Ade Bethune was born in the Schaerbeek district of Brussels on January 12, 1914. A few months after her birth, her father left for WWI while the rest of the family continued to live with her mother’s father. Bethune did not see her father for over four years and did not know him when he returned. Also during the war, her mother was arrested for underground work and was in jail for about a month. In 1928, the family immigrated to New York, where Bethune attended Cathedral High School in New York City and the National Academy of Design as well. During this period she became interested in the Catholic Worker Movement and met Dorothy Day, a lasting influence on her life.
Bethune loved writing stories as a young girl. In 1933, her first article was published in Stained Glass. Titled “A Dream Come True,” it described how she learned stained glass techniques from Charles J. Connick in Boston. She also tried to publish a couple of children’s books in the early 1930s. One, “Mademoiselle Boshapo,” was based on a story she’d written as a child. In the mid-1930s, Maurice Lavanoux, the editor of Liturgical Arts, invited her to write for this journal. He had been the editor of Stained Glass when Bethune's article was published there. Graham Carey drew her into activities of the Catholic Art Association, publisher of Catholic Art Quarterly. In 1938, she began to publish in Orate Fratres, the herald of the Liturgical Movement. Although Bethune published in many journals, she published most often in these three.
In 1948, Bethune agreed to volunteer as the editor of Catholic Art Quarterly. At first, there was some controversy because she wasn’t a priest and might allow heresies to be published. She used this position as a forum to explore her own vocation as a Christian Artist. She was editor from 1949 to 1950. During this time, the journal won a graphic design award from the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1951 for the Easter 1950 issue.
Bethune began writing about church architecture in 1954 with the article “Font and Altar” for Catholic Art Quarterly. She also published a series of five articles in Church Property Administration on the need for church architecture to support the liturgy: "Celebrating the Mass Facing the People," 1955; "The Church as Mother in Architecture," 1956; "Planning the Church Sanctuary," 1958; "Altar and Tabernacle in a People-Minded Age," 1959; "The Central Altar and the Church in the Round," 1962; and "The Place of the Tabernacle," 1966. These articles were widely reprinted and, while most of them were published many years prior to the Second Vatican Council, they foreshadowed some of the changes brought about by it.
Her many articles on the subject of church architecture became very influential and earned Bethune a reputation as one of the few liturgical consultants in the country with a wide range of expertise. Some other articles she wrote on the subject are: “Philippine Adventure,” 1951; “Can You Make Walls Speak?,” 1955; “Acoustics, Light and Seating for the People’s Participation in the Mass,” 1962; and “Some Plans on Renovating the Sanctuary for the Renewed Liturgy,” 1965. These were all published in Liturgical Arts.
Bethune's classic is the booklet Work, first published in 1939. It was part of a series of pamphlets published by John Stevens University and went through at least four printings. In it, she distilled her philosophy of work into a love of work and doing things well. One of her favorite efforts was Uniscript, published in 1964. This booklet on teaching handwriting grew from Bethune's interest in the history of the alphabet as well as the Montessori teaching methods.
Bethune died in her long time home of Newport, Rhode Island on May 1, 2002.
The collection includes about 100 published articles in both rough draft and printed forms. There are about 17 booklets or books in various forms of draft and print as well as roughly 44 unpublished articles or notes. There is also correspondence with various editors and publishers about Bethune's work. Materials span the years from 1933 to 1998 with the bulk of the collection dating from the 1940s to 1960s. Bethune published articles in about 37 different journals, with most being in Orate Fratres, Liturgical Arts, and Catholic Art Quarterly.
Many of the journals changed names over the years. Orate Fratres was renamed Worship in 1952. Church Property Administration was later called Catholic Property Administration, and finally renamed The Catholic Market. Christian Social Art Quarterly was renamed Catholic Art Quarterly in 1941 and finally called Good Work in 1959.
The collection is organized into four series. Each series is arranged alphabetically.
Writings, Ade Bethune Papers. Ade Bethune Collection, St. Catherine University Library, St. Paul, MN 55105.
Ade Bethune donated her personal and business papers, sketches, artwork, books, and artifacts to the College of St Catherine (now St. Catherine University) over the period from 1984-2002.
The collection was processed and the finding aid written by Elizabeth Nelson, MLIS graduate assistant, from September to December 2007.
This series is divided into two sections.
Each section is ordered alphabetically by title.
For each item, citation is given for where it was published, if known.
Reprint 1959.
Published in:
Folder 5 also contains drafts of
Also includes C. A. A. News, 1948.
Reprint 1959 (original 1949—not in folder).
Also includes final part of "Notes on Heraldry."
Reprint request 1973. Published in
Reprint 1941. Published in
Custombook, Inc. (#215)
Custombook, Inc. (#121)
Custombook, Inc. (#216)
George Pfaum, 1963. Reprinted by: Sheed & Ward, 1985
St. Leo League
St. Paul’s Indian Mission
Sheed & Ward, 1936
St. Leo League
Sheed & Ward
Pio Decimo Press
Abbey Press
St. Leo League
Sheed & Ward
John Stevens, first edition 1937-1938, second edition 1939, fourth edition 1951
Also includes critique, 1996
Folder also contains draft of article: "The Importance of Personal and Artistic Integrity," und.
Ordered alphabetically by title
Also includes "Will Catholics Become Orthodox," und.
The Snow, Saint Nicholas, The Three Kings, Cesar, Uncle Felix Comes, I Am Sick, Shopping, Easter, Spring
Folder 17 also includes "Light in the Church," undated
Folder also includes two other undated essays: "The Auditory Church" by Paul Reeves, and "The Optics of Truth in Lighting the Real Church" by Richard Kelly
Folder 7 also includes copy of "Saint Nicholas Day in my Childhood," ca. 1985
Ordered alphabetically by folder title
Includes: untitled page about Teresa, und.; handwritten notes on teaching life drawing, und.; typed St. Martha broadcast
Includes: miscellaneous notes, newspaper clipping, handwritten notes on bell towers in French, und.; handwritten notes on tabernacle, throne, pulpit and altar; typed Memo to Serve as a Basis for an Explanation of the Credo Chart
2 copies reprint; partial reprint beginning with Section II: The Altar and its Furniture, und.
Partial reprint
Partial reprint
Reprint
Printed photocopy
2 printed photocopies
2 printed photocopies
2 printed photocopies
3 typed copies
Reprint
Reprint
Reprint
Reprint
Printed photocopy
Printed photocopy
Printed photocopy
Printed photocopy
Printed photocopy
Printed photocopy
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Printed photocopy
Printed photocopy
Includes "The Seat of Wisdom in Scripture and in Iconography," "Holy Wisdom: An Etymological Note," "The Romanesque Seated Madonnas," and "The Throne of Solomon." Printed photocopy
Printed photocopy
Printed photocopy
Typed
2 typed copies
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Printed photocopy
Printed photocopy
Printed photocopy
Printed photocopy
Printed photocopy
Typed photocopy
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Photocopy and original of handwritten notes
Printed
Typed
Photocopy
Ink drawings
Reprint
Typed and printed photocopy
5 copies reprint
Reprint
Typed
Typed
Typed
With Letter to Sister Jeanne attached
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
With handwritten notes
With handwritten notes
Printed photocopy
Typed
2 typed copies
2 typed copies
2 typed copies
2 typed copies
2 typed copies
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
2 typed copies
Typed. Also photocopy layout drawing
Layout drawings
Cover sketch
Typed and handwritten copies
Typed and handwritten copies
Typed with lots of handwritten notes
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
2 typed copies
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Handwritten notes
Typed
Typed and handwritten
2 typed
Typed and handwritten
2 typed
2 typed
Typed
Typed. With hand-drawn layout page
Typed
Typed
Typed layout format and typed draft
Handwritten notes
Typed
Typed
Includes: Miscellaneous handwritten notes, "Some Suggestions on Teaching Design," Writing #1-5, and C.W. "Article on Writing"
Photocopies
Typed photocopy
3 typed drafts
Typed
Handwritten
Includes: Letter about project with National Council of Christians and Jews. Typed essays including "The Altar," "The Bread and Wine," "The Vestments," "The Chant," "The Church Year," "The Hours," "The Sign of the Cross," "Images of the Saints," "Holy Water," "Processions"
Typed
Typed
Typed
Typed
Ordered alphabetically by name of journal or publisher
Correspondence with editor Edward L. Spenser of
Correspondence with Father Paul Bussard of
Correspondence with editor Godfrey Diekmann of
Correspondence with Father Eric Lies, editor of
Correspondence with Joseph L. Caulfield and Mr. Stephen McNierney of Helicon Press
Correspondence with Joe Cunneen of Holt R. & W.
Correspondence with Mr. Maurice Lavanoux of
Correspondence from editor Patricia Feistritzer of
Correspondence with executive director Bob Malloy of
Correspondence with editor John D. Mulligan of
Correspondence mostly with editor Dorothy L. Andrews of
Correspondence with editor Carolyn Sherman of
Correspondence with editor Bernard C. Benziger
Correspondence with Joseph G. Schaller Jr., editor of
Some correspondence, royalty statements, and contracts with publishers Sheed & Ward for
Correspondence with editor Robert Heyer of Sheed and Ward. Also includes miscellaneous materials
Correspondence with editor Evelyn Schrifte
Correspondence with Rev. Kenneth Suibielski, including articles: "Am I Responsible" and "My Baptism"