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St. Louis Catholic Archives Collective (SCAC)

Catholic women religious have shaped the contours of St. Louis’ cultural, economic, and political landscapes from the city's origins in the mid-18th century to today.

Their archives are rich repositories of documents, visual resources, and artifacts that demonstrate the centrality of women religious to the histories of migration, colonialism, mission, Indigeneity, enslavement, education, segregation and desegregation, healthcare, and social reform. 

Group photo of SCAC researchers examining texts and other materials on a table.

(From left to right) Anna Katharina Rudolph, Caitlin Stamm, Rena Schergen, Kate Moran, Catherine Lucy, Mary Dunn, and Amanda Gesiorski.

SCAC is an initiative partnering the Center for Research on Global Catholicism (CRGC) at Saint Louis University with archivists at multiple independent local Catholic archives to increase the visibility and accessibility of their collections. This public-facing project aims to strengthen our community of students, teachers, researchers, and archivists by providing the resources, networks, and opportunities they need to collaborate across the United States and around the world in advancing scholarship on global Catholicism.

Visit the St. Louis Catholic Archives Collective project website to learn more about our research grants, ongoing exhibitions, and public events.