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Guide to the Mother Celeste Thompson scrapbook
USDSC_2008_004  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Overview of the Collection
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content Note
  • Arrangement
  • Access
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Custodial History
  • Processing Information
  • Bibliography
  • Related Material
  • Index Terms

  • Overview of the Collection

    Title: Mother Celeste Thompson scrapbook
    Date: before 1950
    Collection number: USDSC_2008_004
    Creator: Thompson, Celeste, 1885-1970
    Extent: 1 box (9x11x1.5”)
    Repository: University of San Diego, Archives and Special Collections
    Copley Library
    5998 Alcalá Park
    San Diego, CA 92110
    spcoll@sandiego.edu
    Abstract: This scrapbook is an architectural notebook compiled by Rev. Mother Celeste Marie Thompson, RSCJ. It includes Thompson's notes on architectural history, newspaper clippings, postcards, and magazine cutouts covering a variety of architectural styles.
    Languages: English

    Biographical Note

    Rev. Mother Celeste Marie Thompson, RSCJ was born June 13, 1875 in Saint Louis, Missouri to Macklot Thompson and Céleste de Lauréal Thompson. Céleste de Lauréal was born in Guadeloupe and moved with her family to the United States at the age of six. She appeared in the Who's Who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915 .
    Mother Thompson joined the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Maryville in January 1896. She was named the Mistress General in Menlo, Chicago, and St. Joseph, Missouri. In 1941, she was named Superior of the house in St. Joseph and in 1950, the Superior of Sheridan Road in Chicago. In approximately 1954, Thompson moved to San Diego and worked with Mother Rosalie Hill and the San Diego College for Women. Thompson passed away on August 17, 1970.

    Scope and Content Note

    This scrapbook is an architectural notebook compiled by Rev. Mother Celeste Marie Thompson titled "A Collection of Notes on Architecture." It includes Thompson's notes on architectural history, newspaper clippings, postcards, and magazine cutouts. The architectural styles she described include Grecian, Roman, Romanesque, Byzantine, Gothic, Saracenic, Renaissance, and Egyptian. Some postcards and magazine cutouts have been affixed to the pages of notes. Many of the postcards and newspaper clippings are interleaved between pages. The majority of these postcards include correspondence.

    Arrangement

    All scrapbook materials remain in their original order.

    Access

    This collection is open for research.

    Preferred Citation

    [Folder Title], Box # Folder #, Mother Celeste Thompson scrapbook, Copley Library, University of San Diego, Archives and Special Collections.

    Acquisition Information

    Gift of Therese Whitcomb.

    Custodial History

    According to an accompanying letter from Therese Truitt Whitcomb, Mother Thompson compiled the scrapbook from approximately 1923 to 1955. Whitcomb, the first graduate from the San Diego College for women in 1953, borrowed the book to conduct research for her thesis on the history of Western Domestic Architecture. Mother Thompson gave the book to Mother Mariella Bremner in 1955. In 1979, Bremner gave the book to Whitcomb, who donated it to the Archives in 2008.

    Processing Information

    This collection was processed by Ashley Toutain in 2020.

    Bibliography

    Leonard, John William ed. Who's Who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915. New York: The American Commonwealth Company, 1914. 812. https://books.google.com/books?id=GvwUAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=thompson&f=false
    Ryan, Maureen Elizabeth. "Someone You Should Know ...Rev. Mother Celeste Thompson, RSCJ." AASH Past President MER, September 9, 2012. http://aashpresidentmer.blogspot.com/2012/09/

    Related Material

    Some of the postcards in the Postcard Collection on Digital USD are addressed to Mother Celeste Thompson. These include messages from family and friends.

    Index Terms

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Thompson, Celeste Marie, 1875-1970

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    architectural history

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    scrapbooks
    notebooks