Women and Leadership Archives at Loyola University Chicago

The WLA is proud to congratulate former WLA graduate assistant Miranda Ridener on being named Executive Director of the Neenah Historical Society! https://neenahnewsnow.com/2026/02/20/february-20-2026-neenah-news/

The Neenah Historical Society has named Miranda Ridener as its new Executive Director. Miranda has served as the Museum Coordinator since April of 2024 and currently serves as the Interim Executive Director.
Miranda has a deep passion for local history through preserving objects and historical documents. Her background in archives brings a strong sense of museum collection management to the Historical Society. She has a bachelor’s degree in history and dance from Anderson University in Indiana and a master’s in Public History from Loyola University, Chicago.

💥We're just 2 weeks away from the BMRC symposium on Black Chicago!

On Day One, come hear urbanist and historian Davarian Baldwin's keynote "Second City No More: How Black Chicago Moved to the Center of History” and enjoy other panels on the Black Arts Movement, Policing and Surveillance , Black photography, Sun Ra, House Music, Black Data Stewardship, Black Librarians and MORE!

The BMRC is holding this symposium to celebrate 20 years of its continued work to support the documentation and archiving of Black life in Chicago.

🎊We want to celebrate with you!

Registration is closing soon, so make sure to get your seat at this grand event.🔥🔥
https://bmrc.lib.uchicago.edu/events/bmrc-20th-anniversary-symposium-on-black-chicago-june-17-18-2026/

Join The Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) June 17-18, 2026, for their 20th Anniversary Symposium on Black Chicago culture, history, politics, and art. Speakers include Davarian Baldwin, Trinity College; Amani Morrison, Georgetown University; Skyla Hearn, Johnson Publishing Company Archive (Getty). Learn more and register here https://bmrc.lib.uchicago.edu/events/bmrc-20th-anniversary-symposium-on-black-chicago-june-17-18-2026/.

The Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (SHGAPE) is hosting its first stand-alone conference, June 4-6, 2026, at the Schrieber Center (16 E. Pearson St.) on Loyola University Chicago’s Water Tower Campus. The conference program will feature scholars and practitioners interested in U.S. history from Reconstruction through the 1920s. Learn more and register here:

SHGAPE Conference - SHGAPE The Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era is delighted to host its first stand-alone conference, June 4-6, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois. The conference’s primary venue is the Schrieber Center (16 E.… Read More

We want to hear from you! Please take a few minutes to complete our survey. Your responses will help us curate engaging and relevant content to better serve you, our lovely audience. The survey will be open until Wednesday, June 3, 2026.

forms.office.com

The WLA will be closed Monday, May 25 for Memorial Day. Research appointments will resume Wednesday, May 27. To make an appointment, please complete the appointment request form: https://luc.libwizard.com/f/wla-request-appointment.

Image: Polish Women's Alliance of America at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery, September 22, 1931, Polish Women’s Alliance of America Records, Women and Leadership Archives, Loyola University Chicago.

Chicago historian Ellen Skerrett wrote an article for the Chicago Tribune about Pope Leo’s mother, Mildred Martinez, who was a member of the Mundelein College Glee Club from 1935-1943. Check out the Mother’s Day article here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/10/opinion-pope-leo-xiv-mother-mildred-prevost-life-chicago/

If you do not have a Chicago Tribune subscription, Loyola University Libraries provides access to the full text here: https://flagship.luc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/chicagotribune/newspapers/how-much-did-pope-leo-xiv-know-about-his-mother-s/docview/3339693578/sem-2?accountid=12163

Image featured in the article: Mildred Martinez, back row, third from right, with the Mundelein Glee Club and organist professor Walter Flandorf, September 24, 1936, Mundelein College Photograph Collection, Women and Leadership Archives, Loyola University Chicago.

This Mother’s Day we are highlighting the May Crowning ceremonies that were celebrated at Mundelein College from the early 1930s to the mid-1960s. 💐

May Crowning rituals originated in the 16th century as a papal tradition and later evolved into a celebration of the role of women in the Catholic Church. The tradition spread as a form of public veneration for the Blessed Virgin Mary and was celebrated in schools and parishes on Mother’s Day and during First Communion ceremonies.

Mundelein College students given the title of “May Queen” were chosen from among their peers as most deserving. The May Queen had the honor of placing a crown of flowers atop a statue of the Virgin Mary. She and her attendants dressed in white and led a procession around campus while other students, teachers, and parents gathered to watch and sing devotional hymns. Have you ever participated in a May Crowning ceremony?

Congratulations to the graduating class of 2026, including the WLA’s Graduate Student Workers Katrina and Kate! 🎓

Our Graduate Student Worker Kate recently won an award for her research using a collection from the WLA! She received the Loyola University Chicago History Department McCluggage Award for her paper on the SisterSerpents Records, titled ""Watch That Crotch, We Got Fangs!” Organizing Rage through the SisterSerpents Radical Feminist Art Collective." This paper is the result of extensive engagement with the archival materials, both documents and 3D/AV items, of the collection she had previously come into contact with while working at the WLA. The process of reconstructing a comprehensive history of the SisterSerpents collective was made possible by the resources of the WLA. Congrats, Kate!