Mary Catherine Schaefer graduated from Trinity College in 1927. At the time, her family resided in Cape Charles, Virginia. In February 1928, she was hired as secretary to Rev. John Ryan of the National Catholic Welfare Conference Social Action Department in Washington. Ms. Schaefer worked for the Social Action Department until 1946. At the same time, she became active in the Catholic Association for International Peace. She edited at least two CAIP pamphlets in 1935-36, one of which was a compilation of papal peace messages entitled "A Papal Peace Mosaic" (1936).

In 1946, Schaefer was transferred to New York City, where the NCWC was setting up a United Nations observer office. The major purposes of the office were to make church positions known at the U.N., and to inform the U.S. bishops of happenings there. The Vatican established its own observer mission in 1964, and the two offices cooperated when needed. The NCWC office concentrated its efforts in the U.N. economic and social council, and eventually received consultor status to the American delegation to this council. In 1972, the office was disbanded, and Ms. Schaefer retired.

STEPAN, ALFRED CHARLES JR.

Alfred Charles Stepan, Jr. was born in New York City on April 17, 1909. His parents were Alfred Charles and Charlotte (Corbett) Stepan. He graduated from Notre Dame with a B.A. in 1931, and later studied at Northwestern University and the Illinois Institute of Technology. He started his own business, the Stepan Chemical Company, in Northfield, Illinois, in 1932. He married Mary Louise Quinn in February 1934.

In 1956, Stepan received copies of three papers that had been presented at St. Louis University the previous year from former Notre Dame president Fr. John Cavanaugh. Stepan was most impressed by Msgr. John T. Ellis' "American Catholics and the Intellectual Life." Stepan agreed with Ellis' contention that American Catholics despite their large share of the U.S. population had yet to make significant contributions to American intellectual life, and decided that Ellis' work needed to be published. He enlisted the aid of fellow Notre Dame alumni Arthur Conrad and Neal Harley for the project. The three originally planned to publish all the papers given them by Fr. Cavanaugh, but later decided that the impact of Msgr. Ellis' work would be lessened by including the others. Conrad arranged for Bishop John J. Wright of Worcester, Massachusetts, to write a preface for the collected papers, but was unable to contact Bishop Wright when it was decided to publish Ellis' alone. Stepan then revised Bishop Wright's remarks to cover only the Ellis paper. The paper was published by the Heritage Foundation, and Notre Dame alumni clubs arranged for its distribution at the 1957 National Catholic Education Association meeting in Milwaukee. Copies were also sent to major houses of religious teaching orders such as the Dominican Sisters. The paper made quite an impact, as Stepan and his associates expected, including coverage in "Time" magazine.

Mr. Stepan received an honorary degree from Notre Dame in 1963, and served on the Board of Trustees.

STRANGE, BERNARD

Bernard Strange (b. June 8, 1906, Bramble, IN) was ordained a priest for the Indianapolis diocese in 1934. After a year as assistant pastor at St. Joan of Arc parish in Indianapolis, he was assigned to St. Rita parish, where he would spend the next 38 years. At the time of his appointment, St. Rita's was a "colored" parish with a segregated school.

Father Strange spent much of his active ministry as a civil rights campaigner, and was perhaps most noted for his leadership in the effort to desegregate Indianapolis' Catholic schools in the late 1930's and early 1940's. Strange was supported in this effort by Bishop Joseph Ritter (later Cardinal Archbishop of St. Louis). Father Strange later served as membership chairman for the Indianapolis chapter of the NAACP, and participated in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s march on Washington. Fr. Strange was transferred to St. Francis de Sales parish in 1974, and retired in 1976. He died in Indianapolis on September 24, 1987.

Archives holdings on Fr. Strange consist of an audiotaped interview conducted circa 1975. Sound quality is fair to good.

SWANSTROM, EDWARD E.

Edward E. Swanstrom was born on March 20, 1903, in New York City. His parents were Gustave and Mary (Cronin) Swanstrom. He graduated from Fordham University with a B.A. in 1924. He then studied for the priesthood at St. John's Seminary in Brooklyn. He was ordained a priest of the Brooklyn diocese on June 2, 1928. Fr. Swanstrom earned a diploma from the New York School of Social Work in 1933 and a Ph.D. from Fordham in 1938. His doctoral dissertation concerned the problems of waterfront laborers in Brooklyn.

Swanstrom was curate at St. James Pro-Cathedral in Brooklyn from 1934 to 1960. He took on additional responsibilities as assistant diocesan director of Catholic Charities from 1933 to 1943, assistant executive director of Catholic Relief Services from 1943 to 1947, and finally as executive director of CRS from 1947 to 1976. Catholic Relief Services was originally intended as a temporary effort of the U.S. bishops to assist World War II refugees and POWs, but by 1955 the organization became permanent, and assisted victims of natural disasters as well as victims of war. In its earlier years, CRS concentrated on resettling refugees and sending supplies of food, clothing, and medicine to areas of need. Later, CRS began efforts to foster economic development in the areas it serves, particularly in the Third World.

In 1960, Swanstrom was appointed auxiliary bishop of New