Visiting CRA at the Boston College Repository
The Catholic Religious Archives (CRA) at Boston College (BC) is dedicated to accepting and maintaining historic collections from congregations of women and men religious for permanent deposit. The main goal of the repository is to acknowledge the historical and societal impact of these religious communities and to preserve their archives for future generations. The Boston College repository is the only facility on the East Coast that is dedicated to preserving collections from religious communities of differing charism.*
After the first collection was donated in 2019, many communities that have declared a path to completion have committed to permanently deposit their archives at CRA.**The Executive Council of the Sisters of Charity of New York have agreed to transfer the archives at Mount Saint Vincent to CRA when deemed appropriate. Prior to this commitment, I visited the repository in 2024. At that time, I was welcomed by Founding Director Dr. Michael Burns, a scholar of history and former professor at the College. Michael broadly defined the goals of the collaborative archives that he and BC President William P. Leahy, SJ*** envisioned. At that time, Father William Leahy, SJ, was actively engaged in fundraising for the planned new collaborative repository building and its endowment.
Three years later during my recent visit to CRA, the state-of-the-art, two-level, 44,000 square foot facility, with 100,000 linear feet of storage, was nearing completion. I was privileged to receive a grand tour led by BC campus Project Construction Manager Matt Emanuelson, who provided a detailed explanation of the complicated systems installed: environmental control units; air handlers; detection and suppression units; generators; sensors to detect roof leaks and others that have a more complicated description. Building features include temperature and relative humidity-controlled storage, moveable shelving at a height of 12 feet, drawers for maps and other oversized materials, a spacious exhibit area, a reading room for researchers with reference library, 100-seat auditorium, and an area for researchers to take respite from study.
The current CRA Director Thomas Lester has managed the repository since Dr. Michael Burns retired, works with a team of archivists. On-site for several years, archivists Brandi Murulli, Katie McNally and Fr. Rob Caronneau endeavor to accession, process and re-house materials received. While meeting with the staff, questions about intake procedures, software and cataloguing were discussed. The opportunity to address accession procedures employed, preferred software, and aspects of storage, will contribute to a more efficient and realistic preparation of collections and artifacts for processing and transfer.
To highlight the use of the archival collections, CRA and the BC Library staff will collaborate to develop programs to promote research. As the number of collections and related research inquiries increase, the team will be joined by archivists specializing in digital and photograph processing. Tom Lester and his staff welcome continued communication with depositors to address any issues of concern.
A formal opening for the completed facility will be held in October 2026.
Article submitted by Mindy Gordon. M.S., CA, Director, Archives, Sisters of Charity of New York
*For more information, about CRA and collaborative repositories for collections of women religious in North America, please refer to the National Archives Project for Women Religious (NAPWR): https://napwr.org/
**The list of communities pledged to deposit their archives at CRA: https://catholicarchives.bc.edu/congregations/
***On July 31, President Leahy completed his 30-year presidency: https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/sites/bc-news/articles/2026/summer/the-leahy-administration-draws-to-a-close.html