catholic or not they've been had to do life and a good way doing it here in california for will more than a hundred years this story is told wonderfully and exhibits in sacramento. i'll tell part of it here today on a mosaic. tunis is the holy family sister thanks for joining us. where do want to start.

he said my wife pastor about her brother and she talked for 35 years. so this is kind of redress, and let you go but this is a wonderful time we said this could very well be called it's about time. when you think about women's history in general women have never been " the trade in history with and ran out of it in a lot of ways and the women religious have made a difference in california particularly. the general exhibit which was under the heading of the leadership conference of women religious and the smithsonian their own separate together. they wanted to show the impact of woman religion and the united states since their arrival in the beginning 1727 the sisters came to new orleans.

and they began their. what happened in the 300 years calling on to 400 now since that time and it's an amazing story. in many places that shown, and traveling the country. they began putting it together and about 2007 and since 2000 has been traveling around the country and it's been to ellis island and smithsonian and it's the story of how women religion religious contrary to the fabric of our society and it's amazing the sorts of things to learn for the first time in a growing public. when it was coming to california and we decided to have a local history addition to sue and religious have done in

california. sister pat is a corporate representative until today. it's an ongoing story because it's not cornstalk. your historian by training and vocation in the dominican send info and yours was the first order to be here in the golden state. where the first trip to invited by the bishop he invited other along the way but i think we were closely followed by the notre dame sisters server the same trail. eager to was a dominican. and he was appointed a bishop of california. and it's probably why he started with dominicans and went to the small monastery in france. and he met marie who was a belgian woman who was an

anonymous in the monastery and we put up the invitation for someone to come to california. not the exact invitation issued that shoe is going go to ohio to teach french. somewhere along the way we don't know where the story changed but it did change and she ended up coming through panama and quite some stories about that from our sisters and others that made that dreadful crossing. a story from the daughters of charity where i think they lost two sisters on the crossing. on the with the cross basically. to cholera. made it here and you became you began the beginning. one of the things don't make clear is that when ever there is

some kind of gap in the church who is a church conference. san francisco is not the first city breaded the fire. i think because the exhibit is not about religion but it is about the inspired creativity and perseverance that our religion inspired in the religious women. you won't see a lot of things about catholic faith or the faces and the persons who are doing the work. but you see a lot of amazing things in the exhibit and things that will be in eyeopener i think to anyone who comes. we have to sneak away but the church is not better represented today or then that it is by women religious. are coming back with pictures so

stay with us.

where back to talking of a ballot wind and spirit in sacramento and the wonderful work of catholic women religious in california of last several hundred years. we're looking at. i think oroville looking at here is the duty of the exhibit as it was set and the other people that contributed to the execution of the exhibit. it's specious and open with wonderful photos and artifacts with a number of things that will be really exciting to see in the tv monitors are around to

see parts of the story. they wanted to a jewish culture and beauty and meaningful in this to their students the matter where they were. if there in the midwest many things came and went with the moment when religious. we've got an organ in our archives the camera around the horn in order to get to california. the weather they brought these things to enrich the lives students of the students they were teaching. will hardly knew they were gonna have a special in the can the california they're lost some of the ships around the horn that they would dump their passengers in panama and the people would cross it by foot

and if the ship made it all around the horn they would kick back on the ship and go to san francisco. and here they were hauling harps and bad kitchens books because they did know if there would be anything there. what does the show the cooperation of mr. been among women religious to develop this. greatcoat i wasn't part of the original gathering of of the artifacts for the show for the entire show they do know over seven years back to mentioned the date 2007 when they sent out requests to the accommodation to send our fax and i cannot imagine the work of they went to in washington d.c. to probe this together. and it was a tremendous amount of cooperation work for it

closely with chris the presentation sisters. i can give the name of the company worked with " all of the stuff i was on line and iraq up putting artifacts and designing this beautiful exhibit. i sit on camera it really has a d.c. feel. had the opportunity to be back there the last few years and it feels like being back it just looks wonderful. i didn't see it in d.c. but i sought on us and island. they didn't have the entire exhibit their appearance sacramento we have the entire exhibit and the wonderful opportunity to have a large space for the california story as well. you could represent all of the works of added to choose what made the highlights.

what we try to do was to pick out themes that we felt the general accident touched on net california brought on a lot of creativity in may be those with be the theme speaking up for the national exhibit the themes that we could use to tell the california story. we talked about for instance charity to justice we commanded difficulties in every religious communion good person of good will does that turned up their neighbor when they're in trouble. but have you go about affecting the systems. say that you make an impact on those laws made to help these people and so forth so you're affecting the entire society. and they've done that through the years. when you look at the general

exited a rise of the woman religious established a lot of the educational systems in the country and the line of the care in hospitals and all that sort of thing. in california we started early on holy family working with the mentally retarded and at one point rose kennedy came out to see the work and to complement the sister and she had done and to lend the support of the kennedy family which is quite powerful. in telling people what this is a group work. and if course shoes ran help falling in the excitement to get other the kennedys are very much a part of it. a tall woman religious following their own calling the scene the needs of people trying to affect the systems. will we come back to want

to ask about the dominican sisters of san rafael covering that when we come back. women in spirit in sacramento.

welcome back. today were delighted to have with us the holy family sister o'connor talking about women and spirit here we are we have women in spirit right here. women religious in california for hundreds of years and how they are represented in the sacramento display. who want to ask his sister in between where couple of secret stories between we're off and i was kind of nice but how did you choose what the dominican sisters of san rocco would put in the exhibit? they wanted to include

justice as well as the diversity that represented less. the standoff by including a picture of the first con denton school which wasn't in san francisco itself it was in monterrey. which is probably still the same dices at that point. so we included that and we included a picture of all that different sisters that would come to send a foe to catholic university. we have the western side of catholic university in centerfold dominican never university. every summer sisters from all over all different orders would come to get their education in the summer there in center fell. the picture of the different habits and the front of the stairs to the building is to wonderful. we included a picture of where artists the sister of the of a

different amount photomontage work and would also could information the pictures about our sanctuary movement return can a family from el salvador and given sanctuary during the time of what was going on in el salvador. among the orders of women religious to should find is there a lot of overlap and a lot of networking do share the burden to talk to one another when they ask you i think the best example of that might be when the sisters of mercy had their hundred and 50 anniversary in san francisco they wanted to market with many different kinds of events and what the events they decided they would like to too was a play that would engage people and knowing the history of what happened but they didn't want to do it in isolation. they wanted to have the play represent the women religious to our present when they arrived

and what happened in that story. when he got the california exhibit there's a television monitor and have about a six minute loop that runs showing what the different women religious were doing and how they did it another worked together. so we started early the net working in a goes on today also. i want to ask you that is i say this with all due respect to the church and a lifelong catholic and works for the church for more than 30 years of the there's a certain genius that goes on in congregations of women religious i think it's a very unique. there's so many talents there you have doctors and lawyers and you think forward women religious have thrown out of the box for hundreds of years. i do think that's true.

and women have more opportunities to do those kinds of things now within their religious and not. but women religious were the first to start hospital since found schools and they were those kind of thinkers and the it was because a certain amount of freedom. we think of thousands something that means no you can't do this to that and you must follow directions but there is a freedom inherent in the vows that obedience which really means to listen coming from a latin word to listen a big religious women have been listening to the spirit and god speaking to others to see what those needs are and hiring one another to move to help and work in the areas. greta there is a divine patience i think we have about 30 seconds if you want to elaborate. i think what is really wonderful this woman religious could be surgeons or hats of

colleges are many things and they are and in some ways they broke the ground for other women to become a they needed to be. thanks for train as breaking ground on most they can't women inspirit in sacramento mixture you get there.

clay no where back with mosaic here today welcoming sister o'connor and dominican sister pat farrell. are talking about women in spirit in this system of the work of women religious in california throughout the years. is interested in some places a special cradle's were made to put on the porch of an orphanage because many women choose became overwhelmed with the things they needed to do and they couldn't care for a child to the credit was filled with

babies every to a people would, and checked to make sure and bring the children in taking care of the marginalized and those who cannot defend themselves was a big movement among the religious that was something that was very important to them. continues to the state with more pictures to look at. you can tell us what they're about it's an exciting exhibit. there it is live acquittal again. the whole idea of caring for the helpless was a big thing with most of the religious women greta i just came back from a trip from route 21 a mexico with students to the dominican who went to a place and although these children aren't left there in the same way sisters today are still doing that same thing where there were children people that

have tremendous need. we have a wonderful portion of the california exit where the sisters went to man's inner to carry care for the people the been ripped out of their homes and and a time of terrible turmoil. looks like they're just getting rarer here is there. when you think their entire life was packed into one little box to bring it to know what they would get when they got here the streets of san francisco are not paved with gold mostly they weren't paved all southern california was just developing and it was a real frontier which is part of the california. a comment made by one of the daughters of charity about when she gets to they can try to do ministry for a little while as san francisco and she says we need prayers' and firmer ones because it's such a miserable

place. greta the sisters have made it a better place to many years. i have to ask we're all just human beings we have the same strengths and weaknesses where alderman religious found the strength to accomplish what they've accomplished. where do you think? i think community our committee prepared whenever it is that happens in committee when we prairie unsure lives together gives us strength with fortitude and patience encourages us to keep going. you know your not alone in having a community and the holy spirit who is in telling you toward helping and he is not going to in pill us toward something that assistance and support will not follow. gotta's for a good to us.

i want to ask as they said evan meyer lemon religious all my life and m-16, but what has a your time as the religious meant to you and i would ask to bolt to to think this will help people better understand women religious the exhibit? i hope so, let vocation entered when i was 40 after years of banking and i would say that these 19 years these years of religious life had been the happiest years of my life. i do vocations ministry in addition to being on the leadership team and say to people them of being a sister. i have to say that god gave me the best vacation the world i

have loved my religious life and it's been 53 years now and they can't think of any way that would of been happier. and it's too wonderful to see that the same spirit has impelled the women religious throughout hundreds of years here. quitter women and spirit in sacramento. one more picture i think that mike said that we had a 10 minute thing for me to do. this is a hospital and it was on religious that invented the incubator that is unknown to most people is still a lot of surprises in this exhibit. saved many babies lives. toward the oximeter better understanding. i think you will find the story of humanity expressed in feminine terms through this

great exhibit and it is great. and the story of this country of all those that have struggled with the pioneers of come here to all ages of history and those who have tried to work for the betterment and the help of others. it's been wonderful having you both here thank-you and you're welcome back anytime