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Mission Statement
The Robert M. Myers Archives department collects, preserves,
and makes available the historical record of the Society of
the Divine Word in North America. The archives department
serves SVD members, provincial staff, and visiting researchers.
For senior members of the community the archives provide
a written and oral record of their accomplishments and the
history of the Chicago Province as it developed within the
worldwide missionary order.
For younger members the archives provide knowledge of the
community's heritage, an appreciation of the dedication and
sacrifice of those who preceded them and an incentive to keep
the missionary spirit alive.
For researchers the archives provide a way to study the rich
religious, historical and cultural heritage of the work of
the Society of the Divine Word missionaries in the United
States, Canada, and the Caribbean.
Chicago Province SVD Resource Center Mission Statement
The Resource Center for the Chicago Province of The Society
of the Divine Word works to provide the finest possible collection
of SVD resources in North America for Society members, Chicago
Province staff, and other scholarly researchers for access
to and research in SVD history and related topics.
Holdings
The SVD Resource Center houses approximately 935
books and articles written
or published by the Society of the Divine Word from
1975 to the present. In
addition, it has 1,580 scholarly reference books
and books about the countries the
Society serves, on topics such as missiology, Catholicism,
vocations and
other religious topics. The resource center includes
thirty-two journals,
newsletters, and magazines published by the Society
around the world and thirty-two
scholarly journals on religion and missions.
The Robert M. Myers Archives house the official records
of the Society of the Divine Word in the United States beginning
in 1895, including the records of the former Northern and
Eastern Provinces and the communities and apostolates served
by the SVD. The archives also house journals and periodicals
published by the Society from its beginnings in Steyl, Holland
in 1875, personal papers and memoirs of SVD missionaries,
photographs, audio tapes and memorabilia.
Holdings Highlights
Society of the Divine Word Publications
In January of 1874, Fr. Arnold Janssen
published the first issue of Kliener Herz Jesu
Bote or Little Messenger of the Sacred
Heart. The magazine aimed primarily to arouse
interest in the Catholic Church’s foreign
missions and to promote mission vocations. In 1875
Fr. Janssen founded the Society of the Divine Word
(SVD) and opened its first missionary training center
in Steyl, Holland. Publication of magazines and
pamphlets to support and promote missions worldwide
became a characteristic of the SVD. In 1895 the
founder sent Bro. Wendelin Meyer to the United States
to sell Divine Word publications for support of
the Society’s burgeoning missions.
Today the archives has an extensive collection
of the original Divine Word publications printed
in Steyl and the printing presses at Techny, Illinois.
The following is a selective list of our early publications
with their date of introduction. Please contact
the archives for complete holdings information.
Kleiner Herz Jesu Bote, 1874
Die Katholischen Missionen, 1877
Stadt Gottes, 1878
St. Michaelskalendar, 1879
Familienblatt Amerikanische, 1902 (For
German speaking families in America)
Christian Family, 1906
Anthropos, 1906
Little Missionary, 1914
Steyler Chronik, 1919
Our Missions, 1921
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The Christian Family
1906 and Familienblatt Americanische 1902
from our archives’ collection
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African American Apostolate
The records of the African American Apostolate,
on deposit from the Southern Province, describe
the Society's early interest in and perseverance
toward serving African Americans in the South. In
1923, St. Augustine Seminary, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi,
was opened to train African American men for the
priesthood. On May 23, 1934, the first four African
American priests were ordained at St. Augustine.
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The first African
American men ordained as priests:
Fr. Vincent Smith, Fr. Francis Wade, Fr. Maurice
Rousseve and
Fr. Anthony Bourges
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Researchers are welcome
The Archives and SVD Resource Center are located
on the first floor of the Chicago Province Center
at 1985 Waukegan Rd., Techny, Illinois.
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Researcher:
Fr. David Mayer, SVD
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Guidelines for all researchers
- Obtain permission to use the archives from the
archivist. Appointments are available from 9:00
a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
- Prior to obtaining a research appointment,
each researcher must fill out the research application
forms and submit them for approval. The
form asks for identity and contact information
on the researcher, and subject/purpose of the
research. Research application forms are
available either electronically or by mail.
For research application forms in PDF:
CLICK
HERE
Please complete, sign, and return forms
using the Access Information at the bottom of
the page.
- Each researcher must read and sign the use
policy on the back of the application form.
- The use of certain documents may be restricted
by statute, office, origin or by request of donor.
The researcher may quote from these documents
only with the permission of the Archivist and
with due reference to the source. For example,
Robert M. Myers Archives.
- As a general rule, no letter, document or memorandum,
written by a person still living may be quoted,
paraphrased, or used in any way without the consent
of the author.
- The researcher must assume full responsibility
for conforming to the laws of libel and literary
property rights, which may be involved in the
use of manuscripts and other archival materials.
- Researchers must obtain permission from the
archivist before publishing an article or book
based on and using materials from the Robert M. Myers Archives.
- To facilitate research in the Society of the
Divine Word Generalate Archives, please begin
by contacting the Chicago Province archives.
Copying Policy:
Staff members will photocopy a reasonable amount of material
for reference use when it is possible to do this without injury
to the records and when it does not violate copyright restrictions.
The cost is $.25 per page, and is the responsibility of the
researcher. When it is necessary to send copied material,
the researcher will be charged for the cost of shipping. Photocopies
may not be reduplicated or deposited elsewhere. Supplying
a photocopy is not an authorization to publish. The use of
certain records is restricted by law, by reason of their origin
or by donors. For the protection of its records, the archives
also reserves the right to restrict the use of records, which
are not arranged or are being arranged, are of exceptional
value or are fragile. The researcher assumes full responsibility
for conforming to the laws of libel and copyright, which may
be involved in his/her use of any record preserved in the
archives.
Access Information:
To contact the archives, obtain research
application forms by mail, fax or mail back completed
forms, place an information request or make an appointment,
you may use one of the following -
Telephone: (847) 753-7431 or (847) 753-7450
Fax: (847) 753-7464
E-mail: Information request and/or Research Application
forms - Click
Here
E-mail: Research appointment
- Click Here
Mail: Robert M. Myers Archives
Mail: P.O. Box 6038
Mail: Techny, IL 60082
Research room hours: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday
through Friday
Location: The Robert M. Myers Archives is located
in the Province Center building at Techny, which
is actually within the boundaries of Northbrook,
12 miles from O'Hare Airport and 20 miles from downtown
Chicago. The Province Center is on Waukegan Road
(Route 43) one mile north of Willow Road.
Marcia Stein, Archivist
Robert M. Myers Archives
Society of the Divine Word
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