Marian Days – August 7th-10th 2014

This year’s event officially starts on  August 7th, and roads will be closed through the 10th according to this City Council article from the Carthage Press (way down at the bottom). High amounts of foot and car traffic make it wise to avoid unnecessary driving in the area during the whole week.  Below is a little history of the campus, the Congregation, and Marian Days.

The campus located at the corner of Fairview and Grand in Carthage first opened as Ozark Wesleyan College in 1925.  It operated only a few years under that name. From 1944 – 1971 it operated as Our Lady of the Ozarks College.  The Powers Museum has some cool historical pictures from these eras on Facebook (no log in required).

The Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix was founded in 1953. After the Vietnam War in 1975, half of the Congregation fled Vietnam.  A bishop out of Springfield sponsored them and sold them the vacant Our Lady of the Ozarks College in Carthage for $1. The first Marian Days was held there in 1978.  It has grown into an annual pilgrimage of 50,000 to 70,000 Vietnamese-American Catholics.

2013’s Marian Days article from The Carthage Press has a few interesting facts.  I was surprised to know that they run a print shop to support themselves.  The donations they accept go to support the next years event.

Can you point me to any other interesting info about our hometown college campus?  Let me know in the comments.

Image Attribiution: I, Souphanousinphone [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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