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This collection contains draft biographies of some of the General Superiors, final copies of biographies prepared by the archivist for all General Superiors from 1870-2007, and a script for a television play about the General Superiors called “Our Little Design – A Tribute to St. Joseph” in which Father Medaille, the founder of the congregation, interviews each General Superior from Mother Ignatia Campbell to Sister Katherine McKeough concerning her life.

The series consists of records kept by the General Superior office for use in the administration of the community in London, Ontario. Material is primarily from the period during which Sister Margo Ritchie held the office, but it also contains material from when Sister Mary Diesboug and Sister Valerie Van Cauwenburghe held the position. This series contains twelve subseries relating to the operations, missions, and activities of the congregation. This includes the Medaille Retreat House, Josephs’ House, the Detox Centre, My Sister’s Place, St. Joseph’s Hospitality Centre, Elizabeth Place, St. Stephen’s House, the Southdown Project, Holy Rosary House in Windsor, the Goderich convent, and the Sisters of St. Joseph in Alberta. There is also material related to the hospitals in London, Sarnia, and Chatham administered by the Sisters and the transfer of operation of said hospitals to the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance and St. Joseph’s Health Care Society. There is material related to the construction of a new residence, especially concerning the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards of the new building, and relocation of the Sisters from Mount St. Joseph to this new residence.

There is also material related to the various meetings of the congregation, from the more informal Community Days to the more formal Assemblies and Chapters. Chapters are formal congregational meetings where major decisions, such as amalgamation and leadership positions were voted on. There are voting records from the 2011 Special Chapter and the 2009 Oneness Project in this series. There are also reports from the Leadership Circle, Chapters, and committees within the congregation. There is also material from the Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada, an organization made up of all the Congregations of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada. There is material from the Federation and the London congregation’s systemic justice efforts and the Sisters’ efforts towards concerning the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. There are various newsletters from the Federation and the London congregation. The series also includes administrative correspondence and speeches presented by the General Superior to the congregation.

In summary, the series contains letters, reports, speeches, minutes, voting records, newsletters, pamphlets, prayer books, agendas, meeting minutes, memorandums, postcards, photographs, correspondence, timelines and schedules, inventory lists, legal documents, meeting minutes, executive summaries, budget reports, reports, newspaper and magazine clippings, bursary reports, histories, bulletins, designs for stained glass windows, and property appraisals.

This series contains records created and accumulated by the office of the General Treasurer for the Sisters of St. Joseph in London, Ontario. The records are primarily related to managing the donations given by and to the Sisters and the funding for their ministries, missions, Motherhouses, residences, and outreach projects. In London, St. Joseph’s Hospitality Centre provided food security programs, Medaille Retreat House was a spiritual retreat centre for the Sisters, the Queens Avenue building was a home for women in need, and the Boulee Street house was a ministry to the poor. The Adult Spirituality Centre, St. Joseph’s Manor, the Foster Home on St. Rose Avenue, and Holy Rosary Convent were all in Windsor. St. Joseph’s Manor and the Foster Home were ministries to children in need and Holy Rosary Convent was the main convent for the Windsor Sisters. The Adult Spirituality Centre in Windsor provided spiritual direction and retreats. Another spiritual retreat, Marygrove, was in Aylmer. Outside of Ontario, there are records concerning the Photo History Project at Ataguttaaluk School in Igloolik, Nunavut in which Sister Mary Diesbourg participated, the Sisters at St. Joseph Regional House in Edmonton, Alberta, and the mission in Peru including the collaboration with Heart-Links, a London based charity focused on Peru.

The series includes reports, meeting agendas and minutes, mission statements, budgets, floorplans, funding proposals and requests, grant applications, forms, lists of Sisters involved with specific projects and sites, and correspondence concerning funding, donations, location changes, operations, and testimonials from the public supporting the Sisters’ projects. There are also resolution agreements from the Sisters’ projects. One agreement is with the sole shareholder of a company connected to a property owned by the London congregation, Marygrove, concerning the finances and leadership positions within the company. The other agreement is between the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary and the Sisters of St. Joseph to decide the future of the Adult Spirituality Center.

One of the ways that Sisters could request funding for their ministries from the congregation was through the Apostolic Services Fund. Arrangements for the creation of this fund, outlines of requirements to qualify for funding and funding applications are included.

Not all the material is concerned with finances. Some records pertain to other projects the General Treasurer was involved with, particularly when Sister Loretta Manzara held the office. In 2007, the Sisters moved from Mount St. Joseph to a new LEED certified residence at 485 Windermere Road. in the series includes records related to this transition such as the Sisters’ Statement of Values, reports, pamphlets, news clippings, an issue of London Citylife, and newsletters (one of which was titled Crossing Over). There is also material concerned with the sale of Mount St. Joseph, the former Motherhouse.

At the 2012 Foundation Day, the Annals Project was presented. It focused on a shift from keeping annals to looking at the life of the entire congregation as expressed through Chapter reports. Pamphlets, agendas, meeting minutes, and a report on this project are present. Accompanying this material are annotated photocopies of various reports covering the Sisters’ activities from 1959 to 2011 which were referenced for the project.

Records related to the London Sisters’ involvement in Goderich, Ontario are also present, such as correspondence and pamphlets about their commitment to the area and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the first convent outside London.

The series also includes descriptions of icons painted by Sister Mary Anthony Hartleib, as well as prints of some of her artwork (including on the back of her funeral card), and photographs of artwork by Philip Aziz. Other photographs in the series are from the mission in Peru and of students and elders in the report for the Photo History Project at Ataguttaaluk School.

The 1959-1969 Generalate Bulletins were titled “Reverend Mother Writes” and were written by Mother Julia Moore, the General Superior from 1959-1971, at the Mount St. Joseph Motherhouse. The newsletters contain news from St. Mary’s Hospital, and St. Joseph’s School of Music. Also contained in this subseries is information on donations, Sisters’ travels, academic accomplishments of various Sisters, in memoriam notices of deceased Sisters, and other issues that relate to the congregational community.

The 1979-1987 Generalate Bulletins were written by Sister Katherine McKeough. She was the General Superior from 1979-1987. These bulletins contain calendars with important dates, information on donations, and general news as it relates to the community at Mount St. Joseph. There is also an outline of the areas of responsibility of Sisters on the General Council.

The General Superior between Sister Julia Moore, and Sister Katherine McKeough was Mother Mary Brendan (Cathleen) Flynn (1971-1979), and her newsletters are in subseries 07: “Council Letters.”