Digging in the archives

Miss Smith  (History) was invited to the meeting

Sister Victoire entrusted me with items from her Hollies archives when we met in 2000 to discuss the possibility of writing a history of the school.

Recently, I came across School Inspection Reports going back to the early 20th centuary.

















I also found the admission registers that Sister Victoire had saved when the school was closed. These date from 1942 to 1975, the others (1853 - 1942, and 1976 - 1984)  were lost.

Wood Lawn

"Woodlawn was one of those very big houses that Didsbury used to excel at .... "

A little bit of the history of Wood Lawn can be found on the Files page on the website. Wood lawn.doc

The women's movement

There was a discussion on Facebook, recently, about the women at the forefront of the Women's Movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There were other women, in earlier years, who had a greater impact on the lives of those disenfranchised women at the lower end of society. 

The FCJ's, following the example of their Foundress, were among those unsung heroines.

Marie Madeleine was a pioneer in the education of girls. Her belief was that if you educated girls, you educated society. For this reason, the first FCJ schools were boarding schools, which, she hoped, would provide new novices who would go on to teach in the free schools set up for the children of the poor.

The first school, in Amiens, is now a hostel for the homeless.








Today, the FCJ's mission has evolved. One does not have to enter as a novice to share in their work. 

Perhaps now as never before we, who call ourselves Faithful Companions of Jesus, are asked to live cultural diversity as an enrichment of our companionship, based on gospel values. We are faced daily with vast movements of people migrating across the globe, many seeking economic opportunities, others fleeing from war and oppression. We are invited to welcome the stranger both in our own communities and in our ministries as we work with people whose culture, race and faith are different from ours.

My archives contain much more material on this topic. If you have any questions, please leave a comment here and I will try to provide an answer.

Reunions

Facebook is a great place to catch up with friends. But it's often difficult to find conversation threads that you know you read a few days, weeks, or even months ago.

Whole School Reunion 2002 

Please use this blog entry to let me know of any Reunions that are planned, so that class groups can keep tabs on he arrangements. I will then transfer them to the Hollies website so that they remain on-view until the date has passed,