WISHING A VERY HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY TO MARTHA CURRY, RSCJ

June 30, 2016 ~  Today a very treasured friend, mentor, former English professor and fellow alumna of Barat College celebrates her 90th birthday.  Yes, it is true Sr. Martha Curry, RSCJ is celebrating her 90th birthday! This past Sunday many friends and family members gathered to kick off this milestone celebration with Martha and her fellow RSCJ community in Hyde Park.  What an enjoyable afternoon we all had as we reminiscent and paid tribute to her.  

For those who still wish to purchase a copy of Sr. Curry's book, BARAT COLLGE: A Legacy, A Spirit and A Name - click here for more info.

Nick Prokos, Master Potter, Sculptor and former Barat College Professor and Art Dept Chair has Died

Photos taken at Prokos Studio Open House May 1, 2011 ~ Pictured with Nick are:
Mary Schumacher, RSCJ, Martha Curry, RSCJ,  MER and Michael Boruch

The following news of Nick Prokos' death was forwarded to me by a fellow alumna who received word of Nick's passing from his son John.  I promised to post his obit (posted first on his son Michael's Facebook page who is also a potter) and pass this info on so that his former students and faculty members of Barat College would be apprised of Nick's passing on August 24th.  Personally, I will treasure my last visit with Nick on May 1, 2011 and most especially the beautiful vase that I purchased that day.  May Nick and all the former lay faculty and rscj of Barat College who have died rest in peace. 

Teacher and sculptor, Nicholas G. Prokos, of 1698 1st Street, a 55 year resident of Highland Park, passed away peacefully on August 24th, 2015 at Highland Park Hospital. Mr. Prokos was born May 17, 1934 in Escanaba, Michigan. He was the fourth son of Greek immigrants, George and Koula Prokos.

“Prok”, as he was nicknamed, was well known in local and regional art communities as an artist, teacher and professor. His son, John, remarks “Dad couldn’t walk more than a block in Highland Park before being greeted by a former student or friend”. He had a major and lasting impact on many throughout his teaching career. His many former students continued to visit him through the years at his home and studio in Highland Park, some traveling from as far away as Japan to visit their beloved professor and teacher.

Mr. Prokos taught ceramics for over 35 years. He received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin and his M.A. from Wayne State University. As a young man, in 1961, he received his Illinois State Teaching Certificate and secured a position with the Highland Park School District, teaching at Highland Park H.S. In 1963 he opened the studio, Ravinia Stoneware Studio, on Roger Williams Ave. In 1964, he purchased the First Street property and at that location, re-opened the ceramics studio with his wife, awarded book illustrator, Jean Cassels. There, they owned and operated a clay company, created and produced their own work, and taught. Prok would occasionally host other notable potters such as Paul Soldner and Peter Volkous.

In 1969 he began teaching at Barat College in Lake Forest where he earned tenured status and served as Chairman of the Art Department. He was a ceramics professor at Barat for 23 years. He also taught at Lake Forest College, The Art Institute of Chicago, Mundelein College, Eastern Michigan University, and St. Cloud State College.

Mr. Prokos’ works were exhibited nationally and internationally and are in the permanent collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, The Illinois State Museum, Kenosha Art Museum, Springfield Art Association, Wayne State University, South Bend Art Association, and the International Minerals & Chemicals Co.

Mr. Prokos put his artistic talent to work by serving his community. In 1985, he received the Community Service Award from the Illinois Park and Recreation Association for outstanding contributions for the advancement of parks and recreation in the state of Illinois. He also served for many years on the Highland Park Design Review Committee.

Mr. Prokos was passionate about building and flying model airplanes and shared his numerous talents with family, friends, and students. Additionally, he was a talented golfer and a long time member at Sunset Valley Golf Course. He inspired many and will be greatly missed.

Mr. Prokos was preceded in death by his son, George, and is survived by his sons, Michael  (Mindy) and John (Saraswoti), two grandchildren, Nicholas and Chloe, and four brothers, Charles, John, James and Konstantin.

Plans for a memorial service have not been finalized. In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to "The Nicholas Prokos Scholarship Fund" at The Art Center - Highland Park.

Donations may be sent to:

The Art Center-Highland Park

1957 Sheridan Road

Highland Park, IL 60035

847-432-1888

Donations can also be made by credit card or paypal online atwww.theartcenterhp.org

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The following excerpt was taken from page 183 of the book BARAT COLLEGE: A Legacy, a Spirit and a Name.  “Very suddenly, in July 1972, at the age of forty-five, Father Reicher died from a ruptured appendix.  Barat’s faculty, administration, student body, and his many friends attended his memorial Mass celebrated in the Drake Theatre when the fall semester commenced. The next year, the chair of the Art Department, Nicholas Prokos, established Barat’s first permanent art gallery in honor of Father Reicher. The Reicher Gallery provided an important venue for shows by outside artists as well as senior art majors.”    

To read more about the history of Barat College - contact Martha Curry, RSCJ

Fifty Years After RSCJ and Barat Students Marched...Chicago Students Plan Civil Rights Travel Study to Selma

Photo of Nancy Kane, rscj and Al Pounian at the Montgomery Airport taken
from p149 of the book, BARAT COLLEGE, A LEGACY, A SPIRIT AND A NAME

Earlier this month, I learned that friends of OAV (Our American Voice) were helping to raise funds so that students from the Libby Elementary school in Chicago could participate in a Civil Rights travel study program.  The students are raising funds so that they can travel during their spring break in April to Memphis, Montgomery and Selma. The students will learn from the past how to become better citizens today.  For more info on the Civil Rights Travel Study Fundraiser click here!

As a member of the Barat Education Foundation Board, I was pleased to help support the effort of these students from Libby Elementary school.  I did so in memory of two RSCJ that taught history at Barat College: Sisters Nancy Kane and Marguerite Green, RSCJ.    

In her book, BARAT COLLEGE: A LEGACY, A SPIRIT AND A NAME, Martha Curry, RSCJ interviewed Sr. Kane to get her recollections of the trip she took with fellow faculty members: Margurite Green, RSCJ and Al Pounian and twenty-four Barat College (Lake Forest, IL) students in 1965.  

The excerpts below were taken from pages 141 and 142 of Sr. Curry's book.  

Barat Students March to Montgomery, Alabama, 1965

         "At the time when the Civil Rights Movement of the mid- and late- 1960’s was embroiling the country, the most notable example of the social activism of Barat’s faculty and students was participation in the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in March of 1965. On March 24, twenty-four students accompanied by the chairman of the Art Department, Albert Pounian, left by train for Montgomery, and the next day Mothers Marguerite Green and Nancy Kane flew to Montgomery. Both the train and the airplane arrived in Montgomery about noon on March 25 and, therefore, the contingent from Barat did not march with Martin Luther King the whole fifty miles from Selma.  They joined the march in Montgomery at a black church, the Church of St. Jude, and continued the three-plus mile march to the capitol."  

News Article and photo of Nancy Kane, RSCJ from Society Archives

         "By the middle of March, Barat’s faculty had voted that the college as an institution “should do something if the opportunity arose.” 13  The student council had asked each class for an indication of student support and received a donation of $200 from its general fund.  Other donations totaling $300 came from the college’s social committee and from chairs of the social committees of the four academic classes. These donations were sufficient to support eleven students in their travel to Alabama, and thirteen other students paid their own way."

Marguerite Green, RSCJ 
photo from Barat College Collection

         "An article in Barat News that covered the events of the march described the speeches delivered on the steps of the capitol in Montgomery by MartinLuther King, Jr., and Whitney Young. The article recounted that, when one small black girl saw Mother Kane in her habit, she exclaimed, “That’s my church.” Of the three faculty members who participated in the events in Montgomery, only Mother Kane was living at the time of the author’s interviews; and she was able to fill in many details. She remembered that all the black churches were open that day to accommodate the marchers, and she commented on the cheering they received as they progressed through the black neighborhoods. “There was a great euphoria like we were coming into the Kingdom. . . . As we got close to [the capitol], the atmosphere changed and we were really sort of scared. . . . I never felt such hatred.” Sister Kane went on to explain that since their flight back to Chicago did not leave until the next morning, she, Mother Green, and Professor Pounian slept on benches in St. Jude Church overnight. The students returned to Chicago by train on the evening of March 25. "

Please join me in helping fund the good works of the OAV and make it possible for the students of Libby Elementary school to participate in this Civil Rights Travel Study to Selma.  To donate click here.

For the Love of Ireland A Historical Novel by Judy Leslie

Margaret Frances Buchanan Sullivan (1847-1903)
Sacred Heart Alumna ~ Detroit, Michigan
(photo taken from Barat College a Legacy, a Spirit and a Name by Martha Curry
and courtesy of her great grandnephew Peter Buchanan of Berkley, Michigan)  

As Saint Patrick's Day has come to a close and I sit at my desk doing research, I have discovered a book For The Love of Ireland - A Historical Novel by Judy Leslie which I am anxious to read. What I find so fascinating about this book is that Margaret Frances Buchanan (Mrs. Alexander Sullivan) a Sacred Heart alumna is one of the main characters! 

Margaret Sullivan was born in Ireland, she was the youngest child of John and Susan Buchanan who settled in Detroit, Michigan in the 1850's.  Margaret was educated at the Sacred Heart Convent in Detroit.  Her obituary states that "she was a proficient Greek, Latin and French scholar".  She taught in the public schools in Detroit and then traveled to Chicago to begin her career as an editorial writer for the Chicago Chronicle.  When she first came to Chicago as a single woman with no family she lived at the convent of the Sacred Heart on Taylor Street and according to Martha Curry, RSCJ on page 28 of her book, Barat College a Legacy, a Spirit and a Name, Margaret Buchanan "moved into the convent on Taylor Street as a 'parlor boarder', neither a student in the boarding school nor one of the nuns."  

Margaret Buchanan married Alexander Sullivan in 1874 and while living in Chicago became active with fellow Sacred Heart alums. By 1896, she was serving as president of the Chicago Alumnae Association which included mostly alums from either Taylor Street (now located in Lake Forest, IL) or State Street in Chicago (now located on Sheridan Road).

click here for a summary of the book

The following was compiled from official obituary notices posted in various newspapers after her death and taken from the website For The Love of Ireland - A Historical Novel by Judy Leslie.

Margaret’s career as a journalist spanned over 30 years, a remarkable feat for a woman during the Gilded Age. Though publishing without a byline or under an alias to hide her identity as a woman, Margaret Frances Buchanan Sullivan was well known on both sides of the Atlantic as an author and editorial writer during Charles Anderson Dana ‘s lifetime.  She was a frequent contributor to The New York Sun and an editorial writer for Chicago Times in the days of Wilbur F. Storey.  In addition, Margaret was an editorial writer for several Chicago daily newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, and for leading journals of New York and Boston.  In 1895, she held the position of chief editorial writer for the Chicago Times-Herald.  In 1901 she was a writer and art critic for the Chicago Chronicle.

After covering the Charles Stewart Parnell trial in London 1889, Margaret went to the Exposition Universelle (a World's Fair held in Paris, France from  May to  October) as the only official special cable-correspondent representing the Associated Press.  At the opening ceremony, she was the only writer to whom a seat was assigned in line with Jules Simon, the president of France.  Margaret was the only representative of the press invited to assist at the ceremony.  However, this required some finessing on her part.  Upon arriving in Paris, she discovered that she was not permitted to sit with the other press members because of her gender.  When she went to the French Ministry for assistance she was refused.  Margaret quickly sent off two telegrams in the presence of the Minister, one addressed to US Secretary of State, James Blaine and the other to the president of the Associated Press.  Needless to say, the French Minister jumped to accommodate her.

By the turn of the century, her book Ireland of To-Day had sold more than 30,000 copies.

Judith Cagney, RSCJ, Former President of Barat College Died Today

Sister Judy Cagney, RSCJ   (July 26, 1938 - November 3, 2013)
photo taken July 2012

Judith Cagney, RSCJ, died early this morning at Mt. Sinai Palliative Care Center in New York,  surrounded by members of her immediate and Sacred Heart families.  A Mass of Resurrection will be held at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, 91st Street Chapel on Wednesday, November 6, 2013.  Burial will be at the Kenwood Cemetery in Albany, NY. For further information, contact www.rscj.org

Born on July 26, 1938 in Chicago, Sister Cagney was predeceased by her parents, Mary Cecilia Lynch (1985) and Richard Cagney (1986); and her sister Toni (1994). She is survived by her sister Joan Meyer, BC'63 and brother Richard (Meg Wehmer, BC'73), as well as many nieces and nephews. 

Judy Cagney was a 1956 alumna of Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart. Following graduation, she attended Newton College of the Sacred Heart in Boston and in 1958 transferred to Barat College.  After a semester at Barat, Judy entered the Society of the Sacred Heart and made her first vows in 1961 and final profession on July 20, 1966.  

Sister Cagney received her Masters Degree in Philosophy at Fordham University and went on to earn her PhD. She later returned to Barat College where she taught Freshman Philosophy and lived on campus in the Merrill Residence Dormitory. 

In 1974 Sister Margaret Burke, RSCJ retired as President of Barat College after serving in that capacity for twenty-one years.  "In June 1974, Judith Cagney, RSCJ, became Acting President; in July 1975, after the Board of Trustees conducted a year's search, they appointed Sister Cagney Barat's third President" (p209). The next eight years the college faced increasing financial strain and after 124 years of educating women had decide to admit men.  That same year (1982) Sister Cagney's resignation was announced.  She was the last religious president of Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois. 

"More than two decades later, when Sister Cagney looked back on her years as president... she praised the students, who are grateful for the education they received and were 'incredibly loyal' to the college... Sister Cagney also remembered the majority of faculty members as excellent teachers and exceptional members of their own academic disciplines, providing the students with a strong academic program. She, however, considered Barat's financial situation to be the major challenge during her years as president." 

In 1982, she became Provincial Treasurer a position she held until 2001 and also serve on the U.S. Provincial team. Sister Cagney moved to New York where she served as Chief Financial Officer of Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service, East Harlem, 2001-2010.  Most recently she devoted her time to social work in the New York area. 

I had an opportunity to attend the 2012 Provincial Assembly hosted in St. Louis last summer as a collaborator and was pleasantly surprised to see Judy Cagney.  She greeted me with a warm smile and hug. Later that evening after dinner, we spent time reminiscing about our days at Barat.  I told her how much I appreciated all that she did in those turbulent and precarious years.  

On behalf of all Barat alums, I extend my heartfelt condolences to her family and friends. I am sure I am not alone in recognizing all of her contributions to the Society of the Sacred Heart and know she will be missed by all.

  

Note: quotes are taken from pages 209 and 210, Barat College: A Legacy, A Spirit and A Name by Martha Curry, RSCJ

A Few Words About Water and World Water Week 2013

Plaque as seen on the Chicago Water Tower on Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL

As a Healthy Waters enthusiast I was reminded via email today by Melanie Guste, rscj that this week (Sept 1- 6, 2013) is World Water Week in Stockholm.

Yesterday, as I walked up Michigan Ave., I took the above photo, so today as I think about some of the important questions that are going to be discussed at WWW in Stockholm, I wonder how each of us would respond to these important questions about our water supply.  I am aware that since the late 19th century educational and religious institutions here in Chicago have been exempt from paying tax for their water supply. However, I also know that when my mother's water bill came in at ten times the usual cost due to a toilet constantly running the solution was easily fixed with a new flapper.  Since then, I have become more aware of water usage and as I get older I hope the little bit I do will help.  I try not to run the water while brushing my teeth and do not flush the toilet every trip to the bathroom. And, I have become extremely conscientious about a running toilet.

The more I thought about the issue of water and its importance, I recalled that in my exhaustive research of Sacred Heart history some years ago, I came across a newspaper article written in August of 1904.  The article states that as the newly constructed Convent of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest, IL now known as Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart was about to open its doors, the newspaper headline in the Chicago Tribune read: "BIG SCHOOL IS DRY... Sacred Heart Nuns Find New Convent Lacks Water Supply". Yes, apparently after Mother Marie Van den Abeele, rscj had finished supervising construction of the new Convent of the Sacred Heart boarding school at a cost of $300,000 there was no water!  

As the story reported in the Chicago Tribune states: "The big building was completed; every gleaming white bath tub and nickeled water faucet was in place. So the nuns gave the order. 'Turn on the water'."   However, it was soon discovered that the school had no water!  Apparently, there was no water main in the street that connected to the property.  As the story was told: "Negotiations now are being carried on with the Lake Forest municipal authorities to secure the extension of the main.  This, the nuns expect, will be done at once, although if a special assessment for the work is necessary property owners may protest.  The members of the order, however, are determined to have the building ready for school next month, whatever the cost."  Thus a series of negotiations ensued and eventually enabled the municipal authorities to agree to secure an extension to the main supply. 

To read the rest of the history of the Convent of the Sacred Heart also known as Barat College in Lake Forest, IL.,  go to Sr. Martha Curry, rscj website (http://marthacurrybook.info) for details on how to order her book, BARAT COLLEGE: A LEGACY, A SPIRIT AND A NAME.  

And, to view a live stream of World Water Week 2013: opening plenary - click here

Former Barat College Campus to be Repurposed by Woodlands Academy

Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest, Illinois hosted a community meeting in its Chapel last Thursday to discuss and share plans for the expansion of its campus.  The expansion is made possible by the astounding gift of 23 acres of the neighboring former Barat College Campus donated by an anonymous donor to Woodlands Academy. The land transfer officially took place on December 12, 2012 the anniversary of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat's birthday.  

Referred to as Gloria Dei Project, Ralph Elwart, Member of the Woodlands Board of Trustees gave a comprehensive overview at the Open House last Thursday and afterwards answered questions from Sacred Heart alums and nearby residents. To view a video of the Lake Forest Plan Commission Meeting held on Wednesday, July 17, 2013 - click here. 

For more info about the Barat College Campus click on this link to view the Woodlands Project Slides and to read local news - Lake Forester.

The evening ending with alums lingered to view the slides up close and speak to Sr. Martha Curry, RSCJ, an alumna of Barat College and author of the recently published book, BARAT COLLEGE: A LEGACY, A SPIRIT AND A NAME. For more info on ordering a copy of Sr. Curry's book go to marthacurrybook.info

Woodlands Academy Hosts Community Meeting July 18th from 7 -8 pm

For more info - Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart