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Records of the St. Wenceslaus Server's Society

 File
Identifier: ARCH-113

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of correspondence, minutes, membership applications, serving schedules, financial records, and materials concerning the social activities of the society. Also included are scrapbooks created by students in the society during their visit to the Catholic Students Spiritual Leadership Convention held August 17-19, 1929 in St. Louis, Missouri. Some minutes and serving schedules also exist as typed transcription in the S.W.S.S. Annals between 1914 and 1934.

Dates

  • Creation: 1914 - 1959

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English and Czech.

Biographical / Historical

The St. Wenceslaus Server's Society (also known as the Server's Sodality and the Acolytes of St. Wenceslaus) was founded in 1914, and was one of the first student organizations at St. Procopius College. According to the Society's constituion, its mission was "to instruct the members in the proper manner of assisting as servers at liturgical functions," "to promote the social and educational advancement of the members," and "to create and promote interest in missionary work, both local and foreign, particuliarly by forwarding educational activites." All students attending the College or Academy at St. Procopius were encouraged to apply for membership.
Students wishing to become members submitted a written application at the beginning of the school year, and were required to pay annual dues of 50 cents if accepted. Officers in the society included President and Vice-President (elected positions), as well as secretary and treasurer (appointed positions). Members of the society were expected to "attend all meetings and to perform diligently all obligations imposed upon him." Essentially this meant assisting in numerous social and charitable activities. In 1959, membership and interest in the society reached an all-time low. In a letter dated June 12, 1959, Dismas Kalcic, O.S.B. expressed his disappointment with the servers to Adolph Hrdlicka, O.S.B. Students "simply refused to get up" on mornings when they were scheduled to serve. Kalcic then recommends to Hrdlicka that the society be discontinued.

Extent

2.5 Linear Feet

Custodial History

Materials were acquired from the creators.

Accruals

No further accruals expected.

Physical Description

Newspaper clippings were photocopied and the originals discarded. Acid free paper was applied to documents and photos with adhesive materials. Metal paperclips and staples were removed and replaced with plastic paperclips.

Title
Records of the St. Wenceslaus Server's Society
Author
Benn P. Joseph
Date
April 2007
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Benedictine University
5700 College Rd.
Lisle IL 60532 United States