Vol I (A) 1992 : Opus Project (USA)

Opus Project (USA)

The Dominican story in the US goes back a very long way, and has been told only in bits and pieces. Some phases of Dominican history in the US have been published in separate works concerning the friars of a province, certain congregations of women, a few monasteries, biographies of individual men and women and the slim and scattered accounts of Dominican laity. Some of these were written when archival records were severely restricted. Even the most scholarly works focused on one branch of the Order, with little or no reference to others. There is an urgent need to gather all the salient facts of Dominican presence in the US, going directly to primary sources. The purpose of Project Opus is to initiate research which will help to meet this need, and to do this by means of a network of qualified researchers. Projected periods for research are: (1) missions in US from New Spain, 1526ff; (2) missionary friars to US 1786-1815; (3) ministry in dioceses of New York & Philadelphia, Boston; (4) foundations 1800-1832, friars and sisters (1 province, 2 congregations); (5) foundations and development 1833-1870 (1 province, 1 congregation of friars, 9 congregations of sisters, Dominican laity); (6) 1900-1939 (2 provinces, 31 congregations, 20 monasteries, laity); (7) 1940-1965 (3 provinces, 37 congregations, 21 monasteries, laity); (8) 1966-1986 (4 provinces, 42 congregations, 21 monasteries, laity).

Anyone interested may contact Sr Mary Nona McGreal OP, Dominican Study Center, 5082 W.Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60644, USA.