[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 112 (Friday, August 1, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1582]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 A SESQUICENTENNIAL TRIBUTE TO THE SINSINAWA DOMINICAN CONGREGATION OF 
                          THE MOST HOLY ROSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. THOMAS M. BARRETT

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 31, 1997

  Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, it is with pride today that I 
pay tribute to an assembly of women, indomitable women, on the occasion 
of their sesquicentennial anniversary. As the Sinsinawa Dominican 
Sisters celebrate 150 years of mission and ministry, I would like to 
take a moment to reflect on and to honor their tradition and their 
vision.
  Founded on August 4, 1847, by the Reverend Samuel Charles 
Mazzuchelli, O.P., in Sinsinawa, WI, the order identified education as 
its primary mission. Acknowledging the power of knowledge, the sisters 
committed themselves to taking education to immigrant and minority 
populations throughout Wisconsin, into northern Illinois, and 
Minnesota.
  By the 1870's, the Sinsinawa Dominicans brought their talents to 
Milwaukee County, eventually teaching in 11 city and suburban schools, 
including St. Rose Grade School and Dominican High School where their 
education mission continues today.
  In the ensuing years, the Sinsinawa Dominicans continued to make 
education a priority. While living among the people whom they served, 
they saw discrimination, they saw poverty, they saw abuse. In typical 
Dominican fashion, they committed themselves to ``an intentional focus 
on justice as essential to Dominican mission. We will work for justice 
and peace through our ministries, with an emphasis on issues concerning 
race, women and children, the Church and ecology.'' (Chapter 
Directions, 1994).
  In 1997, 150 years after Father Mazzuchelli accepted the first 4 
Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters into the order, these extraordinary women, 
who now serve in 83 dioceses throughout the United and abroad, continue 
to bring the power of learning to young and old, to native and 
immigrant. But now rededicated to community justice, the sisters also 
work among us as healers, as advocates for women and children, as 
lawyers, as literacy proponents, as writers of and makers of our common 
history.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to 
Dominican women in Milwaukee, in Wisconsin, and throughout the world as 
they celebrate their remarkable history. May they look to their future 
with confidence, and with the gratitude of communities everywhere.

                          ____________________