Antonia Project
The “Antonia Project” began as a response to a letter from the Congregation for Religious and the Pontifical Commission on Migrants in Rome to U.S. religious congregations asking what they are doing for mobile peoples. A Mobile Peoples’ Committee was formed to study and provide material for community education on the topic. This committee also supported the Antonia Project, as it came to be called. The “Antonia Project” was named after Mother Antonia Dreer, the second superior general of the Oldenburg Sisters, who was known for her care for the poor and homeless. This project involved approximately 250 people, including community members, friends, families and Franciscan Friars.
The project also grew out of a council discussion regarding the Chapter statement on the Sanctuary Movement. The council concluded that the congregation did not have the resources to provide shelter for a family of undocumented immigrants from Central America, but that we could find a way to accept a family of documented refugees. The Archdiocesan Office of Refugee Resettlement in Indianapolis was contacted for information and consultation about what the congregation would need to do to prepare to receive a family and what responsibilities and expectations that would involve.
One major project was the renovation of one of the farmhouses at Oldenburg into two apartments. Collective efforts of the General Council, the Oldenburg Town Council, neighboring parishes, people and businesses from the local area, sisters, friars, associates and professionals were all involved in the work. A lawyer from the Oldenburg Town Council offered his help with codes and ordinances. The Oldenburg Lumber Company donated materials, and donations of furnishing and money came in from individuals and groups. Many donated time and labor. Mike Zimmer, of New Jerusalem, Cincinnati, drafted the plans for the remodeling. Sister Noella Poinsette coordinated the project. Sister Natalie Lamping assumed responsibility for the finances. Sister Ruth Mary Forthofer was the onsite person for renovation, and Sister Evelyn Forthofer organized donated materials. Sisters Gerald Gaynor and Jean Marie Linesch were onsite contacts for the family, and Nursing Director Mary Jo Heppner volunteered to coordinate health care for them. Sister Mary Lynne Calkins, communications director, coordinated publicity for the project. Numerous other sisters and associates as well as local people, volunteered their time to work on the house, and later helped out the family as tutors and mentors as they adjusted to their new life.
The seven-member family arrived in Indianapolis Dec. 13, 1988, and were met by Sisters Marya Grathwohl and Mary Lynne Calkins. The Refugee Office also had contacted the local Vietnamese Association in Indianapolis, and some members of that organization arrived to greet the family in their own language, much to their surprise and delight. Family members were Nam and Xua Nguyen, their sons Hung, 18 and Ghi, 28, and three of Ghi’s children: his son, Hai, age 9, and daughters Diem, 6, and Kieu, 5. Ghi’s wife, Ly, and their youngest daughter, Thu, were still in Vietnam, and would not be able to come until Dec. of 1991, through the Vietnamese government’s Orderly Departure Program. Another son of Nam and Xua, Ngoc Nguyen, 21, who was in a refugee camp in the Philippines, arrived in August, 1989. In all, ten members of the family would eventually live at Antonia House. The first thing Nam, the grandfather, wanted to know, was about education. Could his grandchildren go to school? He was assured that they could, and he was pleased. Shortly after they arrived, a Vietnamese family from Greensburg visited them, as well as Lieu Kelly, the Vietnamese wife of an American veteran from Brookville. They assisted with adjustment issues and translation. A Vietnamese priest, Father Mark Tran, from Indianapolis, visited them and invited them to attend Vietnamese Catholic celebrations on special feast days. He also celebrated Mass for them.
Not only did the younger children attend school, first at the local Oldenburg grade school and then the elementary school in Batesville, but the two young men, Hung, 18, and Ngoc 20, were able to complete their high school education at Batesville High School with the help of some tutoring by the sisters, some ESL texts in U.S History and Government, and tutoring from one of our Associates from Batesville. The older couple, Nam and Xua along with Hung and Ngoc, eventually moved to Louisiana, where they had made contact with members of a large Vietnamese community. They worked in the shrimp fishing industry there. Hung and Ngoc returned to Vietnam for visits, and married Vietnamese women, whom they were able to bring to the U.S. and then start families. They did this after obtaining their own U.S. citizenship.
Sometimes, members of the family will return to Oldenburg, especially around the time of Freudenfest.
Ministry to Orphans
In 1851, Fr. Francis Joseph Rudolf knew of 11 children scattered throughout his parish district who needed mothers to care for them. He approached Mother Theresa Hackelmeier asking if the Sisters could care for these orphans. After questioning how the Community would provide food and clothing for the orphans, Fr. Rudolf purchased 40 acres of land for the Sisters to farm and use for livestock and poultry. Since God had been good to the Sisters, they in turn showed gratitude by providing for these little ones.
A fire in 1857 destroyed the convent, chapel and school which were all connected. The Sisters helped to rescue the children from the flames. With no other shelter available, the townspeople took in the children until a new convent could be built. In 1866, at the request of the Bishop, the acceptance of orphans was discontinued. Those who had been under the care of the Sisters remained until they were able to provide for themselves.
In 1898, the pastor of Holy Family Church in Oldenburg announced to his parishioners that the New York Foundling Hospital was overcrowded and the Sisters of Charity in charge were sending appeals to parishes in the central and western states to obtain adoptive homes for some of the children.
The Sisters agreed to take three orphan girls. Irene West, Louise Raymond, and Mary Kelly were three years old when they arrived. After attending Holy Family School, Louise and Mary entered the Academy of the Immaculate Conception and Irene West was sent for study to the Cincinnati Art Academy since she showed a talent and interest in art.
In August 1922, the Sisters of St. Francis replaced the Sisters of Providence at St. Vincent School. At that time the school had 140 boys. In 1926, a philanthropist from Evansville agreed to renovate the old structure and erect new buildings needed, allowing the 103 girls from Good Shepherd Home in Indianapolis to be taken care of at St. Vincent’s. (1929)
The physical plant served well for all the children, as did the spacious grounds of 400 acres, which offered ample space for recreation and extensive farming. Because of the farm, the school was almost self-sufficient in provisions.
There was adequate personnel to care for the needs of all the children to meet the accreditation for a license by the State Department of Public Welfare. The Catholic Charities Bureau supervised the administration of St. Vincent School. All admissions and releases, as well as all civil and court matters, were under its jurisdiction.
The atmosphere of the school was one of ease, freedom and self-expression in semblance of normal family life. The relation between the staff and children fostered a sense of responsibility, pride and loving care.
Throughout the 50 years of the Franciscan Sisters’ presence at St. Vincent’s, there were always Sisters willing to give their love and energies for the more than 100 children. St. Vincent School was an institution equal with any of its kind, and the only place that the children could call HOME.
In the Fall of 1971, Bishop Francis Shea of Evansville, gave approval to a new program of childcare at St. Vincent’s. A lay director was appointed; the children were to attend the local parochial school in Vincennes, and the five Sisters missioned at St. Vincent School were to teach half-days and take care of the physical needs of the children.
In late May 1972, the Evansville Diocesan Financial Committee decided to close St. Vincent’s. Primary among the reasons for this step were financial conditions and the desire to implement a program of social welfare for the diocese that could help the family, while keeping the children at home.
In the dismantling of the building, the Sisters brought to Oldenburg a reminder of the 50 years during which the congregation ministered to the children at St. Vincent’s. This reminder is the mosaic on the wall near the Oldenburg Franciscan Center. The mosaic was made in the summer of 1968 by 22 sixth to ninth grade boys, under the direction of the art teacher that summer, S. Sandra Schweitzer, then known as S. Vincent de Paul.
The mosaic depicts St. Vincent de Paul, the patron of the school. His loving concern for homeless children was always an inspiration to the Sisters of St. Francis. The St. Francis panel of the mosaic symbolizes the services of the Sisters of St. Francis, rendered for 50 years. The animal at the feet of St. Francis is the wolf he tamed, however, at the time of making the mosaic, the children considered the animal to be “Lady” their much loved pet Collie. The horizontal panel of the mosaic depicts the St. Vincent School structure.
It is estimated that the Orphanage served over 4,000 children during its more than 130 years of existence.
The Sisters continue to serve those in need.
P.O. Box 100 Oldenburg, Indiana 47036-0100 812-934-2475
www.oldenburgfranciscans.org
www.facebook.com/oldenburgsisters
