Guide to the Nadine Calligiuri Personal Papers SC.077
Chris Doan
Archives of the Archdiocese of San Francisco
Archives of the Archdiocese of San Francisco
Saint Patrick Seminary
320 Middlefield Road
Menlo Park, California 94025
aasf@sfarch.org
This collection contains four series: Biographical; Handicapables; Correspondence; and Photos, Audiovisual, and Objects.
Contributing Institution:
Archives of the Archdiocese of San Francisco
Title: Nadine Calligiuri Personal Papers
Creator:
Calligiuri, Nadine
Identifier/Call Number: SC.077
Physical Description:
2.55 Cubic Feet
; 2 records center boxes; 1 flat box
Date (inclusive): 1965-2000
Language of Material:
English
.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Arrangement
Series 1: Biographical
Includes items related to Calligiuri's personal history and professional achievements, including a letter she wrote to her
parents at an early age; awards received; press coverage; and her speeches.
Series 2: Handicapables
Legal documents, published articles, pamphlets and brochures, and newspaper clippings about the founding and activities of
the Handicapables.
Series 3: Correspondence
Mostly business in nature relating to Handicapables. The majority of correspondence is from Archbishops Joseph McGucken (1965-1977)
and John R. Quinn (1977-1994) in addition to those received from organizations and individuals involved with Handicapables.
Series 4: Photographs, Audiovisual, Objects
Photographs (1960s to 2000s)and video cassette tapes (1980s) featuring Nadine and the Handicapables; and personal objects
such as a needlepoint textile described by Nadine as the blanket she kept during her stay at the Shriners' Children's Hospital,
sometime between 1945-1947.
Biographical / Historical
Nadine Calligiuri was born in 1938 in Hibbing, Minnesota and raised in the North Beach District of San Francisco, California.
Nadine was born with cerebral palsy, and as a young child she spent months at the Shriners Hospital in Los Angeles undergoing
treatment that was at the time thought to help with the physical limitations brought upon by the diagnosis. Shortly after
graduating from Presentation High School, an all-girls Catholic high school in San Francisco in 1958, Nadine attended a vocational
training center for individuals with physical and mental disabilities. At the center, Nadine learned how to type, stuff envelopes
and make tooth brushes, earning twenty cents an hour, far below the minimum wage at the time. It was also the first time in
her life she encountered those with more severe handicaps than her own. She recalled her experience in a 1975 magazine article
interview, "I withdrew from them not because of their handicaps, but because of the feelings of loneliness and despair each
one expressed." At the end of the six-month program, Nadine was advised to stay on, but she chose instead to pursue a different
career path, saying, "I tried everything. I even took a civil service librarian's exam, but I was too slow to do the work."
Because of these personal experiences, Nadine felt a calling to become an advocate for people with mental and physical disabilities,
and she eventually went on to found a Catholic lay ministry "Handicapables" in 1965.
The Handicapables ministry was originally established in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco through its Committee
on Aging, and its primary mission was to empower those individuals with physical disabilities or were homebound by providing
them with the access and means to practice their Catholic faith and receive a diverse range of charitable services. Nadine
credited the name of the organization to Father George Twigg-Porter. S.J., who said to her at a Catholic retreat, "You are
not handicapped; you are handicapable. You are handy on this earth with a mission to perform for God and you are capable
of fulfilling that purpose if you will listen when He speaks to you."
Handicapables grew as an organization, establishing chapters throughout California, and it formed partnerships with charitable
organizations like the Knights of Columbus and Catholic Charities. By 1975, Handicapables had 13 chapters with 750 members.
The organization eventually became nationally-recognized and in 1972, Nadine was awarded the National Volunteer Awards by
President Nixon. Nadine's advocacy work also included forming relationships with local, state, and church leaders to raise
visibility and awareness about the challenges and inequities experienced by individuals with disabilities. During the 1970s,
she successfully lobbied Archbishop Joseph McGucken to have a wheelchair ramp and elevator installed inside Saint Mary Cathedral
in San Francisco, and she met with the San Francisco Housing Authority about the need for specially designed low cost housing
units to accommodate those with physical disabilities.
In the ensuing decades, Nadine continued her advocacy work and organized gatherings that brought together the homebound and
those with disabilities to celebrate the Catholic Mass and for specially held events located throughout the Bay Area. In 2020,
Catholic Charities assumed directorial leadership for Handicapables' San Francisco chapter and renamed the organization, Breaking
Bread with Hope.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Nadine Calligiuri Papers, Box number,
Archives of the Archdiocese of San Francisco (AASF).
Processing Information
Previously made accessions were processed into a single collection and basic preservation tasks were performed. Reparative
Description was applied using the National Social Security Administration's Rule, Change in Terminology: "Mental Retardation"
to "Intellectual Disability", published in the National Archives Federal Register Daily Journal on 2013-08-01.
Scope and Contents
The Nadine Calligiuri Collection is comprised of personal papers and related items documenting the life and works of a Catholic
laywoman who dedicated her life to minister to those with disabilities and the homebound through the organization she founded,
the Handicapables. The collection consists of official and personal correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, scrapbook
pages, and ephemera related to Nadine's life and the founding of the Handicapables in 1965, and its growth and activities.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Catholic Church--California--San Francisco
People with disabilities--California
People with disabilities--Religious aspects--Christianity
People with disabilities--Services for
box 1, folder 1
Biographical materials, 1950s
box 1, folder 2
Speeches by Nadine, 1968, 1973
box 1, folder 3
Media and Press invitations and appearances, 1965-1977
box 1, folder 4
San Francisco Examiner Honor Roll of Distinguished Women, 1966
box 1, folder 5
National Volunteer Awards, letters of congratulations, 1971-1973
box 1, folder 6
National Volunteer Awards, February 14, 1973, Washington D.C.
box 1, folder 7
National Volunteer Awards, 1973, newspaper clippings
box 1, folder 8
Certificates awarded to Nadine, 1970-1977
box 1, folder 9
United For Life Campaign, 1974-1976
box 3
Certificates and oversize newspaper articles, 1965-1992, incl.
box 1, folder 1
Correspondence and background information about the Handicapables, 1965-1967
box 1, folder 2
Handicapables, various legal documents (copies)
box 1, folder 3
Handicapables, Marin County, California
box 1, folder 4
Handicapables, Oakland, California
box 1, folder 5
Handicapables, Ventura County, California
box 1, folder 6
Official correspondence from Nadine about Handicapables, various, 1967-1985, incl.
box 1, folder 7
"Retreat for Physically Handicapped Women" given by Father George Twigg-Porter, S.J., September 13-15, 1974
box 1, folder 8
San Francisco Knights of Columbus Foundation for Children with Intellectual Disabilities, 1971-1979
box 1, folder 9
Handicapables, outreach materials, no date
box 1, folder 10
Article features about Nadine, December, 1966
box 1, folder 11
Article features about Handicapables, October, 1969
box 1, folder 12
Article feature about Nadine, The Way of St. Francis, October, 1992
box 1, folder 13
Articles and newspaper clippings, 1966-2000, incl.
box 1, folder 1
Catholic Charities, 1972-1974, incl.
box 1, folder 2
Between Archbishop McGucken and Nadine, 1967-1977
box 1, folder 3
Archbishop McGucken to various indiv. regarding Handicapables, 1965-1972
box 1, folder 4
Between Archbishop Quinn and Nadine, 1977-1994, incl.
box 1, folder 5
Between Senator Milton Marks and Nadine, 1968-1983, incl.
box 1, folder 6
Received from various state and local agencies\, 1965-1973, incl.
box 1, folder 7
Received from National Association of Catholic Chaplains, February, 1970
box 1, folder 8
Personal correspondence, 1966-1981, incl.
box 1, folder 9
Correspondence proposing initiating canonization of Nadine, 2003
Series 4: Photographs, Audiovisual, Objects
box 1, folder 1
Scrapbook pages: 1965-1966
box 1, folder 2
Scrapbook pages: 1966-1969
box 1, folder 3
Scrapbook pages: 1962-1969
box 1, folder 5
Photos of ceremonies and events, various, 1960s-1970s
box 1, folder 6
National Volunteer Awards, 1972 photographs
box 1, folder 7
Visit with First Lady Patricia Nixon at the White House, 1973
box 1, folder 8
Handicapables events and commemorations, various, 1960s-1970s
box 1, folder 9
Unidentified black-and-white photographs, 1970s?
box 1, folder 10
Photographs of Handicapables events, 1965, 1979, 1991, and no date
box 1, folder 11
Photographs of individuals and events, 1980s and no date
box 1, folder 12
Saint Valentine's Day Mass for Handicapables with Archbishop J. Quinn, no date (1980s?)
box 1, folder 13
Various photographs, 1980s-2000s
box 2, object 1
Photo album, photographs, 1960s
box 2, object 1
VHS Video: Handicapables production, 1998
Abstract: A video produced by the Community Media Center of Santa Rosa featuring the Handicapable ministry at Church of the Roses, Santa
Rosa, California. Chanelle Janet interviews Nadine and David and Joanne Del Castillo of the Santa Rosa chapter for Handicapables,
and speaks with attendees at a Handicapables event.
box 2, object 2
VHS Video: Nadine's investiture as a Lady of the Holy Sepelchre, no date
box 2, object 3
VHS Video: labeled "Handicapables"
box 2, object 5
Needlepoint textile, 1945
