Shown standing left to right are Captain Charles Ahlers, John Fisher, and Goodwin Esterly. Shown seated are Charles Fisher, referee Carl Reckner, and Michael Kappel. The manager, E.P. Neill, is shown in the left corner.
The graduating class of Barnum School; seated left to right; Clara Hecker, Mr. Brophy, principal, Louise Kreiger, Loraine Balton; standing left to right; Pearl Skelton, Mayme Lee, Luella Goodell, Ray Addington, Minnie Siemer, Hannah Johnson.
Studio portrait of the 1913 football team. Team captain Meredith Griffith holds a football marked, "MHS - 13." Back row: Harry Freeberg, Clarence Pond, Engrel Nelson, Prof. Carl W. Smith, Clifford Peterson, Prof. Vernon A. Looper, Reed Rose, Guy Cahoon, F. O'Brien. Middle Row: Percy Hall, C. Keesey, Jay Hodson, Captain Meredith Griffith, Oscar Wendlandt, Vincent Keesey, Willard Wigley. Front Row: Gust (?) Widell, Dan Lloyd.
Portrait of the Reverend Samuel Fletcher Kerfoot, Hamline University president, 1912-1927. A 1889 Hamline graduate, he was a minister in the Methodist church and president of Dakota Wesleyan University, Mitchell, South Dakota, before becoming Hamline's president.
Raymond P. Kaighn, Class of 1898. He was Hamline University's first physical education director and Hamline's coach for the first intercollegiate basketball game ever played, which was against the Minnesota School of Agriculture in 1895. He also played on the first basketball team under the direction of James Naismith at the international YMCA training school in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Portrait of the Reverend Jabez Brooks, Hamline University president, 1854-1857 and 1861-1869. Prior to coming to Hamline, he was principal of a seminary in Watertown, Wisconsin, and a professor of Greek and mathematics at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin. After leaving Hamline, he became a member of the faculty at the newly opened University of Minnesota.
Portrait of the Reverend George Henry Bridgman, Hamline University president, 1883-1912. Prior to coming to Hamline, he was a minister in the Canadian Methodist Conference and principal of Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Lima, New York.
Portrait of Helen Sutherland, Hamline University graduate (Class of 1863). She served as the university's preceptress from 1865 to 1867 and taught mathematics and English.
Studio protrait of the Thief River Falls City Council. Standing: G. Halverson, M.V. Evenson. Sitting: T.P. Hamre, Ed Evenson, Olaf Ramstad, W.W. Prichard, Milton Forder, Lars Backe'
The Roseau Hockey Club: back row: Archie Alley, Robert Ross, Carl Peterson; middle row: Paul Buran, Carl Von Rohr, Sr. Ross, Front: Oliver Oie, Leck Jacklin, Lon Thompson. Original taken from 8 x 10 glass plate. Box marked "grandpas Mill - Jacklin - Good Old plates." See "Roseau County Heritage," 1992, page 48.
Thief River Falls Volunteer Fire Department: B: Albert Lonson, Charles Robbecke, Jesse LaBree, Jim Farr, M: Lewis Lonson, Ed. Jaranson, Chris Paulson, Emil Zeh, Geo. Curran, Ed Langevin; Front: C.C. Schuster, Paul Meddrigh, Christ Porter, C. Erickson, Dennis LeSage, Eric Bakke, Phil Zeh
Studio portrait of Alois and Louisa Wemerskirchen, members of a well-known Shakopee family. Handwriting on reverse reads: "Louisa Wermerskirchen" and "Alois Wermerskirchen."
Characters from play "The Captain's Idea" staged in St. Clement's Church Hall in Duluth on March 16, 1909. Reverend Raymond Basel, Order of Saint Benedict (OSB), served as assistant pastor and director.
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).
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).
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). Sister Gertrude Flynn, OSB, was the prioress (in the 1870s) of a small, struggling community, St. Gertrude's Convent, Shakopee, MN, which (like St. Benedict's) had originated in St. Marys, PA. St. Gertrude's was the community of which Sister Scholastica Kerst, OSB, became a member in 1862. However, in 1877 Sister Scholastica transferred her membership to St. Benedict's Convent and within three years was appointed the fourth prioress of St. Benedict's. One of her first official actions was to negotiate the merger of St. Gertrude's Convent with St. Benedict's despite the disapproval of Sister Gertrude and her community. The merger of this English-speaking community introduced other nationalities that enhanced St. Benedict's community and provided it with a group of zealous religious whose professional experience assisted in meeting the demands of its academy and other apostolates. Sister Gertrude served St. Benedict's well in her role as community secretary and in her hope and encouragement for the full restoration of praying the Divine Office, a privilege denied the community by Abbot Boniface Wimmer, OSB, for the sake of the teaching apostolate (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 95-99).
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).
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).
These five sisters and four lay nurses formed the first group to be trained by Ms. Wilma Johnson, a superintendent of nurses from Chicago engaged by the School of Nursing. Fom left to right seated: Sisters Julitta Hoope, Leobina Gliszhenski, Standing: Sisters Natalia Schmidtbauer, Cunigund Kuefler, Salome Amschler (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, page 258).
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). Survival was the sisters' prime challenge during those first years of exposure to cold and scarcity of food in White Earth. But even so, they took two orphan girls (the younger one only four years old) into their home. The care of orphans was to become an important work for them at St. Benedict's Mission as White Earth developed. Sisters Philomena and Lioba, unlike in temperaments, proved to be well-suited to work together among the Ojibwe. Sister Philomena, young and vivacious, had volunteered for missionary work; Sister Lioba, deliberate and more conservative, was fearful of venturing that far into the northern region. They learned to rely on each other's strengths and persevered through 50 years of mission work at the White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). Records indicate that, when a fire destroyed the school just a few weeks after their arrival, Sister Lioba felt justified in going back home, but Sister Philomena suggested fixing up the barn to serve as the school, which they did at a cost of $35.00. [SBMA, McDonald, pp. 232-237]
St. Mary's Mission, Red Lake Indian Reservation (Red Lake Band of Chippewa). "Traditionally the governmental structure of the Ojibwe was based on adherence to an hereditary clan chieftainship among the people, and the right to participate in clan decisions was an inherited right" (Lindblad, page 78). They did what they could to keep friendly relations with government agencies, traders, lumbermen and missionaries, while preserving their status of the reservation as a "closed reservation." The people of the Red Lake Indian Reservation themselves insisted on this status to protect their autonomy and food source. It took years for the American people to realize the injustices that were inflicted upon the Americans Indians. The Ojibwe's efforts at revitalizing their culture attest to their dignity and resilience as a people (SBMA Lindlbad, page 78).
Helen Kramer and Lydia Kost pose for an advertisement of the opening of the School of Nursing at St. Raphael's Hospital (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Miss Wilma Johnson, a superintendent of nurses from Chicago, was engaged by the Sisters of St. Benedict to serve as the first director of the St. Raphael's School of Nursing in St. Cloud from 1908 to 1910 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, McDonald, page 258).
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). In 1877, the sisters of St. Gertrude's Convent in Shakopee* were asked to care for orphan children in temporary quarters on Ninth and Robert Streets in St. Paul. Sisters Benedicta Klein and Agatha Nachbar assumed the responsibility for six orphans. For this they received a salary of $10.00 a month. When this photograph was taken in 1880, Sister Placida Heine had replaced Sister Agatha Nachbar. Because the number of orphans grew to 17 by 1879, a new building was constructed near the Assumption parochial school so that the orphans could be educated there. After St. Gertrude's Convent was amalgamated with St. Benedict's in 1880, the orphanage came under the jurisdiction of St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, MN. For information about St. Gertrude's Convent, see SBM.03e or sbm00016 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). St. Bernard's Grade School had many activities, such as a Drama Club, much like a high school would have. For a period of time the curriculum also included a 2-year commercial school program (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in St. Cloud (1869-1909). Not to be surpassed by the neighboring new Holy Angels Parish in St. Cloud, which had established a high school in 1902, St. Mary's also conducted a high school from 1907 to 1914. With Sisters Meinrad Winter and Magna Werth as its first teachers, the school opened with seven pupils; only one student, Lillian Bastien, persevered to graduation (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Sister Dignata Plachta taught at St. Boniface School in Melrose from 1905 to 1951 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Some of the sisters teaching in Duluth before the separation of the Duluth sisters from St. Benedict's in St. Joseph are identified as follows. Top Row - left to right: S. Catherine Siefner, Clementine Jastrzenska, Florentine Cannon, Augustine Terhaar, Margaret Dellwo (Delleveaux); (Bottom Row - left to right): S. Bertha Cherrier, Regina Otto, Cornelia Berg, Anastasia Gerard, Magdalen Walker. Duluth was first settled because of a short-lived rumor in 1854 that copper and ore were found on the North Shore. It was not until 1869, when Duluth was connected to St. Paul by railroad, that the population began to grow. Though Duluth experienced a five-year set back in 1873 when Jay Cooke's (financier of the railroad-to-the-Pacific) financial empire collapsed, it became the ore capital and the grain and lumber harbor of the Northwest. Parish communities and schools began to flourish and the Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph, MN, responded to invitations to teach there: in 1881, five sisters from St. Joseph opened Sacred Heart School for over 200 children in an old carriage shop, but the pastor closed that school; in 1883, seven sisters returned to Sacred Heart Parish and taught in a public school building until a new school (St. Thomas Aquinas) was built; in 1885 sisters began teaching in St. Stanislaus School in the Polish parish, St. Mary Star of the Sea; in 1887 they opened St. Clement School and also the Store-Front School on Garfield Avenue for the French parish; in 1891 the sisters opened St. Anthony's School. All of these mission schools, as well as St. Mary's Hospital, were transferred to St. Benedict's new daughterhouse which was established in Duluth in 1892. Prompted by her deposition as prioress in St. Joseph, it was the energy and the independent pioneer spirit of Mother Scholastica Kerst that effected the separation of the sisters in Duluth from the motherhouse in St. Joseph. While only 20 of the 43 sisters in Duluth opted to join the newly-formed community, Villa Sancta Scholastica, the separation strained the resources of both communities. However, both rallied and flourished in Minnesota. The Benedictines in Duluth today conduct the College of St. Scholastica and a Benedictine Health Care System (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; Olsenius, pages 23-24).
First 50 years of the College of Saint Benedict (CSB). Sister Dominica Borgerding was appointed the directress of the academy in 1909. When the college was established in 1913, she served as directress for both the academy and the college until 1918. Hers was an ample, progressive, hearty soul. Weeping girls were swept to her bosom, given a huge apple, and made to feel that all was right with the world. She is best known for her amazing gift for dramatics (Gable, OSB).
Portrait of Joe Whitford. Mr. Whitford built the first cabin on the townsite in the summer of 1857 and was responsible for naming the city in honor of his benefactor, James Fergus.
Back Row from Left to Right: Roy Mick; Lydon Brandenburg; Elton Pherum; Henry Asseln; Joe Shellman; Elton Ward. Middle Row: Frank Frankoviz; George Barnard; Roy Curtiss; Jim Colehour; Ed McFadden; Arthur Johnson. Front Row: Frank Adams; Horace Rawson; Walter Frankberg.
William Grace, Michael Healy, and James Byrnes appearing in the College of St. Thomas theatrical production of "Handy Andy." Negative Number: C82-150-214.
A portrait of Henry O'Keefe in his letter sweater. O'Keefe was a member of the 1905 College of St. Thomas basketball team, winners of the City League trophy.
A portrait of William D. Jamieson, a professor of dramatics and oratory at the College of St. Thomas. He was also the first coach of the debating team.