Faithfully Woven: Sister Catharine Julie (CJ) Cunningham

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Our archives are alive with the fascinating stories of our Sisters who established our presence in California. Read more about Sister CJ Cunningham, SNDdeN and her accomplishments as president of the College of Notre Dame.  

Sister Catharine Julie (CJ) Cunningham (1910-1984) 

At the time of her retirement in 1980, Sister CJ Cunningham, SNDdeN had served the longest term in office among college presidents in

Photographer: Gene Tupper, Times/Tribune, Palo Alto CA 1980

Northern California. She was president of the College of Notre Dame in Belmont for 24 years and led the college from an all-women’s school towas responsible for leading the college from an all-women’s school into coeducation. 

Raised in Notre Dame schools, Sister CJ sat for a recorded audio interview about her early life in which she discussed her education: 

“I had gone all through Notre Dame Elementary School and Notre Dame High School and had known the Sisters since I was able to know anything, so if you mean why did I become a Sister? How did I happen to think about it? Where did it begin? I suppose it began as a child.

“The Sisters were very, very good. I loved them. They were strict, some of them were very strict. Some of them were just much the kind that I would want to have today.”

Did you know that Shirley Temple Black, child actress in the ’30s and ’40s and later a U.S. ambassador and humanitarian, was a friend of the Sisters? Black appears in several photos with Sister CJ and received an honorary doctorate degree from the College of Notre Dame. From left: Charles A. Black, Sister CJ Cunningham, SNDdeN and Shirley Temple Black.

Sister CJ is also the author of A Native Daughter’s Leadership in Education.  Today, the Cunningham

Chapel at NDNU stands as a testament to Sister CJ’s impact on the campus. The chapel was built in August 1961, and in 1987, it was named in memory of Sister Catharine Julie (CJ) Cunningham and her family.