About the Collection

St. Catherine University’s Ade Bethune Collection (ABC) contains the papers of Ade Bethune, a world-renowned liturgical artist and social activist.  Ade Bethune made unique contributions to the field of sacred art and architecture as an artist, writer, and liturgical consultant, all flowing from her early association with Dorothy Day and the publication of her pictures in The Catholic Worker.  Her career spanned over 70 years from art school in New York in the 1930s to her final projects in the early years of the 21st century. In Ade Bethune, St. Catherine University finds an apt symbol of its own mission and daily work—to educate women to lead and influence within the Catholic traditions of intellectual inquiry and social justice.

The extensive holdings of the ABC cover Bethune's entire career.  They consist of manuscript and printed materials, as well as a large variety of non-textual materials (graphic, sound, artifact).  Included in the Collection are:
  • Approximately 400 linear feet of papers, books, periodicals, drawings, photographs, slides, films, and audio/video tapes
  • About 170 cubic feet of oversized drawings, architectural plans, models, paintings, textiles, and artifacts
  • Examples of Bethune's work in many media: ink on paper, tempera, silkscreen, bronze, pewter, wood, textile, clay, and stained glass

Highlights include:

  • Correspondence with Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker community
  • Correspondence with Graham Carey on art and the Catholic Art Association
  • Project files from her U.S. and international church projects
  • Manuscripts and published writings on liturgical and social justice issues for Catholic Art Quarterly, Liturgical Arts, Orate Fratres/Worship, Church Property Administration, etc.
  • Writings and drawings for children
  • Records and inventory of St. Leo Shop, her business selling liturgical items for home use
  • Records of the Church Community Housing Corporation, which provided affordable housing, and of Harbor House, a new-model elderly living community, both in Newport, RI
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