Caspary (Anita M.) papers, 1884-2013

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Summary

Title:
Anita M. Caspary papers
Dates:
1884-2013
Creators:
Caspary, Anita Marie, 1915-2011
Abstract:
The Anita M. Caspary papers contain materials created or received by Anita Marie Caspary, IHM, between the early 1920s and 2011, as well as family materials dating back to the 1880s. The materials in the collection document Anita Caspary's family, life, education, and religious and professional activities. Included are legal and financial documents, research and teaching files, writings and speeches, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographic materials, scrapbooks, audio and video recordings in various formats, ephemera, artwork, books, and other materials documenting the various aspects of Sister Anita's life and her relationships with family members, IHM sisters and community members, students, professional colleagues, and friends. The collection covers the years 1884-2013 with the bulk of the material ranging from 1929-2011.
Extent:
55.58 Linear Feet 104 boxes and 10.2 Gigabytes 21 digital audio files
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Box/folder no. or item name], Anita M. Caspary papers, Collection no. 7165, Regional History Collection, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Background

Scope and content:

The Anita M. Caspary papers contain materials created or received by Anita Marie Caspary, IHM between the early 1920s and 2011, as well as family materials dating back to the 1880s. The materials in the collection document Anita Caspary's family, life, education, and religious and professional activities. Included are legal and financial documents, research and teaching files, writings and speeches, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographic materials, scrapbooks, audio and video recordings in various formats, ephemera, artwork, books, and other materials documenting various aspects of Sister Anita's life and her relationships with family members, IHM sisters and community members, students, professional colleagues, and friends. This collection also contains the papers of Marilyn Thomas, a student and friend of Anita Caspary. The Anita M. Caspary papers cover the years 1884-2013 with the bulk of the material ranging from 1929-2011.

The collection consists of a variety of materials, but primarily of textual material including correspondence, journals, financial records, school notes and papers, course preparatory materials, and research files. The largest series in the collection, Writings and Speeches, contains Anita Caspary's published and unpublished articles, poems, speeches, personal reflections, and materials related to the research, writing, and publication of Witness to Integrity: The Crisis of the Immaculate Heart Community of California. These materials document Anita Caspary's evolving view of religion and faith, as well as her intellectual development and scholarly work. The largest subseries within this series documents the major undertaking that culminated in the publication of Witness to Integrity.

The Relationships series documents the many family members, IHM Sisters, students, professional colleagues, and friends with whom Anita Caspary communicated throughout her life. Included in this series are letters, memoranda, greeting cards, notes, and the items enclosed with or attached to communications such as photographs and newspaper articles. The materials in this series provide insight into Sister Anita's influence on large and varied networks of individuals related to her family, her work as an educator, her scholarly endeavors, her life as a Catholic nun and founder of a lay religious community, and her activism in the areas of peace and justice.

The Education series and the Teaching and Scholarship series document the intellectual training and work that shaped Sister Anita's life. Included in the Education series are notes and papers documenting her student years from elementary school through graduate school, as well as related materials such as report cards and diplomas. Materials in the Teaching and Scholarship series provide insight into her years as a teacher at the undergraduate and graduate levels at Immaculate Heart College, the Graduate Theological Union, the Immaculate Heart College Center, as well as her work developing and leading numerous workshops for women, for the members of the IHM Community, and for those seeking to be informed about activities related to peace and justice.

Anita Caspary's life as a sister of the canonical congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) and as a member of the ecumenical Immaculate Heart Community are documented in the Immaculate Heart Congregation Materials series and in the Immaculate Heart Community series. Included in these series are correspondence, reports, supporting documentation for the renewal effort in the late 1960s, articles about the sisters and about the lay community, articles about the renewal process, and records related to the formation and ongoing operation of Immaculate Heart Community. Also included in the Immaculate Heart Congregation Materials series are materials related to Sister Anita's years as president of Immaculate Heart College and as mother general of the order of the IHM sisters. The Immaculate Heart Community Materials series also contains records related to the closing of Immaculate Heart College, the administration of Immaculate Heart College Center, and the Anita Caspary Lecture Series.

The series Photographic Materials and Scrapbooks contains photographic prints, negatives, and slides, as well as photograph albums and scrapbooks documenting the life and activities of Anita Caspary and of her extended family. Some family photographs predate Anita Caspary's birth. Subjects include family and friends, life transitions (graduations, entry into the Immaculate Heart of Mary, jubilees, and birthdays), professional activities, and travel. There is some duplication across formats within the collection. A small number of images are photocopies of originals.

The Audio Recordings series contains reel-to-reel tapes and audiocassettes. Also in this series are reformatted versions of original recordings on CD. The series contains Anita Caspary's recorded lectures and workshops, as well as recordings that Anita Caspary collected. Highlights include Anita Caspary's lectures on "The Modernity of Dante" in 1962 and Francois Mauriac in 1964.

Anita Caspary's travels, as well as prayer books and other spiritual sources she used are documented in the remaining series of this collection.

Biographical / historical:

Anita Marie Caspary, American nun, educator, scholar, and women's rights activist, was born on November 4, 1915, into a German-Catholic family in Herrick, South Dakota. She was the oldest surviving child of Jacob Caspary and Marie Bruch Caspary, in a family that eventually grew to include four girls and two boys (Gretchen, Gerard, Beatrice/Ursula, Marion, and Gilbert). In 1917, the family moved to Los Angeles, California, where Anita Caspary lived for most of the remainder of her long and influential life. With strong support from her parents and the Catholic sisters who educated her, Anita Caspary followed her inclination toward religion and literature and developed her talents in literature, drama, and the arts. She was valedictorian of her high school and college classes, earning her B.A. in English from Immaculate Heart College in June 1937. With encouragement from her teacher and close friend, Mother Eucharia Harney, she joined the Immaculate Heart Sisters in September of the same year. After her first profession and reception of the name "Sister Mary Humiliata," she taught for two years at St. Bernardine's High School in San Bernardino, an experience she called "foundational" to her career as a teacher.[1]

In 1940, Mother Eucharia assigned Sister Humiliata to continue her education at the University of Southern California, where in 1942 she earned a Master's degree in English. In 1944, Sister Humiliata began studying at Stanford University, earning her Ph.D. in English in 1948. After receiving her Ph.D., the superiors of the congregation initiated her rapid rise through the academic ranks, first as a professor of English literature at Immaculate Heart College, then as chair of the English Department beginning in 1950 and later as graduate dean of the college. During these years, she published her first book on the French novelist, Francois Mauriac and became a respected scholar of Dante Alighieri. She also wrote articles on Gerard Manley Hopkins, Emily Dickinson, and others.

Having proven her administrative and leadership abilities, Sister Humiliata was appointed president of Immaculate Heart College in 1958 and served in this capacity until 1963. Immaculate Heart College was recognized for excellence in the liberal arts and was known as the progressive Catholic college in the West. Under her leadership and with a young and energetic faculty, Immaculate Heart College gained a national reputation for creativity and innovative methods. Anita Caspary considered these years at the helm of Immaculate Heart College as some of the happiest of her life.

In 1963, Anita Caspary was elected mother general of the Immaculate Heart Sisters. During her ten years as mother general, she led the community through tumultuous years in the wake of Vatican II and its call for the renewal of religious life. With the support of the majority of the sisters she promoted the education of the sisters, initiated shared decision-making, expanded prayer times, and encouraged the adoption of modern clothing that better related to the contemporary world. However, Archbishop and Cardinal James Francis McIntyre of Los Angeles, vehemently opposed any such changes. Following several years of conflict with Cardinal McIntyre and the involvement of the Vatican, the sisters were presented with the choice of abandoning their renewal process or accepting dispensation from their vows. Under her leadership, over 300 Immaculate Heart Sisters relinquished their canonical status with the Church and in 1970 formed the new ecumenical Immaculate Heart Community. In her award-winning book, Witness To Integrity: The Crisis of the Immaculate Heart Community of California, she described the struggle, conflict, and choice of the IHM women to form a new community. Anita Caspary had the unique distinction of being both the mother general of a congregation of Catholic sisters and the president of an ecumenical community. For this, and her role in the Catholic feminist movement she was featured on the cover of the February 23, 1970, issue of Time magazine.

After the end of her term as first president of the Immaculate Heart Community, Sister Anita refocused on her scholarly pursuits and returned to teaching at the graduate level. She also took the opportunity to participate in the Religious Leaders Program held at Notre Dame University. Throughout the 1970s, she taught at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and devoted herself to reflection, reading, and writing. By 1980, she returned to Los Angeles, where she served as the Immaculate Heart Community representative and was the first director of the new Peace and Justice Center of Southern California. As a collaborative venture under the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (Western Region) by several religious communities, the Center's purpose was educational. Sister Anita participated in the development of social justice workshops, curriculum, and adult programs. She also developed educational programs in feminist spirituality at the Immaculate Heart College Center. During these years, Anita Caspary worked on writing the definitive history of the experience of the Immaculate Heart sisters and their conflict with Cardinal McIntyre. The culmination of this effort, Witness to Integrity: The Crisis of the Immaculate Heart Community of California, was published to great acclaim in 2003.

In the final years of her life, Anita Caspary continued to develop and lead workshops for women, write poetry, be an active participant in the life of the Immaculate Heart Community, and serve as a friend and mentor to people from all walks of life. After years of health challenges, including diabetes and heart disease, Anita Caspary died at the Immaculate Heart Community Residence in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 95 on October 5, 2011.

Sources:
  1. Anita M. Caspary, "Brief Biography of Anita Marie Caspary, IHM (1915- )," circa 2004, p. 2, container 7, folder 1. Anita M. Caspary papers.
  2. Maloney, Susan. "Anita Marie Caspary, IHM, November 4, 1915-October 5, 2011," 2011, container 5, folder 10. Anita M. Caspary papers.
  3. Maloney, Susan. "Obedience, Responsibility and Freedom: Anita M. Caspary, IHM and the Post Conciliar Renewal of Catholic Women Religious" in US Catholic Historian, Vol. 32, No. 4, Fall 2014: 121-149.
  4. Fawthrop, Wendy Jalonen. "Feminist Nun." January/February 2012. Stanford Alumni website. alumni.stanford.edu. Accessed March 23, 2017.
Acquisition information:
Gift of Susan Maloney, Trustee of the Anita M. Caspary Trust, December 13, 2024.
Processing information:

Prior to the USC Libraries' acquisition of the collection in 2024, Susan Maloney and Gabriele Carey supervised a team in processing and describing the Anita M. Caspary papers at a detailed level under the auspices of the Anita M. Caspary Trust. After the USC Libraries acquired the collection, Bo Doub, Accessioning Archivist, updated and migrated the Anita M. Caspary Trust's description into the USC Libraries' collection management systems.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into fifteen series:

  1. Biographical Materials, 1911-2013.
  2. Relationships, 1885-2013.
  3. Education, 1920s-2012.
  4. Teaching and Scholarship, 1928-2013.
  5. Immaculate Heart Congregation Materials, 1937-1976.
  6. Immaculate Heart Community Materials, 1963-2012.
  7. Activism, 1949-2010.
  8. Writings and Speeches, 1937-2013.
  9. Spirituality, 1884-2003.
  10. Travel, 1950-1992.
  11. Health and Medical, 1930s-2011.
  12. Household Materials, 1966-2012.
  13. Photographic Materials and Scrapbooks, 1891-2010.
  14. Audio Recordings, 1962-1986.
  15. Marilyn Thomas Papers, 1956-1991.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Gabriele Carey, Susan Maloney, and Bo Doub (see processing note for details)
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-05-19 15:01:31 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection stored off-site. Advance notice required for access.

The Anita M. Caspary Trust imposed access restrictions on the contents of box no. 115 before donating the Anita M. Caspary papers to the USC Libraries. Please contact Special Collections at specol@usc.edu for more information.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from Items in the collection must be submitted in writing to the Trustee of the Anita M. Caspary Trust at Anita M. Caspary Trust, c/o Ben-Zvi & Associates, 3231 Ocean Park Blvd., St. 212, Santa Monica, CA 90405 or casparyweb@gmail.com.

Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder no. or item name], Anita M. Caspary papers, Collection no. 7165, Regional History Collection, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Location of this collection:
Special Collections
Doheny Memorial Library, Room 209
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0182, US
Contact:
(213) 740-5900
specol@usc.edu
Website