The Franciscan Central Archive has decided on the site for our future home! We have been invited to purchase land in Frankfort, Illinois, from the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart.
We recognize this decision is just the beginning and there is much work ahead. While we move forward with planning our archival facility and capital campaign, we remain committed to assisting Franciscan entities and our partners. As part of mission, we offer the following services and initiatives:
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Guidance and resources concerning archives
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Assist leadership with hiring or contracting archivists
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Needs assessment and strategic planning for members and FCA
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Assist members to prepare their archives for transfer
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Seek grants and donations to assist members and reduce costs
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Enable donor development and gift campaign to support efforts
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Initiate agreements for members
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Facilitate move of members' archives to the FCA
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Promote and increase accessibility to FCA collections, bringing forth the shared Franciscan spirit
Our unique approach is in recognition of the value of processing and describing collections within their communities to document the provenance and intent, thus preserving integrity prior to moving the collections. This enables efficient access to collections.
Today, the FCA formally has 10 Partners whose archival collections will be held within the FCA. However, in the spirit of advocacy, we are in conversation with a couple of Franciscan universities to define ways that we may be of service.
2026 will be the FCA's year of planning. During this year, we will reach a point where we must move forward with building plans to provide the capacity for our partners. After this point, anyone who wishes to join would likely have to wait until an expansion is possible. Because of this, we encourage interested parties to step forward now into meaningful conversation with our board.
November 5th at 3pm ET, the FCA will be holding a webinar for interested Franciscan entities (congregations, colleges, universities, secular, related ministries, etc.) that may need assistance with their archive and/or a future home for their archives. We will be sharing our vision, services, and plans, followed by discussion. To register, please follow this LINK
Franciscan Central Archive (FCA)
Email: fcarchive@franciscanway.org
Web: https://FranciscanCentralArchive.franciscanway.org/
Vision: A sustainable, charism-based collaborative repository for the combined archival collections of Franciscan entities across the United States.
FCA Board Members:
Holly Fiedler, President
Celia Struck, osf, Vice President
Veronica Buchanan, Secretary
Mary Serbacki, osf, Treasurer
c/o
Holly Fiedler, MAC, SAA DAS
Archivist, Sacred Heart Province
Sisters of St. Francis
5314 N. Columbine Rd.
Denver, CO 80221-1277
303-458-6270 Ext. 112
https://sacredheartprovince.franciscanway.org/
"The Future does have a name… and its name is Hope." – Pope Francis
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Holly Fiedler
Archivist
Sisters of St. Francis -- Sacred Heart Province
Denver CO
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