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1. Sacred Heart Church, Freeport, Minnesota

Date Created:
1913
Description:
Exterior view of the Sacred Heart Church and rectory in Freeport with a photographic insert of Reverend Meinrad Seifermann,Order of Saint Benedict (OSB), pastor. The little hut on the right is a Corpus Christi Altar Station.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

2. Immaculate Conception Church, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1917
Description:
Exterior view of the Immaculate Conception Church and St. Mary's School in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Postcards

3. St. John the Baptish Parish, Collegeville, Minnesota

Date Created:
1911
Description:
Group portrait of Abbot Peter Engel and First Communicants of St. John the Baptist parish in Collegeville, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

4. Immaculate Conception Church, New Munich, Minnesota

Date Created:
1910
Description:
View of the construction of the Immaculate Conception Church in New Munich, Minnestoa.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

5. Immaculate Conception Church, New Munich, Minnesota

Date Created:
1912
Description:
Exterior view of the Immaculate Conception Church and an insert of the Parochial Residence in New Munich.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Postcards

6. View of Lake George, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1908
Description:
Northeast dnd of Lake George in St. Cloud and view of St. Mary's Church and School.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Postcards

7. St. John the Baptist Church, Meire Grove, Minneosta

Date Created:
1923
Description:
Skelton ruins of St. John the Baptist Church which burnt on February 13, 1923 at Meire Grove, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

8. St. John the Baptist Church and school, Meire Grove, Minneosta

Date Created:
1917
Description:
Church of St. John the Baptist and parochial School in Meire Grove, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

9. St. Mary's Church, Melrose, Minnesota

Date Created:
1909
Description:
Exterior view of St. Mary's Catholic Church and Rectory in Melrose, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Postcards

10. St. Mary's Church, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1920
Description:
View of the fre burning at the St. Mary's Church in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

11. Railroad station, New Munich, Minnesota

Date Created:
1915
Description:
View of the railroad station on the Soo Line at New Munich, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

12. St. John the Baptist Church, Meire Grove, Minneosta

Date Created:
1909
Description:
View of Oak Street looking South in Meire Grove, Minnesota with the Church of St. John the Baptist in the distance.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Postcards

13. First Communion class at St. John the Baptist Church, Meire Grove, Minnesota

Date Created:
1922
Description:
Group portrait of the First Communion Class with Reverend Martin Schmidt, Order of Saint Benedict (OSB), at the Church of St. John the Baptist.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

14. St. John the Baptist Church, Meire Grove, Minneosta

Date Created:
1921
Description:
Crowd at the First Mass of ReverendJustin Luetmer, Order of Saint Benedict (OSB) in Meire Grove at church of St. John the Baptist.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

15. Church of Saints Peter and Paul, Richmond, Minnesota

Date Created:
1920
Description:
Exterior view of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul and School in Richmond.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Postcards

16. St. James Church, Jacobs Prairie, Minnesota

Date Created:
1911
Description:
Exterior view of the St. James Church and parsonage at Jacobs Prairie near Cold Spring, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

17. Germain Street, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1921
Description:
St. Cloud street scene near St. Mary's School in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

18. St. Mary's Church, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1920
Description:
Skelton of St. Mary's Church after the fire in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

19. St. Mary's school students, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1911
Description:
Group portrait of the 8th Grade Graduates of St. Mary's School in St. Cloud, Minnesota with Reverend Werner Schneppenheim, Order of Saint Benedict (OSB).
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

20. German Roman Catholic Teachers meeting, St. Martin, Minnesota

Date Created:
1914
Description:
View of the German Roman Catholic Teachers Meeting at St. Martin. The parish church served as background. Eight priests are part of the photo, but only two are identified: Reverend Leo Winter, Order of Saint Benedict (OSB), and Placid Wingerter, Order of Saint Benedict (OSB). J. Conrad Diekmann is on the extreme right.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

21. St. Boniface Church, Cold Spring, Minnesota

Date Created:
1913
Description:
Exterior view of St. Boniface Church and Rectory in Cold Spring with Reverend Maurus Ferdinand and his dog.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

22. Cadet Band, Cold Spring, Minnesota

Date Created:
1910
Description:
View of the Cold Spring Cadet Band standing by the Sauk River.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

23. Memorial Day porcession to the Seven Dolors Cemetery, Albany, Minnesota

Date Created:
1919
Description:
Memorial Day procession to cemetery in Albany, Minnesota with members of the military, a local band and early automobiles.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

24. Public School, Albany, Minnesota

Date Created:
1907
Description:
Exterior view of the Albany Public School.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Postcards

25. Seven Dolors Parish school, Albany, Minnesota

Date Created:
1911
Description:
Exterior view of the Catholic School at Seven Dolors in Albany.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Postcards

26. Street scene, Albany, Minnesota

Date Created:
1920
Description:
Street scene in Albany, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Postcards

27. Creamery, Albany, Minnesota

Date Created:
1920
Description:
Exterior view of the Creamery in Albany.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Postcards

28. St. Benedict's Catholic Church, Avon, Minnesota

Date Created:
1911
Description:
Exterior view of St. Benedict's Catholic Church and parish house (rectory) in Avon.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

29. Vow formula written by Mother Benedicta Riepp, OSB, foundress of the Bavarian branch of American Benedictine Sisters

Creator:
Riepp, Mother Benedicta
Date Created:
1846
Description:
Orgins of St. Benedict's Monastery (convent). Mother Benedicta (Sybilla) Riepp was born in Waal, Bavaria in 1825. Having entered St. Walburg Convent in Bavaria, she made her profession of vows there at the age of 21. Six years later, she was one of the first volunteers to go to America to teach the children of the German immigrants. She was appointed the superior of that first group and is, therefore, regarded as the foundress of the Bavarian branch of Benedictine Sisters in America. Though of slight and delicate build and barely able to meet the challenges of frontier life in Pennsylvania, Mother Benedicta was strong in her determination to follow the German immigrants to the farther mid-western frontier which later became the state of Minnesota. Her legacy to the American foundations was her steadfast effort to achieve autonomy for her sisters in America. Because he took responsibility for the sisters' coming to the New World, Abbot Boniface Wimmer, OSB, felt he had jurisdiction over them and often determined internal affairs of the convents, including accepting candidates and appointing superiors. Mother Benedicta returned to Europe to have their cause for autonomy presented to Rome. Eventually her efforts succeeded, but broken in health, she returned to America--to St. Cloud, Minnesota--where she died of tuberculosis at the age of 33. She is buried in the cemetery at St. Benedict's Monastery, St. Joseph. General translation of Mother Benedicta's vow formula at St. Walburg Convent, Bavaria: I, Sister Maria Ana Benedicta, promise before God and his Saints, Stability, and Conversion of my morals, Obedience, Poverty and Chastity according to the Rule of Saint Benedict and the Statutes of this Monastery, which was constructed in honor of Saint Walburga, Virgin, in the presence of Reverend Mother (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 8, 14-19, 49).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Text
Format:
Notes

30. Mother Willibalda Scherbauer, OSB, St. Joseph, Minesota

Date Created:
1860?
Description:
Orgins of St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. Mother Willibalda Scherbauer, OSB, led four sisters and two candidates, ranging in age from 18 to 26, from St. Marys, Pennslyvania, to the Midwest frontier (St. Cloud, Minnesota) in 1857. Mother Willibalda (Franciska) was born in Kastel, Bavaria in 1831. At an early age, her family took her to St. Walburg Convent in Eichstätt to be educated. There she professed her vows in 1851; four years later, she volunteered to join the sisters in America. Then in 1857, she volunteered to venture to the Northwest Territory and was appointed prioress of the St. Cloud community by Boniface Wimmer, OSB. Mother Willibalda was an accomplished musician of whom Jane Swisshelm, editor of a local newspaper, wrote, "The Lady Abbess is small, slight, delicate, graceful, and as accomplished a lady as you could meet in any circle...waking the first echoes of those broad prairies in a call (daily ringing of the church bell) to bow regularly at an altar of Christian worship..." (McDonald, page41). Mother Willibalda's able administration as leader gave the Benedictine sisters a firm monastic foundation, not only in St. Cloud, but also in St. Joseph, the nucleus of St. Benedict's Monastery. She is lovingly remembered for accepting Mother Benedicta Riepp into the St. Cloud community when she was misunderstood by authorities and some community members for upholding the rights of the sisters in America (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 12, 15-16, 19).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

31. North Star, the riverboat which brought the Benedictine sisters to St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1857?
Description:
Early years in St. Cloud (1857-1863). Mother Willibalda Scherbauer and her companions traveled from St. Marys, Pennsylvania by rail and wagon to Pittsburgh; by river boats on the Ohio River to St. Louis and on the Mississippi River with a stop-over in St. Paul; finally reaching St. Cloud. However, the riverboat, "North Star" was stranded on a sand bar two miles from St. Cloud. After two days, on July 4, 1857, the sisters were taken ashore in small boats. They stopped at the Benedictine monks' college in St. Cloud to enjoy their first meal after three days on the boat without food as they could not afford the price of a meal (50 cents). Then the monks took the sisters to their destination, St. Mary's Parish in the German settlement of Middle St. Cloud. The whole area was desolate having been ravaged by a grasshopper plague. The resulting food shortage and the extreme cold tested the endurance of the sisters during their first years in St. Cloud (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 20-27).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

32. First upper-midwest Benedictine convent succinctly in John Tenvoorde's boarding house (far left), St. Germain and 5th Avenue, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1857?
Description:
Early years in St. Cloud (1857-1863). The six Benedictine women (4 sisters and 2 candidates) arrived in St. Cloud from St. Marys, Pennsylvania, earlier than expected; no convent had been prepared for them. John Tenvoorde's boarding house and entertainment hall (on the far left) was rented for ten months as the first convent in the Midwest frontier. Describing this convent, Prior Demetrius di Marogna, OSB, pastor of the German settlers in St. Cloud, wrote: "The house has two rooms and a spacious refectory with a built-on kitchen and above the refectory, a long attic room where ten or twelve school children's beds can easily be placed. Well, garden, and cellar are in the enclosure. But the rent for the year is $250.00...that price is cheap for here." (McDonald, page29) ..In this temporary abode, the sisters took in 6 boarders, and taught music, art, needlework, English, German, and religion to Catholics and non-Catholics in the neighborhood. The following year they were able to move to the renovated St. Mary's Church and Convent (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 27-34).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Drawings (visual works)

33. Combination St. Benedict's Convent and St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1882
Description:
Early ventures in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1880-1890). In 1882 Cecilia Hall was completed as a combination convent-academy; the north half became St. Benedict's Convent and the south half housed St. Benedict's Academy. That same fall, the academy catalogue was issued and St. Benedict's Academy took its place with the best schools of the day. It was the only finishing school in the vast territory between St. Paul and the Rocky Mountains and drew students mainly from western Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana, Utah, Idaho and some from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Iowa. The pupils coming from a distance were always chaperoned by sisters as the Northwestern Chronicle, a Catholic newspaper published in St. Paul, announced in its August 23, 1883 issue, "The female Academy of the Benedictine Sisters at St. Joseph, MN, opens on September 5. Pupils will find a sister to accompany them to school." (McDonald, page102) That year 12 ladies were accompanied by Sister Alexia Kerst on the train from St. Paul to St. Joseph. Though in the 1890s St. Benedict's Academy lost its position as the only finishing school in its territory, by 1910 plans were already underway to add college courses to the curriculum. Thus, the academy planted the seed that would sprout into the College of Saint Benedict which today is unique in its cooperation with the men's university at St. John's in Collegeville (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 100-108; Sister Grace McDonald, OSB, "A Finishing School in the 1880s," Minnesota History, June 1946).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

34. First class in the new St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1882 - 1883
Description:
Early ventures in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1880-1890). About half of the student body of the academy in 1882-1883 (those in the photograph wearing medals) were prospective candidates applying for membership in the Benedictine community. Some members of this class who became sisters are identified as follows: Top row: 3. Susan (Sister Rose) Kilduff, 5. Josephine (Sister Adalberta) Gerard. Second row: 2. Margaret (Sister Eleanor) Irving. Fourth row: 1. Mary (Sister Felicitas) Knapp, 2. Margaret (Sister Ethelburga ) Farrell. Second from bottom row seated on steps: 3. Sophia (S. Ehrentrude) Wessel, 4. Mary Magdalen (S. Ursula) Hoffmann. Bottom row seated on steps: 2. Emily (Sister) Cherrier, 3. Bridget (Sister Magdalen) Walker (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

35. Orphans at St. Benedict's Orphanage, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1880 - 1884
Description:
Early ventures in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1880-1890). As early as 1875, the sisters had begun to care for orphans in an informal way, but in 1884 the orphanage was incorporated under the laws of the State. Overcrowded conditions forced the sisters to transfer them from St. Cloud to St. Joseph and back again until it was decided to move the girls to the sisters' quarters in Pierz, Minnesota, and the boys were moved back to the old log church and school in St. Joseph. When the fire of 1886 destroyed the orphan home in St. Joseph, the sisters made room for the 23 orphan boys in other buildings on the premises. Finally, at the request of Bishop Otto Zardetti in 1893, the orphans were given to the care of the newly-founded community of Sisters of St. Francis in Little Falls. The Sisters at St. Benedict's, however, retained the familial atmosphere effected by the presence of the orphan children by opening the Bethlehem School for Little Boys as a department of St. Benedict's Academy; little girls,"minims," were housed with the academy students (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 122-123).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

36. Students from the White Earth Indian Reservation attending St. Benedict's Industrial School, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1884 - 1886
Description:
St. Benedict's Industrial School was established in 1884 when St. Benedict's Convent contracted with the U.S. government, through the Catholic Indian Bureau, for support of 30 girls from the White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). Since St. Benedict's Convent had sent sisters to teach at the White Earth mission in 1878, recruitment contacts could easily be made. However, the parents were reluctant to have their daughters leave home and the children did not take to the rigors and formalities of institutional life and education. As a result of the resistance of the Ojibwe, most of the students who came from the reservation were of not fully native but of mixed white and Indian blood. Thus, the sisters inadvertently became a part of the suppressive system which disregarded the spirit and culture of the American Indians. "The federal government, aided by church-sponsored missionaries, marched steadily toward its goal of assimilation for Indians. The drive was particularly strong between the 1880s and the 1930s. Their aim was detribalization, individualization and 'Americanization' of the American Indian." (Berg, p. 159) In the boarding schools, students, taken from their homes, were given a new wardrobe, new language and a whole new way of life. It is not surprising that before the turn of the century the government rescinded the contract system. But it has taken almost another century and the experience of assimilating peoples of different cultures for the American people to begin to appreciate the enrichment that multicultural living can offer. (SBMA, McDonald, pages 120-122 and Sister Carol Berg, OSB, "Agents of Cultural Change: the Benedictines in White Earth," Minnesota History, winter 1982, page 159).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

37. St. Benedict's Industrial School for girls, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1886
Description:
Early ventures in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1880-1890). After a fire in April of 1886 destroyed the church and school complex that had housed the Industrial School, the sisters temporarily provided room and board in the convent. Immediately, the construction of Marmion Hall, the new Industrial School, was begun between the St. Joseph Church and St. Benedict's Convent/Academy. It was ready for the fall term of 1886 for girls from White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). Because of the new quarters and the inspector's good report of the St. Benedict's Industrial School, the Indian Commissioner subsequently expanded the contract permitting the sisters to take any number of pupils and to draw them from any Indian reservation. However, even though the enrollment in the school increased to 100, only 25 were paid for by the government (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

38. St. Mary's Church, School and Convent, St. Germain and Hanover Streets, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1877
Description:
Early years in St. Cloud (1857-1863). The upper floor of St. Mary's Church and School was renovated in 1858 to serve as the second convent for the Benedictine sisters. St. Mary's was the first Catholic parish in St. Cloud. It was organized in 1855 by Father Francis Xavier Pierz, the missionary who had lured Catholic Germans to America (specifically to Minnesota) in the early 1850s with promises of farming and wood lands, rivers, opportunity, and freedom. The year before the Benedictine sisters arrived at St. Mary's Parish, the pastor had opened a private school in a room in Joseph Edlebrock's house. His intention was to complete the section of the complex meant for the school and to have the sisters take charge. However, the parishioners, fearful of losing government support and desirous of managing their church and school, did not accept that arrangement. The sisters then started their own convent school and continued the lessons they had given while at Tenvoorde's house for children of any interested settlers. Twenty children enrolled the first days after the sisters opened St. Mary's School. Among the girls were: Mary Edelbrock, Lizzie Rosenberger, Catherine Felders, and Mary Brown. Among the boys were: Anton, Barney, and Joseph Edelbrock, Henry Rosenberrger, John Niebler, Joseph Reichert, and Louis Emmel. Among those who took private music lessons were: Jennie and Mary Mitchell, Mary and Jennie Cramsie, Sophia and Cecilia Corbett, and Nettie Swisshelm. (McDonald page37) Jane Swisshelm, the editor of the local newspaper wrote: "There is a school kept by a company of Benedictine nuns where is taught, in addition to the common branches, German, drawing, music, and needlework. The subjects are taught by ladies of polished manners and unusual proficiency. The school is in much favor with our citizens and is in a flourishing condition." (ST CLOUD VISITER, May 20,, June 24, 1858). The reputation of the sisters spread. In 1862, two sisters were invited to the nearby parish of Clinton (St. Joseph) where they taught in the district school. The following year, St. Joseph became the site of the motherhouse of the Benedictine sisters in Minnesota. When St. Mary's Parish built a new school in 1876, the sisters (having returned to St. Cloud in 1869) purchased the former convent/school complex and converted it to St. Agnes Academy. The sisters were hoping to alleviate the overcrowded conditions of the boarding school and sisters' quarters in nearby St. Joseph, where the enrollment of day students alone had reached over 200. The sisters teaching at St. Agnes Academy were pioneers in making a distinction between primary and secondary education in the area. Because this academy never flourished as a boarding school in St. Cloud, the sisters closed it in 1880 and opened St. Joseph's Academy in St. Joseph (McDonald, pages 7-16, 22-23, 36-39, 70-71, 120-123; Patricia Kelly Witte, pages 14-17).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

39. Five of the seven Benedictine sisters from St. Mary's Convent, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1888
Description:
Early years in St. Cloud (1857-1863). In 1863 when the number of sisters in St. Cloud had increased to fourteen, they began to look for a more congenial environment. Seven of the sisters responded to an invitation to establish a Benedictine convent in Atchison, KS. Five of these founders of the Atchison group are identified on the photograph, taken in 1888, as follows: (seated:) Sisters Gertrude Kapser, Evangelista Kremeter, Gregoria Moser; (Standing:) Sisters Armanda Meier, Boniface Bantle;.The remaining sisters in St. Cloud chose to move to nearby Clinton (St. Joseph), a flourishing German community, where three of the sisters had already established a mission and two were teaching in the district school there. The main reasons for seeking a more congenial environment was the controversy of public versus parochial schools. The sisters were caught between the American bishops'/pastors' ideal of establishing a parochial school system and the parishioners' resistance to supporting two school systems. The parishioners also resisted the loss of the kind of control over their parishes and schools that they were accustomed to having in Germany. Besides the school controversy, there was the undeniable fact that the sisters needed time to adjust to their new environment. They had not yet mastered the English language or the school discipline needed in America so different from that of their girls' boarding school in Bavaria. Also some citizens viewed the sisters' appearance in religious dress and teaching religion in the district school as violations of the American ideal of separation of church and state (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 53-55; Terry Jaakkola and Julia Lambert Frericks, Shadows Illuminated, pages75-79).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Cabinet photographs

40. Sketch of the First Benedictine convent complex, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Bechtold, Sister Paula OSB
Date Created:
1863
Description:
Early years in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1863-1880). This sketch of the layout of the first church/school/convent complex in St. Joseph was drawn in 1930 by Sister Paula Bechtold, OSB, from her memory of St. Joseph's Convent where she had lived as a young sister. This complex became the home of the Benedictine sisters when they moved from St. Cloud to St. Joseph in 1863. Gradually a small campus to the west of the complex developed -- consisting of laundry, bakery, summer house, chicken coop, barn, woodshed, and a well. Though the primary purpose of the sisters' coming to St. Joseph was to teach the children of the parish, the site served well as the beginnings of St. Benedict's Convent which continued to flourish in St. Joseph. Varied projects were begun in this simple convent complex: the school (the beginnings of the academy), care of orphans, and the Industrial School for Indian girls. In 1886, the old complex of log church and school was completely destroyed by fire. Although new housing had to be found for the orphans and the Industrial School, a new convent/academy had already been built in 1881-1882. With the completion of that new building, the name was changed from St. Joseph's Convent to St. Benedict's Convent (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 59-62, 70-72, 120-122).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Drawings (visual works)

41. St. Joseph Church rectory and a portion of the convent and school complex (to the right) on Main Street, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Early years in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1863-1880). In the early 1860s, St. Joseph (Clinton) was a settlement of 80 families scattered on farms within a radius of 30 miles from the village, which was comprised of 5 homes and the church-school-rectory complex. The settlement flourished so that by 1869, St. Joseph could boast of 180 families. This staunch German Catholic community built a large Gothic style church (1871) and rectory (1874) from stones which the parishioners gathered from their fields. However, because they depended on the district schools, they did not build a parochial school at this time. In 1862, two sisters from the Benedictine community in St. Cloud were invited by the pastor to teach in the St. Joseph district school. After two years, the sisters experienced the same controversy about government support as they had in St. Cloud. In fact, the school board dismissed the sisters and gave H. L. Duerr a four-year teaching contract. This forced the sisters to seek other means of support by establishing an academy, orphanage, and industrial school. The sisters continued these projects even after they were re-employed as district school teachers at the completion of Duerr's contract in 1868. Besides teaching in the St. Joseph School District 9, others (Sisters Aurelia Bissen, Romana Widmer, and Gonzaga Kevenhoerster) taught in District 108 and three (Sisters Cecilia Kapsner, Hilaria Finske, and Vincentia Phiilipp) taught in District 1 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 57-60; Idelia Loso, pages 19-21, 36, 39-40).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

42. Sister Philothea Valerius' class, St. Joseph's School, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1888?
Description:
Early years in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1863-1880). Some of the students in Sister Philothea Valerius' class (c. 1890s) have been identified as follows. Front row left to right: 1. Mary Kotschever, 2. Mary Meyer, 3. Johanna Rau, 5. Bertha Kroll, 6. Mary Lauermann, 7. Bertha Horsch, 8. Monica Ablen, 9. Mary Becker, 10. Mary Schloemer, 11. Bertha Schloemer, 13. Burgmeier, 14. Rose Orth. Second row: 2. Joseph Meyer, 3. Math Bohmer, 4. Michael Meyer, 5. John Reber, 8. Henry Nierengarten (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

43. Sister Stephen Schaaf's class of 1892, St. Joseph's School, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1892
Description:
Early years in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1863-1880). Students in Sister Stephen Schaaf's class of 1892 have been identified as follows: Top row: (Sister Stephen Schaaf), Anna Krahl, Bertha Walz, Christ Walz, George Warnert, Mike Nierengarten, Casper Benning, Frank Rau, Leroy Baloh, Mike Ziegelmeier; 2nd row: Teresa Walz, Lizzie Neis, Molly Roeder, Rose Orth, Anna Walz, Johanna Rau, Mary Mae Schloemer, ___ Burgmeier, Mary Notsch; 1st row: Frank Katzner, Joe Reber, Anton Walz, Joseph Meyer, Pius Ziegelmeier (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

44. St. Joseph District School, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1877?
Description:
Early years in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1863-1880). A new St. Joseph District School #9 was built next to the St. Joseph's Church in 1877. The sisters continued to teach there even though the public versus parochial school controversy had not completely subsided. However, when in 1914, the State Attorney General reinforced an earlier court opinion that the wearing of religious garb while teaching in public schools was unlawful, the parish bought the district school and made it the official St. Joseph's Parochial School. It was later replaced by a larger school which eventually became known as the St. Joseph Lab School in association with the department of education of the College of St. Benedict (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, McDonald, page 180; Loso, pages 39-40).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Postcards

45. Mother Antonia Herman, OSB, second prioress of St. Benedict's Convent (1868-1877), St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Hill, Joseph
Date Created:
1870?
Description:
Early years in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1863-1880). Soon after Mother Antonia (Margarethe) Hermann was born in Baden, Germany, her family immigrated to America. In 1857, Margarethe joined the Benedictine Convent in Erie, Pennsylvania. Four years later, 1861, she was sent to found a new convent in Chicago and was appointed prioress there in 1862. In 1868 Abbot Rupert Seidenbusch, without consulting the sisters in St. Joseph, brought Mother Antonia to St. Benedict's Convent and appointed her as prioress of that community. However, after the completion of her first term as prioress, she was elected by the community in St. Joseph for a second term. Mother Antonia, an able leader, helped the community face the challenges of the early years in St. Joseph. She introduced record and bookkeeping practices which are included in the community's archival collection. Mother Antonia lost the favor of Abbot Alexius Edelbrock when she negotiated to have the sisters discontinue doing the laundry and sewing for the monks at St. John's Abbey. She chose to resign as prioress and returned to her former community in Chicago. Later, she transferred to the Benedictine community in Yankton, SD, where she volunteered her services in the Dakota missions (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 65-73).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Cabinet photographs

46. First class of students at St. Joseph's Academy in the Haarman Building, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1880 - 1881
Description:
Early ventures in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1880-1890). Students and faculty of the first academy class in the Haarman Building (1880-1881) are identified as follows. Faculty upper row: Sisters 1. Flavia Pokowsky, 2. Magdelen Enste, 3. Elizabeth Will (who later became Sister Julia), 4. Bede Linnemann. Faculty - 2nd row: Sister Anotolia Langsford. Faculty - 3rd row: Sister Irminia Kretzer. Students - 2nd row: Anna Burrell, Cecilia Beck, S. Farrell, Katie Rovischer, Emma Otto, Aggie Zingerly, Rose Weiner, Carrie Capser, Iona Owens, Lilly Miller, Katherine Riesgraf, Anna Kapsner. Students - lower 3 rows: Antonette Jennings, Virgina Gerard (later Sister Anastasia), Lena Schlick, Anna Waschenberger, Mary Phillip, Ella Egan, Jennie Kennedy, Katie Loso, Aloysia Zingerly, Adela Jennings, Clara Pottgieser, Lorrina Maurin, Tillie Maurin, Lizzie Beck, Josie Kapser. Because St. Agnes Academy was not flourishing in St. Cloud, Mother Aloysia Bath and the community decided in 1879 to build a new boarding academy at St. Joseph. When the basement walls were nearly completed, the cold weather halted construction; lack of funds prevented more building for another 2 years. The next prioress, Mother Scholastica Kerst, closed the St. Agnes Academy in St. Cloud and rented the Haarman Building across from the church and convent in St. Joseph to open a select boarding academy, St. Joseph's Academy. The Haarman Building was rented for only one year. Because the school was so successful, the earlier plans for a new academy building were immediately resumed and Cecilia Hall was rapidly completed for use in 1882. When the building was blessed, St. Joseph's Academy was renamed St. Benedict's Academy (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives ; McDonald, pages 70-71, 99-100).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

47. Sanctuary and altar, St. Benedict's Convent chapel in Scholastica Hall, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1892?
Description:
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). The heart of a Benedictine monastery is the chapel. Because of the very small chapel within the first convent complex, the sisters attended religious services in the parish church during their early years in St. Joseph. To sustain a strong daily community liturgical life of prayer within the convent, a larger chapel was built in the Scholastica Hall addition in 1892 to accommodate the sisters (and often the students) as they gathered several times daily for community prayer and Eucharist. Within twenty years, the sisters were beginning plans for a large church, Sacred Heart Chapel, to witness to the centrality of worship, not only for St. Benedict's campus, but for the surrounding area of Stearns County. (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

48. Organ and Choir Loft, St. Benedict's Convent Chapel in Scholastica Hall, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1892?
Description:
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). To enhance the solemnity of community worship, the sisters invested in pipe organs from 1904, when this organ was purchased for the chapel in Scholastica Hall, to the present time. Along with the restoration of Gregorian Chant, the Liturgical Movement became a primary focus of the community. For some of its members, in particular Sisters Urban, Cecile, and Gemma Gertken, it became their life's work (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

49. Class of 1885 who made profession of perpetual vows, St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1885
Description:
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). In 1885, the following sisters made their profession of perpetual vows at St. Benedict's Convent: (left to right) (Front Row): Sisters Aquina Prettner, Justina Knapp, Paula Bechtold; (Row 2): Sisters Johanna Philippi, Mother Scholastica, Lidwina Weisser; (Row 3): Sister Meinrad Burrell; Row 4: Sisters Seraphica Kennedy, Vincentia Philipp, Patricia Egan; (Row 5): Sisters Amata Macket, Margaret Dellwo, Laurentia Koempel; (Row 6): Sisters: Franziska Pogatchnik, Elizabeth Reisgraf; (Row 7): Sisters: Martha Fenneis, Demetria Keller, Julia Will, DeSales Walz, Bonaventure Kapsner (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

50. Sample design for needlework, Art and Needlework (Vestment) Department, St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, MN

Date Created:
1900?
Description:
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). This sample pattern for needlework done by Sister Felicitas Knapp was one of the designs of roses, the motif used for an entire set of vestment known as the "rose vestments." Note the number-coding written on the pattern as a guide for the color of threads to be used. Sister Felicitas was an accomplished artist and well known for her 30 years of extra-curricular service of making and caring for the costumes used for plays given at the academy/college. Her realistic embroidery and rare gift for color combination was recognized by Harper Magazine, a publishing firm of New York City. She entered an embroidery contest sponsored by the Harper's Bazaar in 1910. There were 3,000 entries and she received the fourth prize. In 1900, she was appointed assistant to the directress of the needlework (vestment) department of St. Benedict's Convent. Her own sister, Sister Justina Knapp, was the directress and held that position for 45 years. The sisters had engaged in this art from their early beginning in Minnesota. Mother Willibalda Scherbauer, who as a young girl had received scholarships to attend the Royal Institute in Altötting, Bavaria, for eight years, brought this art to the New World. She taught the young members of the community to do fine embroidery and offered the first class in art needlework in their school in St. Cloud. When the sisters moved from St. Cloud to St. Joseph, Mother Willibalda appointed Sister Irmina Kretzer as the directress of the community's embroidery department. In 1895 Sister Justina Knapp was appointed the directress. It was Sister Justina's efforts and skill that provided energy and direction to the community's contribution to the art of needlework and the making of vestments. The department began in a small attic room in the first convent/school complex in St. Joseph, but in every new building or addition to the convent/academy, space was made available for this work. The department gradually evolved into the vestment department to which an entire floor of a new convent building (St. Walburg's) was dedicated. Many sets of hand-embroidered vestments, often embellished with gold thread, were purchased by parishes around the country. (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Text
Format:
Pattern books

51. Carriage used by the sisters, St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1900?
Description:
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). The carriage used by the sisters around 1900 was very likely the vehicle that met students and candidates at the St. Joseph train depot. It had first belonged to the administrator of the St. Cloud Diocese and is still preserved in St. Benedict's Monastery Museum (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

52. Bus used in the early 1900s by St. Benedict's Convent and Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1900?
Description:
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909. Though a far cry from the car and bus services now available for St. Benedict's Convent, this horse-drawn "bus" and a carriage were the only means of transportation for the sisters and the academy students in the early 1900s (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

53. Power Plant, Laundry, Windmill, St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1880 - 1889
Description:
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). As was the custom of Benedictine houses in the Old World, the sisters, from their beginnings in America, tried to be self-supporting. They maintained a farm, gardens, orchard, vineyard, chickens, turkeys, and bees. The laundry was an important service, not only for the sisters, orphans, and academy, but also for the monks of St. John's Abbey for whom the sisters did the washing and sewing. The first water works, a wooden water tank built in 1892, was a great boon to sisters who worked in the laundry. In 1899 an underground sewer was dug. New developments were soon added to meet the needs of the growing population on St. Benedict's campus and to help supply the village of St. Joseph. These developments included the first power plant and electric light plant (1906), a 60,000 gallon water tower (1907), and a large well in 1909 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

54. Student Infirmary, St. Benedict's Convent and Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1903 - 1906
Description:
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). In 1903 the sisters built a separate house to be used as an infirmary for students on St. Benedict's Convent campus. Because of its segregation from other buildings, it was ideal for isolating patients with contagious diseases; hence dubbed the "pest house." A few years after it was built, more than 100 students and candidates were stricken in the diphtheria epidemic. This building still exists today. It was moved closer to Minnesota Street in St. Joseph and renovated for use as the convent guest house (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

55. Mother Cecilia Kapsner, OSB, prioress (1901-1919) of St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, MN

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1900?
Description:
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). Mother Cecilia (Mary) Kapsner born in Prussia in 1859, came to America at age 15 with her family who settled in Pierz. Two years later, Mary entered St. Benedict's Convent and professed vows in 1878. In 1901 she was elected to serve as prioress, a position she held for three consecutive terms. Mother Cecilia was the first prioress whose background was similar to the majority of the members of St. Benedict's Convent as well as the people in the St. Joseph area. With keen perception and ready judgment she led the community through considerable building expansion. Especially noteworthy is the construction of the Sacred Heart Chapel and the Teresa Hall addition to the college, both having been in the planning stages as early as 1909 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

56. Music Program (Choral Group), St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1885
Description:
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909); St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. The students and teachers have been identified as follows. Standing left to right: Kitten Marshall, Margaret Sanz, Bertha Fisher, Adelaide Stumpf, Pauline Roesaler, Augusta Kenek, Catherine Paulissen, Pauline Wieland, Alta Letson, Emma Engesser, Gertrude Wiemann, Eleonore Carmon, Anna Kepper, Nellie Marshall, Minnie Fehrenbacher, Clara Otto, Sister Josephine McLean. Sitting: .Sister Ulric Beck, Lizzie Zapp, Edith Cowing, Nan Marshall, Margaret Claesgens, Margaret Geissel, Josephine Hafner, Anna Alzheimer. Music has always been an important part of the sisters' religious and professional lives. Wherever the sisters opened schools, a music teacher was provided for music instructions in the classrooms and in private lessons; the academy was no exception. Besides the Choral Group, courses were offered in playing the piano, organ, harp, guitar, and zither. For the regular courses and board and room, students paid $80.00 a term. Extra fees ranging from $5.00 to $25,00 were charged for instructions in such courses as music and art; materials were purchased by the students. Records show that some of these accounts were paid in produce: cows, meat, or grain. Because the convent's schedule and discipline, though adapted, prevailed in the boarding school as well, students were given daily charges. These charges, such as cleaning the chimneys of the lamps, starting the fires and keeping them going in the chapel, study hall, dormitories, classrooms and the infirmary, were considered as part of their payment for room and board (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 104-105).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

57. Domestic Arts Class, St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1886 - 1887
Description:
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909). Some of the class of 1886-87 have been identified as left to right: 1. Pauline Roesler, 2. Edith Cowing, 3. Julia Kinck, 4. Lizzie Zapp, 5. Margaret Kerst, 6. Alta Letson, 7. Christina Schultz. Standing: 1. Sang, 2. Hammond, 3. Wright, 4. Irene Reed, 5. Sister Amata Macket, 6. Mary Rhodes, 7. Lizzie Wagner, 8. Amme Maurin, 9. Nellie Schultz, 10. L. Mutschleckner, 13. Cecilia Northman, 16. Sara Mercer, 17. Nellie McCabe. The academy was geared toward a liberal arts education. While there was no thought of training girls for a career, the intellectual, aesthetic, and moral training did include the practical. The home arts of cooking and baking were considered important in the training of young ladies (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, page 102).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

58. Niobe Group performs the "Delsarte Tableaux" performed by students of St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Hill, Eugene S.
Date Created:
1893
Description:
Drama held a significant role in the curriculum of the academy. Performances drew large audiences, not only from the surrounding areas, but from as far as Milwaukee, WI. The Delsarle Tableaux performance, honoring Bishop Otto Zardetti, was presented at the Village Hall in St. Joseph on February 10, 1893 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

59. First library of St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Hill, Eugene S.
Date Created:
1899
Description:
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909). The library became a vital part of the academy. It was one of the most inviting places on the campus -- one that encouraged the Benedictine tradition of love for learning. In the next addition to the academy/college (Teresa Hall in 1914), an entire floor was devoted to the library. Eventually, as the college expanded to the western portion of the campus, a separate building was constructed as the campus library (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

60. Museum at St. Benedict's Convent and Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Hill, Eugene S.
Date Created:
1899
Description:
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909). The tradition of preserving records and items of historical importance is passed on from one generation to the next -- from the Benedictine community in EichstÃtt, Bavaria, to the Sisters of St. Benedict in St. Joseph. Now a large archives and a museum, "Art and Heritage Place," preserve the records and objects which have been collected over the years by the Benedictine Sisters of St. Joseph, MN, to depict their life and work here and abroad (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

61. Addition to St. Benedict's Industrial School, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Hill, Eugene S.
Date Created:
1887?
Description:
Early ventures in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1880-1890). Because the government opened the contract for any number of students to attend St. Benedict's Industrial School, an addition was constructed on the west end of Marmion Hall so that the building could accommodate 150 students. When in 1896, the government dropped the contract system of Indian education, the school remained open for two more years when it was forced to close due to lack of funds. The west addition to Marmion Hall was then converted to a school for little boys (ages 6-12), often referred to as "Bethlehem School for Boys." The sisters reserved the east end of Marmion for the formation of its new members (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, page 122).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

62. St. Benedict's (Bethlehem) Boarding School for Little Boys, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1897
Description:
Early ventures in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1880-1890). After the closing of the Industrial School, the west end of Marmion Hall (porch added on) accommodated the boarding school for little boys (age 6-12) as a department of St. Benedict's Academy. It was often referred to as "Bethlehem School for Boys." There were 7 students the first year and as the enrollment increased, the maximum number of boys housed per year was set at 36. A total of 715 boys attended during the next 40 years of the school's existence at St. Benedict's. In 1938, it was transferred to Altoona, Wisconsin (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

63. Short Pants League, St. Benedict's Bethlehem School for Little Boys, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1908?
Description:
Early ventures in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1880-1890). Group portrait of the Short Pants Baseball leage, with Bearpaw Wolfe as Captain (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

64. Minims of St. Benedict's Academy with their prefect, Sister Ernesta Kranz, OSB, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1880?
Description:
Early ventures in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1880-1890). In the early years, an academy was geared to primary school education and only gradually developed into a secondary school. This photo shows the wide age-range of students attending St. Benedict's Academy before the 1900s. This range of ages may account for the family (community) spirit that developed in the school. It was customary to refer to the younger girls as "minims." The prefect with this group is Sister Ernesta Kranz; the child in the sailor suit is identified as Alice O'Niel (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

65. St. Benedict's Convent and Academy (Cecilia, Benedict, and Scholastica Halls), St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Hill, Eugene S.
Date Created:
1892
Description:
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). From 1882 to 1890 the membership of the Benedictine community at St. Joseph grew to almost 300 professed sisters. The enrollment in St. Benedict's Academy increased to 213 (132 grade school girls and boys and 81 high school girls). Therefore, the sisters added wings to Cecilia Hall (built in 1881-1882) as follows: Benedict Hall in 1883; Scholastica Hall in 1892; Gertrude Hall in 1898. Several factors accounted for this rapid growth: with larger enrollments in the academy, the number of candidates entering the religious community increased; as the Church became more stable when the Northwest Territory was organized as a Vicariate in 1875 and as the St. Cloud Diocese was established in 1889, more parishes developed throughout north central Minnesota; and as sisters went out to teach in more and more schools, the number of candidates from parishes increased. The religious community became more stable and accepted. By 1909, within its first 52 years, the membership grew to 452, and in the next 45 years, St. Benedict's Convent reached its peak membership of 1,278. (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

66. Aerial view of St. Benedict's Convent and Academy campus, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1900?
Description:
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). This aerial view of St. Benedict's Convent/Academy campus (1909) shows the extent of the 40-year growth of the Benedictine community and its academy from the 1863 church/convent/school complex to this impressive campus. About five years after this photograph was taken, the addition of the spacious, copper-domed chapel and the Teresa Hall addition to the academy/college, gave St. Benedict's Convent the appearance of a full-fledged monastery with the college under its wing (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Postcards

67. St. Benedict's Convent Cemetery and St. Gertrude Hall of the Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1900
Description:
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). St. Benedict's Convent Cemetery plot was laid out in 1884. Prior to that time, the first twelve sisters who died were buried in the parish cemetery (with the exception of Mother Benedicta Riepp, who was buried in St. Cloud). The grave markers attest to the exceptionally early age of death due to the toll of the rigors of pioneer life -- the scarcity of good food; the exposure to the cold and to epidemics; inadequate medical care; and the pressures of work and overcrowded conditions. During the first 57 years, 95 sisters died; the average age at death was less than 30 years. The grave markers are unique. The first were simple iron crosses. From 1890 to 1935, the community purchased a more elaborately designed cross with a plaque bearing the inscribed information of name and the dates of birth, profession, and death. Later the community purchased granite upright-markers; at present granite flat-footstones are used. In 1884 Mother Benedicta Riepp's remains were brought from St. Cloud to St. Joseph. The grave, marked with an iron cross, has been a place of pilgrimage, not only for the sisters of St. Benedict's Monastery, but also for other American Benedictine sisters and for citizens of Mother Benedicta's birthplace, Waal, Germany (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

68. Gertrude Hall addition, St. Benedict's Academy , St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1904
Description:
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909). By the end of the 19th century, another large wing (Gertrude Hall) was added to St. Benedict's Academy. The academy had been incorporated with the Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict in 1887. It was one of the oldest secondary schools in Minnesota and one of the few Catholic "finishing schools" in the 1880s unique in its contribution to education in Minnesota's rural areas. The academy was well accepted because the concept of a convent boarding school was familiar to the early pioneers from Germany where the Benedictine sisters taught schools within the confines of their convent enclosures. The academy courses outlined in the catalogue, very similar to those offered in today's secondary schools, included Elocution, Algebra, Church History, Religion, Physical Geography, Ancient History, Hygiene, Rhetoric, Music and Art. Some textbooks used, still preserved in St. Benedict's Archives, include: Dr. Joseph Martindale's, First Lessons in Natural Philosophy, published by Elredge Brother of Philadelphia in 1879 (for science classes); J. C. Smith's history book published by J. B. Lippincott and Co., Philadelphia; and A. S. Barnes' GENERAL HISTORY, 1883. St. Benedict's Academy lost its position as the only finishing school in its territory in the 1890s. However, the academy can take credit for giving birth to the College of St. Benedict. By 1909 plans were underway to add college courses to the academy curriculum. In 1914 the College of St. Benedict was established -- one of the few women's colleges in Minnesota. It is unique in its cooperation with the men's St. John's University in Collegeville located a few miles from St. Joseph (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald pages 100-108; Sister Grace McDonald, "A Finishing School in the 1880s," Minnesota History, June 1946).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

69. Academy pupils at St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1883 - 1884
Description:
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909); St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. Academy class of 1883-1884, front row sitting left to right: Neville Ensor, Mary Schwartz, Elizabeth Spies, Tillie Keppers, Barbara Venne, Margaret Sanz, Ursula Glatzmeier, Anna Herron, Bertha Linnemann, Carrie Smith, Alta Letson, Frances Pfannenstein, Lena Bernick, Mary Rhodes, Lucretia Mutschlechner. Second row sitting: Rose Black, Mary Merten, Anna Brockmann, Theresa Schreiner, Margaret Klein, Stella LaComb, Margaret Kerst, Josephine Friend, Anna Wagner; (Third row sitting): Anna Kahl, Laura Bosworth, Margaret Lauermann, Magdalen Theisen, Barbara Eich; (First row standing): Eliza Darbelly, Louisa Maurin, Sister Alexia Kerst, Mary Roach, Clara Otto, Mary Kennedy; (Second row standing - next to building): Johanna Madigan, Mary Brockmann, Jennie McLean, Sister Bonaventure Kapsner, Margaret Claesgens, Margaret Farrell, Sarah Farrell, Louise Wall, Mattie Bosworth, Josie Smith, Mary Zimmer, Sarah Kelly, Lavina Huber, Sister Pius Roche, Sister Celestine Marschall, Josie Gerard, Mary Hoffmann. While the sisters rejoiced at the increasing enrollment, they were concerned about maintaining a small enough number to assure a homey atmosphere and a community spirit. In the early 1880s, because many of the students were of grade-school age, there was a built-in family atmosphere in the academy. Gradually, however, the academy drew students of high school age and older; by 1909, the academy was ready to consider offering college classes (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

70. First study hall, St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Hill, Eugene S.
Date Created:
1885?
Description:
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909). In boarding schools where living quarters were crowded, it was imperative to have a place where students could study in quiet. The study hall was supervised by one of the sisters in order to maintain quiet and to be of assistance to students doing their homework. This study hall in Cecilia Hall also served as the chapel until other wings were added to the convent to provide for larger chapels (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

71. Residents of St. Joseph's Home, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1909?
Description:
In 1904, St. Joseph's Home reached its full capacity of 80 residents. By subsequent additions its capacity was increased to 115. It was the sisters' first nursing home, especially attractive to older men because they could be involved with work on the farm and large gardens located on the premises. Later the sisters would own or manage and staff six nursing homes in Minnesota and two in North Dakota (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, McDonald, pages 261-263).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

72. Fire at St. Raphael's Hospital II, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1905
Description:
The upper floors of St. Raphael's Hospital II were destroyed by fire in 1905. This was the sisters' third hospital in St. Cloud. With the failure of the hospital site (St. Raphael's I) east of the Mississippi River, the sisters had again faced the burden of financing a hospital; financial aid from the city was not available. In 1900 they had built this hospital of 2+ stories, large enough for 50 patients, next to the site of the first hospital on Ninth Avenue. It was again named St. Raphael's and often referred to as St. Raphael's II. The fire gave the necessary thrust, not only to restore the upper floors, but to expand the hospital. (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, McDonald, pages 257-258).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

73. St. Raphael's Hospital II restored and expanded after the 1905 fire, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1906
Description:
After the fire in 1905, St. Raphael's Hospital (II) was restored and the 3rd and 4th floors added on; this increased its capacity to 90 beds. The building to the right was then converted from an art/music academy to St. Raphael's Hospital School of Nursing (1908-1928). In 1915 the School of Nursing received state accreditation and in 1928 was moved to the new St. Cloud Hospital. [Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives , McDonald, ppage258-259]
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

74. Operating Room in St. Raphael's (II) Hospital, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1909?
Description:
The up-to-date equipment in St. Raphael's Hospital was the pride and joy of the sisters and the medical staff. The operating room was designed for the radically new method of sterilizing everything. Dr. John B. Dunn, who had studied surgery both in Germany and in the eastern U.S., introduced this method in St. Cloud as early as 1893. It had made useless the elaborate surgical equipment for the wet antiseptic or Listerian method used at the first St. Raphael's Hospital I (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, McDonald, pages 257-258).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

75. Patient's Room in St. Raphael's II Hospital, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1909?
Description:
St. Raphael's Hospital (II) was furnished with latest type of equipment, including dumb waiters, bathrooms and toilets. Rates for health care services were advertised as follows; Accommodation in private room, per week, $9 to $15; Accommodation in double room, per week, $7.00; Accommodation in general ward, per week, $6.00; Beverages, Medicines and Night Watch . . . Extra; Medical Attendance . . . Payments Weekly in Advance. When the illness is likely to be of long duration, a deposit is to be made with the Superioress (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

76. Aftermath of the April 14, 1886 cyclone in St. Cloud, Minnesota

Creator:
Hill, Eugene S.
Date Created:
1886-04
Description:
Despite the fact that the new St. Benedict's Hospital boasted of a modern heating system, an operating room, two private rooms, wards, and a kitchen, only ten patients were received during the first two months. The sisters began to worry about their hospital project until a cyclone swept over St. Cloud and the neighboring towns killing 58 and injuring hundreds. It wrecked all in its wake but the hospital which became the center for rescue work. The sisters toiled for 48 hours before relief came from the Twin Cities and neighboring towns. The catastrophe broke down the prejudice against hospitals and, thereafter, St. Benedict's Hospital did not lack patients; at the close of the second year of service, the number of patients received reached 400. When over-crowded conditions forced the sisters to build a new hospital, St. Benedict's Hospital was converted to an academy of art and music (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives , McDonald, page 254).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

77. Students of the St. Clotilde's Music and Art Academy (in former St. Benedict's Hospital, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1892?
Description:
St. Clotilde Music and Art Academy (1890-1906). When the sisters built a new hospital east of the Mississippi River, the former St. Benedict's Hospital was converted to an art/music academy for 40 students. The enrollment of this academy grew to 50. At the same time, the sisters opened a kindergarten in the academy for 26 three to nine-year olds; later that enrollment increased to 57. When a third hospital was built on Ninth Avenue next to the former St. Benedict's Hospital, St. Clotilde's Academy was closed and the building became a school of nursing (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

78. St. Raphael's Hospital I built in east St. Cloud, Minnesota

Creator:
A.B. Vouk, St. Cloud, MN
Date Created:
1890?
Description:
By 1889 the increased patient rate at St. Benedict's Hospital forced the sisters to look for larger quarters. John Coates and Daniel H. Freeman offered the sisters a five-acre site on the east side of the Mississippi River near the reformatory. The following year, because they were assured that a bridge, road, and even a streetcar line would connect that site with St. Cloud proper, the sisters built a three-story, up-to-date hospital there. Upon Bishop Otto Zardetti's request, it was named St. Raphael's Hospital. For ten years they labored against odds to make this venture a success in spite of the fact that the transportation facilities never materialized. When it became obvious that the site was unsatisfactory, the sisters planned to build another St. Raphael's Hospital (II), this time back on Ninth Avenue next to the site of their first hospital, St. Benedict's Hosptial (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, McDonald, pages 256-257).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

79. Rear view of St. Joseph Home (former St. Raphael's (1) Hospital, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1900?
Description:
Failing in their hope to dispose of St. Raphael's Hospital (I) by a sale to the State that was then looking for a location for a women's reformatory, the sisters converted St. Raphael's Hospital (I) to a nursing home. St. Joseph's Home (rear view) served the elderly for 78 years (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, McDonald, pages 261-262).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

80. Crowd watching the fire at St. Mary's Church, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1920
Description:
Crowd on St. Germain Street in St. Cloud watching the burning of St. Mary's Church on August 15, 1920.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

81. St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1893
Description:
Exterior view of the St. Benedict Convent in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

82. Slaughter house at St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1884
Description:
Exterior view of the slaughter house at St. John's University campus.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

83. Abbot Alexius Edelbrock, OSB, Collegeville, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1883
Description:
Portrait of Abbot Alexius Edelborck, Order of Saint Benedict (OSB).
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

84. Home of Mr. Jacob Engel, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1888
Description:
Exterior view of the Jacob Engle in St. Cloud.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

85. Church of St. Columbkille, Avon, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of the Church of St. Columbkille in Avon.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

86. Benedictine Priory, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1883
Description:
Exterior view of the Benedictine Priory in St. Cloud.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

87. Interior of Church of St. Martin, Seedstone, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Interior view of the Church of St. Martin.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

88. Church of St. Wendelin, Luxemburg, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of the Church of St. Wendelin in Luxemboug, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

89. Church of St. Joseph and parsonage, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1888
Description:
Exterior view of the Church of St. Joseph in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

90. Catholic School at Meier Grove, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of the Catholic School at Meier Grove.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

91. Mary Help of Christians Convent, St. Augusta, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of Mary Help of Christians Convent in St. Augusta.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

92. Church of Immaculate Conception School and Sisters Residence, New Munich, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of the Church of Immaculate Conception School and the sister's home in New Munich.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

93. Church of Immaculate Conception, New Munich, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of the Church of Immaculate Conception in New Munich.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

94. St. John's Church, Meier Grove, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of St. John's Catholic Church in Meier Grove, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

95. Saints Peter and Paul School, Richmond, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of Saints Peter and Paul School in Richmnd, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

96. Immaculate Conception School, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of the Immaculate Conception School.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

97. Seven Dolors Church, Albany, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1898
Description:
Exterior view of the Seven Dolors Church in Albany.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

98. St. James Church, Jacobs Prairie, Minnesota

Creator:
Hansen, Bonaventure OSB
Date Created:
1905
Description:
Exterior view of the St. James Church at Jacobs Prairie near Cold Spring, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

99. St. Joseph Church and Parsonage, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of St. Joseph Catholic Church in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

100. St. Michael's Church, Spring Hill, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of St. Michael's Church in Spring Hill, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs
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