Founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1837 in St. Louis, Missouri, St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf (later known as St. Joseph Hearing + Speech) has a long history of providing educational services for children with hearing loss. A variety of records pertaining to the Sisters’ involvement in the institute are housed at the Carondelet Consolidated Archives in St. Louis. These records include photographs, incorporation documents, sister service agreements, annual reports, event programs, publications, and news clippings.
One unique primary source is a collection of three diaries written by a deaf woman named Nora Walsh in 1917. Ms. Walsh had attended the institute in the early 1900s when it was located at 901 N. Garrison Ave. in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood in St. Louis. She paid a return visit to the school in 1917 and subsequently kept a diary of her visit that included notes on the day-to-day activities of the school as well as stories about the Sisters.
These diaries are important for two reasons. First, as a primary source, it is a firsthand account of Ms. Walsh’s visit. The account of a former student from that era is priceless, especially due to the details and activities she wrote about. Second, Ms. Walsh was not only deaf, but she had no arms—they were lost in a laundry accident at her place of employment prior to 1917. The inside cover of the first diary includes a handwritten note stating that she wrote “with a pencil attached to a strap around the elbow.” The penmanship is beautifully written and remains consistent throughout the diaries, an amazing feat for anyone even without Ms. Walsh’s challenges.
Ms. Walsh’s friend in Oregon eventually inherited the diaries and donated them to the Catholic Deaf Apostolate in Portland, who in turn gifted them to St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf in 1979. The archives’ collection includes the letter that accompanied the gift of the diaries.
Contact
Catherine Lucy, CSJA, CA
Director of the Carondelet Consolidated Archives
Website: csjcarondelet.org/about/archives
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 314.678.0320 (office)
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
6400 Minnesota Ave.
Saint Louis, MO 63111
