Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Addresses and Talks Series Electronic Conversion Project Description

In 1999 the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Archives and Records Center received a grant from the Lilly Foundation through the Catholic Theological Union’s Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry. The purpose of the grant was to migrate all of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin’s Addresses and Talks into a digitized format in order to facilitate access. The goal of this project was to utilize technology to enable researchers to search the actual words of Cardinal Bernardin quickly and thoroughly. What follows is a chronology and a description of this project.

The Joseph Cardinal Bernardin’s Talks and Addresses were transferred to the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Archives and Records Center in three successive yet distinct acquisitions. The first arrived from the Archbishop’s Residence in 1989 (mostly pre Chicago material), the second was deposited annually (1987 – 1996) as part of the Records Management Program, and the final transfer occurred prior to the Cardinal’s death in 1996.

In the fall of 1999 an archivist was hired by the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Archives and Records Center to gather any additional addresses and talks of the Cardinal that might be found among the remaining records and consolidate them into the existing Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Addresses and Talks Series.

The archivist, having identified all the addresses and talks within the collection of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Papers, started to define the elements within the Addresses and Talks Series. Each document was analyzed to determine whether it would be classified as a homily, an address, a talk, a statement, or remarks. A homily is defined as any address delivered in a liturgical setting. An address is defined as a speech delivered in a formal setting, such as at a university commencement, a scholarly presentation, a charity function, or a community gathering. A talk can be any number of shorter addresses presented in a less formal setting for a more casual audience such as at a youth group or at a priests’ meeting. A statement is a short commentary about a very specific subject, generally delivered to the media without a written press release. Examples of Bernardin statements include a statement on the canonization of Elizabeth Seton, a statement about the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, or a statement about U.S. foreign policy. Remarks are defined as a prepared, often brief, commentary made in reference to a very specific topic that is generally not the focal point of the event at which the remarks were delivered. Bernardin’s remarks on St. Patrick given at the Hibernian Society of Savannah, Georgia and his welcoming remarks at the opening of a reception at DePaul University serve as examples.

After the classification of the document was determined, the archivist researched each document to determine the specific occasion, location, and date on which it was delivered. The documents were each placed in acid-free folders labeled with the document’s classification, title, and the location and date of presentation. The collection was then arranged into chronological order and placed into acid-free (5"x12") document cases.

Subsequently, the title information about each Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Addresses and Talks Series document was entered into the Archives and Records Center’s collection management software database, Tower Trim Captura. Tower Trim Captura provides a full text searchable database of all Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Addresses and Talks. Entering the complete title of the JCB Addresses and Talks folder into Tower Trim allows researchers and archival staff to search the JCB Addresses and Talks Series by title and, once the document itself is scanned into Tower Trim, by a word search of the entire document.

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin’s addresses and talks span nearly four decades and include a wide variety of pastoral, political, and personal topics. Pastoral topics include homilies given at churches in three of the dioceses in which Bernardin served. Many of these homilies are didactic in nature, teaching the vision of the Second Vatican Council to parishioners in Cincinnati and Chicago. The homilies were delivered at ordinations to the diaconate, priesthood or episcopacy, and at high holidays such as Christmas and Easter at the Cathedrals at which Bernardin served. Political issues addressed in Bernardin’s many addresses and talks include subjects such as a "consistent ethic of life," racial discrimination, abortion, pornography, nuclear deterrence, and many other social justice issues. Thirdly, there are many talks and addresses of a personal importance to Joseph Bernardin. Among talks of a personal nature are homilies given at anniversaries of his ordination, consecration as bishop, and elevation to cardinal; homilies at weddings and funerals; and talks at ceremonies at which Bernardin received his various awards and honors.

The Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Addresses and Talks Series was assessed by staff of the Archives and Records Center and prioritized for digitization and storage on our local network, according to the liturgical or political significance of the speech. For instance, Cardinal Bernardin’s talks on the "consistent ethic of life" received a higher priority than did his Lenten message of 1986. Those documents with a higher priority rating were scanned and stored electronically first, those with lower priorities were entered toward the end of the project.

Each of Cardinal Bernardin’s addresses and talks were photocopied to prevent tearing of the original documents during the scanning process. The photocopies were then scanned into electronic format using Optical Character Recognition software. They were then carefully formatted so that each address and talk could be stored digitally into the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Addresses and Talks Series database in a consistent and easily accessible form. The formatting process included assigning consistent margins, font size, spacing, and titles to each of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Addresses and Talks documents. Once properly formatted, the electronic documents were attached to the appropriate electronic folder heading in Tower Trim. As a result, the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Addresses and Talks Series contains 3,553 electronic documents organized according to chronological order and each is text searchable.