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The Providence Archives

Our work:

We perform the treatment and preservation of archival collections of the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence. These are mainly documents of the General Administration, but also those of different places where the sisters have worked. The documents deal with the life of the Sisters of Providence, their members, their works and ministries, since the beginning of the Congregation in 1843. We respond to many search requests each year and participate in various projects (eg. oral history, display case, audiovisuals, etc.). We also collaborate with other departments such as the Émilie-Gamelin Centre, the Office of the Cause of Emilie Tavernier Gamelin and the Communications Office (eg. contents).

A History of Accuracy

The first official mention of the Archives dates back to the first Rules of the Daughters of Charity, Servants of the Poor, now referred to as the Sisters of Providence. Published in 1858, they say in Chapter LII:

  1. There shall be, in the secretariat and the procurator’s office, archives that need to be made safe from fire, and kept in such good order that it is easy to find any kinds of documents.
  2. To this end, all books, records and papers will be properly classified and placed in cabinets or drawers numbered or labeled, so that you can easily get hold of them.

 

The Providence Archives are divided between Financial Archives and Historical Archives. The significant collection was moved in 1995 to the premises of the building that is now the Providence International Centre.

 

The Congregation in the Society of its Time

The archive service includes in particular a collection of writings and photographs that document the religious, social and political milieu of Montreal in the nineteenth century, in which Blessed Émilie Tavernier Gamelin lived and in which the Congregation was born, and also the twentieth century to this day, both in Montreal and in all the regions where the Sisters of Providence have been working.