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July 11, 2025, Notre Dame, Indiana – History and congregational archives are important tools to keep the knowledge of the dedicated ministries of U.S. women religious alive well into the future – and even to bring a sense of healing from division.

Those were some of the lessons that archivists of congregations of U.S. Catholic Sisters heard about during a national conference, held June 22-25, 2025, in Notre Dame, Indiana.  

Among those featured in a recent Global Sisters Report article was Adrian Dominican Associate Arlene Bachanov, of the Congregation’s History Office. She and Grand Rapids Dominican Sister Mary Navarre, OP, Director of Archives, noted the healing effects of investigating the past. Their research helped members of the two congregations to understand the division experienced by the Grand Rapids and Adrian Dominicans, who were once separate provinces of the same Dominican congregation in New York. 

“There were all sorts of assumptions about what happened,” Arlene told the conference participants. But their research – collected into a 30-page publication, Golden Links – revealed that, in 1894, Bishop Henry Joseph Richter wanted the Sisters in Grand Rapids to be a diocesan congregation. Sisters could choose to become part of the new Grand Rapids congregation or remain in the New York congregation as part of the Adrian Province. The Adrian Province became an independent congregation in 1923.  

Both Arlene and Sister Mary had extensive help in their research from their respective archives: Arlene through Lisa Schell, Archivist, and Sister Joy Finfera, OP, Secretary of the Congregation and Director of the Office of Information, and Sister Mary through the Associate Director of Archives, Jennifer Morrison.

Read more about the importance of archives for congregations of Catholic Sisters in an article written by Dan Stockman for The National Catholic Reporter’s Global Sisters Reports. 

July 8, 2022, Tecumseh, Michigan – Sister Mary Louise Putrow, OP, author, and Associate Arlene Bachanov, Editorial Assistant, will offer a presentation on Seeds of Change, the latest history book of the Adrian Dominican Sisters. The presentation – held on Zoom from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, July 19, 2022 – is sponsored by the Tecumseh District Library.

Seeds of Change covers the years of 1962 to 1986, including the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ pivotal 1968 Chapter of Renewal, held in response to the Second Vatican Council’s call for renewal of congregations of women religious in the Catholic Church. Through text, photos, and interviews with Sisters who lived through the years covered by the book, Seeds of Change tells the story of the many changes that took place during those decades that still affect the Congregation today.

More information can be found on the Tecumseh District Library’s Facebook post. Registration to receive a Zoom invitation can be accessed here.

Copies of Seeds of Change sell for $15 and are available through the Weber Shop at Weber Retreat and Conference Center. They can be ordered by calling 517-266-4035 or emailing the shop at [email protected]. They can also be bought in the shop, located in the Weber Retreat Center on the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse Campus, 1257 E. Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan. Hours are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Wednesday to Friday and 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Saturday. The shop is closed for lunch from noon to 12:45 p.m.

July 25, 2022 Update

Watch the recorded presentation below.