Adrian Dominican Sisters launch fourth volume on congregation's history
ADRIAN — The fourth volume on the history of the Adrian Dominican Sisters congregation was recently launched during a program that outlined the four-year process of bringing the book together and celebrated its publication.
“Seeds of Change: A History of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1962-1986” covers the significant years of change in the congregation, marked by the Sisters’ three-year Chapter of Renewal beginning in 1962 and their response to the second Vatican Council’s call for religious women to return to their roots and to relate to the world.
The book was primarily authored by Sister Mary Louise Putrow.
The program, which was held Oct. 7, was both in person and virtual. Sister Patricia Siemen, prioress of the congregation, provided background to the process of the writing and production of the book.
“Early in her term as Prioress, she saw the importance of ‘capturing the history of our renewal years while we had Sisters who lived through that period of our lives,’” a news release from the congregation said.
In late fall 2016, Siemen asked Putrow to write the book. Putrow was assisted by an editorial board that was chaired by Sister Anneliese Sinnott and included sisters Maribeth Howell, Janet Schaeffler and the late Rosemary Ferguson; general councilor Elise García; and Siemen, the release said.
Previous volumes on the history of the Adrian Dominican Sisters consist of “Amid the Alien Corn,” written by Sister Mary Philip Ryan, which covers the earliest years of the congregation; “Seeds Scattered and Grown, 1924-1933,” by Sister Nadine Foley; “To Fields Near and Far, 1933-1961,” by Foley and Associate Arlene Bachanov.
Putrow, an experienced researcher and writer, according to the release, said the process for “Seeds of Change” was unique.
“This was a corporate biography,” she said. “It was our story. The primary topic was who we were and who we came to be in a period of 25 years. It was a period marked by a number of changes in the way the Sisters lived out their vocation.”
Putrow summarized those years as “the most all-encompassing change which generated all the others was our relationship with the world, the world many of us had renounced at our reception; it was the world with all its joys and sufferings we were now told to embrace.”
Bachanov, meanwhile, a co-worker in the history office at the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ campus, discussed her experience in interviewing the Sisters and editing Putrow’s work.
“I learned what it was like to be in the Deep South in the 1960s and to be in south Florida when the Cuban exodus was occurring, and to be in Detroit at the time of the riots,” she said in the release. “The interviews were a real cross-section of the congregation over those 25 years or so, and certainly pointed to the diversity of thought and experience that was enfolded into the Renewal years and their aftermath.”
Bachanov said the experience of working on the book and learning about the congregation’s history was “invaluable” to the work she does on a daily basis as a writer in the Sisters' history office.
“I want you to know that helping tell your story, in whatever way I can do that, is not only my mission in the world, but it’s the great privilege of my life,” she said.
The book’s cover illustration was completed by Sister Janet Wright, who said the illustration was intended to signify support and reveal the work of the authors.
“It was done out of love and respect for our Sisters and in gratitude to Mary Lou, Arlene, the Advisory Board, Sister Pat and our archivists, for the honor of participating in this work,” Wright said in the release.
“Seeds of Change: A History of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1962-1986” is available for purchase from the Weber Retreat and Conference Center’s gift shop at a price of $15. To purchase a copy of the book, call 517-266-4035 or send an email to webercenter@adriandominicans.org.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Adrian Dominican Sisters launch fourth history book
