Vesterheim exhibit opens Tuesday

A new exhibit will open Tuesday at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum.  "Catholic Sisters of the Upper Mississippi River Valley: Great River, Great Need, and Women of Great Service" will be on view in the lobby of the museum's Main Building daily from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. through April 1st.  There is no admission to see the photographic exhibition.

The exhibition was prepared by the Catholic Sisters of the Upper Mississippi River Valley and has been touring communities in northeast Iowa.  The exhibit is among the observances of the 175th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Dubuque in 2012. A new 300 plus page, glossy-color history book and a 40-page comic book version have been published for the anniversary and are available in Vesterheim's Museum Store.

Since 1843, Catholic Sisters have worked to meet the educational, medical, social, and spiritual needs of the Upper Mississippi River Valley. Many of the institutions they have founded in the region are still serving and thriving today.  In the exhibition, tall display panels show the past and present ministry of the 12 congregations of women religious in the Upper Mississippi Valley.