Vincentiana Collections at the Archives and Special Collections department of DePaul University’s Richardson Library has purchased a rare yearbook (1910-1911) of Holy Trinity College, Dallas, Texas. This ill-fated university (1905-1927) was part of a disastrous over-extension of the then Western Province of the Congregation of the Mission in the United States. For more information see: http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/674/1148968/U…
The Vincentiana Collection in Archives and Special Collections at DePaul University has acquired a rare 1754 edition of the rules for the Ladies of Charity in the parish of Saint-Severin in Paris. Saint-Severin is a parish that is still in existence and is located on the left bank of the Seine very near to the cathedral of Notre Dame. This later text will enable scholars to compare with earlier rules from a century before to trace the evolution of the Ladies during the Ancien Regime.
The Vincentiana Collections at DePaul University recently purchased a c. 18th century oil portrait of an unknown Daughter of Charity. The painting was marvelously restored by Faye Wrubel of the Art Institute of Chicago. Efforts are now underway to identify the subject. Early speculation is that it is a portrait of a superioress general of the Daughters of Charity.
This early 20th century holy card is a rare example illustrating the work of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society. Two members are shown distributing bread to the poor.
The card is Czech. The Vincentiana Collections at the Archives and Special Collections of DePaul University include material culture or ephemera collections that illustrate engagement with the Vincentian tradition over almost four hundred years.
The Reverend Ignatius M. Melito, C.M., entered into eternal life on July 18, 2014 at St. Louis. He was 88 years old.
Fr. Jack, as he was affectionately called, was born in the city famous for Mardi Gras – New Orleans, on July 8, 1926 to Edna (Flynn) and August J. Melito. He grew up in our parish of St. Joseph in the heart of New Orleans and home to the largest church in the South, where he attended elementary school, staffed by the Daughters of Charity. He began his studies at St. Vincent’s College, Cape Girardeau, MO in 1938 and entered the novitiate on May 30, 1943. He took vows in the Congregation of the Mission on May 31, 1945. He completed his philosophy and theology at St. Mary’s of the Barrens, Perryville, MO and was ordained there on May 20, 1951.
Fr. Jack taught for one year, 1951-1952 at Los Angeles Preparatory Seminary, then the high school seminary for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. After his brief time in California, he spent the remainder of his priestly ministry in Missouri and Denver, CO. His many assignments included St. Thomas Seminary, Denver, CO; St. Mary’s Seminary, Perryville, MO; St. Louis Preparatory Seminary South, Cardinal Glennon College, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary and St. Catherine Laboure Parish, all in St. Louis, MO. He also served as the Director of the Daughters of Charity of the then West Central Province from 1976 until 1985 and as one of the archivists for the then Midwest Province.
Fr. Jack loved literature and writing. He received his master’s degree in English from Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., in 1953 and then his doctorate in English from the University of Denver in 1965. In addition to teaching English literature, he wrote or edited a number of articles and texts about the life of St. Vincent de Paul.
From 1989 until 1996 he was the editor of the then Midwest Province Newsletter. He continued to contribute to the Province’s Newsletter until his death. From 2003 until 2010 he was one of the proofreaders for a project of the translation of the letters and writings of St. Vincent de Paul. From 2003 until 2009 he also served as editor for the Servicette, the newsletter of the Ladies of Charity.
Because he was blessed with reasonably good health until his sudden death, Fr. Jack was able to keep active well beyond the normal retirement age. The beginning of the 21st century found him still involved in the life of the Vincentian Family in St. Louis, especially as spiritual advisor for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. He was also an active, involved member of Lazarist Residence, his last community house.
The book of Proverbs mentions that “pleasing words are a honeycomb, sweet to the taste and healthful to the body.” The pleasing words of Fr. Jack, especially for those who read his bulletins and publications, made us more knowledgeable about our Vincentian heritage and helped us follow Christ more closely. May he rest in peace!
This week’s featured purchase for the Vincentiana Collection at the Archives and Special Collections Department of DePaul University’s Richardson Library, is a mid to late 19th century painted porcelain figure of a Daughter of Charity holding a cross.
This week’s featured purchase from the Vincentiana Collection at DePaul University’s Archives and Special Collections is a late 19th century holy card depicting the death of Vincent de Paul. The surviving account of Vincent’s last days documented the fact that he died fully-clothed sitting upright in a chair. The account also recalls the presence of his confreres from Saint-Lazare at his passing.