Gallery – Page 5 – Special Collections & The Gallery

Object of the Week: Medal Commemorating the Opening of the Second Vatican Council

Vatican II opening commemorative medal
Features image of Pope John XXIII
gold
1960s
Gift of Dr. Peter Ahr

COMMEMORATING THE OPENING OF

THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL

58 YEARS AGO

Informally known as Vatican II or the Second Vatican Council, The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, was formally opened 58 years ago on October 11, 1962 under the pontificate of Pope John XXIII.[1] Vatican II addressed relations between the Catholic Church and the modern world – establishing a strong emphasis on ecumenism (promoting union between religions), a revised liturgy and new approaches to Catholic engagement with the world.[2] Sessions were held annually among Bishops over the course of the four years, concluding under the pontificate of Pope Paul VI on December 8, 1965, ushering in an era of numerous liturgical, spiritual and lay movements.[3]

News clipping titled, "Committee on Canon Law Appointed by Pope John" — “Committee on Canon Law Appointed by Pope John,” unattributed newsclipping, 1950’s, John M. Oesterreicher papers, Mss 0053, Courtesy of the Monsignor Field Archives and Special Collections Center

Image of Archbishop Thomas Boland, c. 1960s — Archbishop Thomas Boland, c. 1960s

The Department of Archives and Special Collections and the Walsh Gallery at Seton Hall University hold a vast array of manuscripts, photographs, documents, news clippings, artifacts and materials related to Vatican II that illuminate this propitious moment in history. Some of the most comprehensive collections on the Council held by Seton Hall University include archival materials related to the church leaders that served on the council and in the Seton Hall University community, including Monsignor John

Black and white image of Bishop John Joseph Dougherty seated, c. 1960s — Bishop John Joseph Dougherty, c. 1960s

M. Oesterreicher, Bishop John Joseph Dougherty – at the time of Vatican II an Auxiliary Bishop of Newark and former president of Seton Hall University – and materials related to Archbishop Thomas Boland.[4] Selected issues of the Catholic Advocate, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Newark, have been digitized and are also available for in person research or online at the Catholic News Archive.

Newspaper clipping from The Catholic Advocate titled “Monsignor Oesterreicher Presents Copy of ‘The Bridge’ to Pope.” — “Monsignor Oesterreicher Presents Copy of ‘The Bridge’ to Pope,” The Catholic Advocate, September 22, 1960, pg. 1 digitized Vatican II (1958-1964) editions of the Catholic Advocate courtesy of the Catholic News Archive.

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The images and materials shown here are but a small part of the vast patrimony available to students, faculty and researchers. For more information or to make an appointment, contact 973-761-9476 or archives@shu.edu

[1] https://www.shu.edu/news/documents-of-vatican-ii.cfm accessed 10/2/2020

[2] https://www.catholicregister.org/features/item/15194-what-changed-at-vatican-ii accessed 10/1/2020

[3] https://www.shu.edu/news/documents-of-vatican-ii.cfm accessed 10/2/2020

[4] https://blogs.shu.edu/archives/tag/oesterreicher/ accessed 10/5/2020

Object of the Week: Melvin Dalton Olympic Qualifying Medal and Certificate

Mel Dalton – Olympic Medal of Merit
medal
2 3/16″ diameter
1928
2020.05.0001
Department of Archives and Special Collections, Seton Hall University

This Olympic qualifying medal and certificate were presented to Seton Hall University alumnus, Melvin Joseph Dalton, a member of the United States Olympic Team for the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Olympics. Dalton ranked first place at the Olympic trials on Travers Island (Pelham), New York in the steeplechase run, making him eligible to compete in the summer Olympics that same year. In the 1928 Olympic Games, he came in seventh place in the steeplechase, a grueling 3,000-meter obstacle race in which runners jump over four hurdles and a water pit. Dalton’s personal best in the Steeplechase event had him clocking in at 9 minutes, 33 seconds. Three Finnish runners took the gold, silver and bronze medals: Toivo Loukola, Paavo Nurmi and Ove Anderson. Toivo Loukola set a new world record at 9 minutes 21 seconds – 12 seconds faster than Dalton’s personal best. The men’s 3000-meter steeplechase event at the 1928 Olympic Games took place on August 1 and August 4.

Mel Dalton – Olympic Certificate of Merit, certificate, 5 11/16” x 7 11/16”, June 17, 1928, 2020.05.0002, Department of Archives and Special Collections

The Amsterdam Olympic Games of 1928 were officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad. These games saw the participation of 2883 athletes from 46 countries competing in 109 events. Athletes from twenty-eight nations won gold medals, a record which would stand for forty years, and it was the first time women were allowed to compete in athletics and gymnastics events. Women would not be allowed to compete in the Olympic steeplechase event until 2008 – 80 years after Dalton’s Olympic competition. The 1928 games also witnessed the first lighting of the Olympic flame at an opening ceremony, as well as the establishment of the protocol of Greek athletes entering the stadium first, with host nation athletes entering last.

For video footage of the 1928 Steeplechase event in which Dalton ran, click here.

A native of Newark, New Jersey, Dalton attended Seton Hall from 1925 to 1929 and was later inducted into the University’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 1980. Dalton ran track for Seton Hall as a student, and in 1925 was undefeated in all his college cross-country races and 2-miles track races. Dalton would later become a member of the priest community.

Black and white image of alumnus Melvin Dalton in his Seton Hall track uniform, in a stance so he appears ready to run — Photo of Melvin Dalton in uniform, Galleon Yearbook, Class of 1927, pg. 115

Object of the Week: Illustrated Jerusalem Bible

The Illustrated Jerusalem Bible in Hebrew and English
Published by Jerusalem Bible Publishing Co, Inc., 1958
Jerusalem – New York – London
Edited by M. Friedlander
Silver and turquoise binding
1,982 pages
Richard J. Hughes Papers, MSS #3

SHANA TOVA (Happy New Year)

At this time of year, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the two the holiest days in the Jewish faith are observed. The observances are a blend of joy and solemnity, feasting and fasting, and prayer that make up the spiritually inspired head of the Jewish year. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is a time of family gatherings and special meals. Unlike the secular New Year in the Gregorian calendar (January 1), Rosh Hashanah is a time of judgment and remembrance, on which G-d reviews and judges a person’s deeds in the past year. It is a time of prayer and penitence. Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement) is the day of repentance, the most holy day on the Jewish calendar. Described as a Shabbat shabbaton (Shabbat of solemn rest) in the Torah, Yom Kippur is a day of fasting, prayer, and reflection. Yom Kippur is the culmination of a period of time during the month of Elul in which Jews are required to take stock of their lives, to ask forgiveness from friends and family, and to take steps toward self-improvement for the year to come.

Object of the Week: Sketch of Mother Seton Medal

Sketch for Mother Seton medal
designed by Dieges and Clust
paint and pencil on paper
14 1/2″ x 11 1/2″
c. 1969
2018.17.0001a
MSS 0006
Monsignor Noe Field Archives & Special Collections Center

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774 – 1821) was born in what would later become the United States and was canonized on September 14, 1975, making her the first American born saint. After the death of her husband while traveling abroad in 1803, she converted to Catholicism and was received into the Catholic Church in March of 1805 at Saint Peter’s Church in New York. Mother Seton established the first Catholic girls’ school in the United States, and later founded the first American congregation of religious sisters, the Sisters of Charity. Her profound impact is still evidenced today by the number of institutions inspired by her work throughout the nation, especially in Maryland and New York City where she had resided. Pope John XXIII noted at her beatification in 1963, “In a house that was very small, but with ample space for charity, she sowed a seed in America which by Divine Grace grew into a large tree.” That tree still thrives in the continuation of her charitable work in the service of others, especially women and children.

Object of the Month: Stained Glass Panel – Chapel of the Immaculate Conception

Franz Mayer of Munich
Stained Glass Panel – Chapel of the Immaculate Conception
lead and glass
21 1/5” x 12 1/5”
1903
2016.10.0002
Seton Hall University Archives and Special Collections

This stained glass window from the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at Seton Hall University was one of six panels which were installed in 1903 when the main entrance was added to the building. Previously there was a side entrance, which was customary at the time, and prevented wind gusts from traveling the length of the chapel in inclement weather. When building the shrine to Mother Seton around the time of her canonization in 1975, these stained glass panels were removed and replaced with the present windows showing the shields of the various orders of nuns that go back to Mother Seton.

Object of the Week: “Rabbi” by Isaac Goody

Isaac Goody
Rabbi
serigraph
30” x 23”
1970s
81.2.185
Gift of Mr. Joseph Elkind

“Passover affirms the great truth that liberty is the inalienable right of every human being…. Pharaoh enslaved a whole race, and was chastised for his crime by the Divine Hand. But in thus intervening between the slave and his oppressor the Almighty fixed His canon against slavery for all time. He thereby declared that every human being has the right to the freedom which will enable him to develop to the utmost all the powers of body, of mind, of soul, with which God has endowed him; and that slavery, therefore, with its debasing effects upon the intellect and the character, is a sin against the laws of God himself.” – Morris Joseph, Jewish Theologian, excerpt from his book, Passover: Judaism as Creed and Life

Passover is a week-long festival commemorating the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. In Hebrew, it is called Pesach, meaning “to pass over,” as God passed over the homes of Israelites during the tenth plague on the first Passover. This multicolored serigraph print in a graphic style depicts a Rabbi wearing a yarmulke and a tallit, reading from a prayer book. In the background are two rolled Torah scrolls in a Aron Kodesh, or Holy Arc.

Object of the Week: The Seton Family at their Estate in Cragdon

Alfred Booth
The Seton Family at their estate in Cragdon
Reproduction of an original albumen silver print
8” × 8 ⅞”
1866 – 1867
Courtesy of Archives and Special Collections
Mss 0074

Check out this photo of Seton family members at Cragdon, their estate located in the area tucked between the present-day Bronx neighborhoods of Wakefield and Eastchester. Going through family photos can unearth gems like one and is a great activity for your extra time at home. As you rediscover your own treasured images, there are a few things you can do to increase their longevity. Make sure you have clean, dry hands when handling photos and try not to touch the image directly but hold it from the sides and bottom. When thinking about where to store your photos, areas with temperatures between 65-70 degrees are ideal, as rooms temperature changes common in rooms such as a basement or attic can accelerate deterioration. If your photos are kept in an album, use ones with acid-free pages or polyester, polypropylene, or polyethylene sleeves and use photo corners instead of glue or tape when mounting photos. When displaying your photos, keep them out of direct sunlight to avoid fading, yellowing, and embrittlement.

Object of the Week – “The Gathering” by Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali
The Gathering
Lithographic print
23” x 27”
1980
2010.02.0001
Gift of Mr. Joseph Elkind

Ramadan Mubarak (Blessed Ramadan)! One of the holiest months of the year for Muslims, Ramadan commemorates the month in which the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam, was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by Allah (God). Daily fasting is practiced, and it is a time of self-reflection and spiritual improvement. Ramadan is a time to strengthen one’s relationship with Allah through reading the Qur’an and prayer, as well as reinforce communal bonds through shared meals when breaking the fast and giving to the poor. This print depicting figures in white walking towards a mosque with two minarets and a gold dome is by American Muslim, sports figure, celebrity and political activist, Muhammad Ali, who joined the Nation of Islam in 1964 and later converted to Sufi Islam after a pilgrimage to Mecca in the 1970s.

Object of the Week: Crucifixio Jesu Christi

Friedrich August Ludy
Crucifixio Jesu Christi
Engraving
13.375” x 17.5”
1852
83.2.137
Gift of Anonymous Donor

“Good Friday is much more than reliving the passion of Jesus; it is entering into solidarity with the passion of all people of our planet, whether in the past, the present, or the future.” – Henri Nouwen

Each year on Good Friday, Christians commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ at Calvary. Ludy’s engraving depicts these events. Pontius Pilate is shown a plaque which reads, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS” in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, as Jesus is nailed to the cross in the background. The figure depicted on the far-left kneeling in prayer is artist Johann Friedrich Overbeck who painted the original work on which this engraving is based.

Object of the Month: Design for Renovation for Existing Tester at Seton Hall Chapel

Design for Renovation for Existing Tester at Seton Hall Chapel
architectural drawing
11 1/8” x 16 ¼”
1963
2016.03.0001
Department of Archives and Special Collections, Seton Hall University

This design for the renovation of the tester (canopy) in Seton Hall University’s Chapel of the Immaculate Conception was created by Robert Robbins. It is rendered in gold and red with accents of white and blue. The letters “IHS” set into a sun shape are a Christogram, or an abbreviation of Jesus’ name in Greek. The Robert Robbins Studio designed church interiors, mainly in Anglo-Catholic churches. Robbins sketched the actual designs while his brother, Toby, took care of practical matters. A third brother, Bill Robbins, was Rector of Saint Thomas’ Church in New Haven, Connecticut.