Stop by the New Cretin-Derham Hall Museum on Campus

Reprinted from Traditions, Winter 2017-2018
April 5, 2018

Cretin-Derham Hall has established a moving tribute to the rich history of our three schools: Cretin, Derham Hall, and Cretin-Derham Hall.

Visitors on campus are encouraged to visit the Cretin-Derham Hall Museum which is located down the hall nearest the Hamline entrance. While the halls of our campus have always felt the energy of our founding schools, this location plays special tribute to the rich history and tradition dating back to the beginning days of each school.

Brother Pat Conway, ’71 was instrumental in developing the museum. “Our hope is to connect our current students to this proud past,” he explained. “We are not just ‘any’ Catholic school, our heritage makes us unique.” He was assisted by Shari Wilsey, who helped design the displays.

Visitors will see historical and current photos selected to help tell the story of the schools and our sponsors, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and the Christian Brothers. Each archway in the hall commemorates the founding of each school and the displays that line the hall bring the tradition of excellence alive.

Some interesting displays now on exhibit include:

• 1938 Derham Hall uniform which is noteworthy because the students determined what the uniform would be and that same design is still used today.
• 1946 Cretin uniform showing the crack drill, and NHS merit medals.
• There are also iPads that feature the stories of the Sisters and the Brothers as well as the history of the schools.

The museum will continue to grow. Plans are underway to digitize all the yearbooks, which would also become available on the iPad displays. In addition, several alumni have worked hard to develop Alumni Profiles that will highlight notable alumni and their personal and professional accomplishments. Newly acquired historical artifacts will be added to the displays as well.

This article and more are featured in the Winter 2017-2018 issue of the CDH magazine, Traditions.