When Cardinal Joseph Bernardin became archbishop of Chicago, he brought with him vast experience serving in the chancery and the importance of having a professional archives and records center to preserve the history of a diocese. So he instituted a center here housed on several climate-controlled floors of 711 W. Monroe St., on the same campus as Old St. Patrick Church and Francis Xavier Ward School’s preschool through third grade campus. Before Cardinal Bernardin created the formal center, archdiocesan archives were kept in a basement at Mundelein Seminary, said Meg Hall, director of archives and records. And while all dioceses are required by canon law to maintain archives and records, not all employ professional archivists such as Hall. “We are the repository for the Archdiocese of Chicago’s diocesan administration as well as for closed parishes and schools,” Hall said. “So if a parish or a school closes in the diocese, we take in the historic and inactive records of that institution.” And it is a lot of records — 30,000 boxes full, and counting. While some of the records date back to the 1840s, the collection really began to grow in the 1910s, Hall said. The archives and records include mostly paper items such as meeting minutes, correspondence, bishops’ speeches and photos. Occasionally, a priest will leave his personal archives to the center. Hall would like to see that happen more often because, she said, such documents provide a unique window into the life of a local church. People often come into contact with the archives when a parish or school closes. “For example, if a school closes, my team and I go out to the school, we talk to the principal and some of the staff about the records that they have there on site,” Hall explained. “So if you went to a Catholic grammar school or high school that’s closed, and you remember your teachers or principal talking about your permanent file, we have those permanent files here at the archives office.” The archives staff also will process class photos the school may have kept over the years. Archives and Records regularly receives requests from academics, historians and people doing genealogical research. Anyone can visit the center by appointment. The center also is home to a vast collection of blueprints for archdiocesan buildings — especially fire escapes for school buildings, which were mandated nationally after the devastating 1958 fire at Our Lady of the Angels School that killed 92 students and three women religious. Each ordinary who served in Chicago has a collection, Hall said. Some are available on the center’s website. “Bishop Quarter was our first bishop. He came to Chicago in the 1840s. And his diary is here at the Archives and Records Center,” Hall said. These collections serve as a representation of what was important to each archbishop and what was important to the archdiocese at the time. In the case of Cardinal Bernardin, the center has all of his speeches, dating to before he came to Chicago. Hall said one of her favorite collections belongs to Cardinal John Cody. “Cardinal Cody was the archbishop in Chicago from 1965 to 1982, and that was a time we saw a lot of changes being implemented after the Second Vatican Council,” Hall said. “There is a lot more about involvement of the laity, involvement in dioceses and then a lot about civil rights and activism. That was a time of big changes in the United States.” To learn more about the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Archives and Records Center, visit archives.archchicago.org.