From the fields, the harvested potatoes were taken to winter storage in a huge root cellar (60 feet in diameter) that had been constructed out of the sand pit dug on the campus at the time of building Sacred Heart Chapel in 1911 - 1914.
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). In 1887, Sisters Clara Billig and Appolonia Jensen began teaching in this one-room parish/district school and convent in Buckman. A combination parochial-district school continued there without opposition for at least another 50 years (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). About 85 boarding students and six sisters posed in the inner court of St. St. Benedict's Mission School in the early 1890s. Record keeping for this large a group of children was not simple. While the churches constructed and operated the schools on the reservations, government policy allowed the schools an annual appropriation of a flat rate for tuition, board and clothing annually; the amount varied from $100 to $150 per pupil. This policy required careful quarterly reports to be sent to Washington. All expenditures had to be accounted for - the number of pounds of meat, sacks of flour, bushels of beans and potatoes, barrels of sugar, pounds of rice, and gallons of syrup and soap These accounts show the frugality of the mission school's fare. For example, the 1886 end-of-year record shows $2.00 for candy and $2.50 for a pair of geese. [SBMA, McDonald, pp. 240-241]
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). Many class groups of students posed on the steps of this church, the pride of St. Joseph's Parish in Minneapolis. The twin steeples of St. Joseph's Church graced the city's landscape for about 100 years before the parish complex was razed by the city's highway system and the entire area was re-surfaced for inner city transportation (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Though St. Ann's parish in Wadena was slow in establishing a parochial school, the communion class of 1909 attests to its later rapid growth. In the late 1850s, Wadena began as a trading post with a population around 100. When the Northern Pacific railroad crossed the county in 1872, a town was established 15 miles west of the old trading post. It was named Wadena, meaning "little rounded hill" in Ojibwe. It took until 1903 before the Catholic community in Wadena managed to build a school of its own, St. Ann's School. Three Benedictine sisters accepted the invitation to teach 80 pupils there. In subsequent years, the enrollment peaked at 466 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, Olsenius, page 104).
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). The original group of three Benedictine sisters who opened St. Bernard's School: Sisters Eugenia ONeill (seated), Secunda Hansen (right), Auxilia Kapsner (left). The number of sisters at St. Bernard's Parish increased in subsequent years to thirty sisters serving on the faculty of St. Bernard's School (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). As early as 1880, three sisters took charge of the parish school in Long Prairie, but within four years the sisters withdrew because of misunderstandings with the pastor. Ten years later, the sisters re-opened the mission and the school's subsequent enrollments grew to 280. Pictured are S. Demetria Keller (on left) and Catherine Siefner (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). In 1882, the new German parish in Stillwater, MN, invited Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph, MN, to teach in their school, St. Mary's. Because there was another parochial school, conducted by the Sisters of St. Joseph in the older English-speaking parish, the German parish school had only 85-100 pupils. In the subsequent 66 years of service given by the Benedictine sisters at St. Mary's School, the enrollment of this grade school remained steady between 100 and 125 and, for some time, high school classes were included for a small number of students (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 108-109).
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). The German community of Hastings, the second oldest settlement in Minnesota, at first had the Sisters of St. Joseph as their teachers. In 1890, four Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph, MN, replaced the Sisters of St. Joseph teaching the 140 students in the parochial school provided by the German parish. This was due, perhaps, to the fact that the Benedictines were primarily a German community. In subsequent years the enrollment increased to 335 students. Though the photograph shows only boys, girls were also enrolled (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, Shifra Stein's Day Trips: Gas-saving Getaways Less Than Two Hours from Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul, page 149).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). The first settler, John Schwinghammer, came to this oak and maple-wooded area in 1862. When the St. Paul-Minneapolis-Manitoba line was constructed in 1871, a railroad station and hotel were quickly built and the town of Albany began to grow. The Catholic community invited two sisters to teach in the Albany District School #111 in 1884 but the public versus parochial school controversy soon relegated them to the church sacristy. Because the sacristy could only accommodate 15-20 pupils and because the resident pastor was recalled from Albany, the sisters withdrew in 1888. In 1904 the sisters returned to re-open the school in the old church. In subsequent years, a new school, Holy Family, was built and enrollment peaked at 325 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Perham marks the beginning of the Lake Park region of Minnesota. In 1873 the town was platted by the Lake Superior and Puget Sound Land Company and named after Josiah Perham, the first president of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The early businesses were the Glove Milling company and the Schmidt Wagon Works. Within ten years the Catholic community developed a school system, at one time having the three following Catholic schools in the area: 1.) St. Henry's - the Benedictine sisters opened a school in a section of the convent but when the enrollment increased, the former public school and a harness shop were utilized; enrollment there reached a peak of 269 pupils with 5-6 sisters teaching in subsequent years. 2.) St. Joseph - the Benedictine sisters began teaching in a district school (Ottertail County), three miles from Perham. (In 1885 St. Benedict's Convent built a large dwelling there intended to serve as a sisters' health resort; instead, it became the residence for the 5 sisters at St. Joseph's School. The dwelling was later sold for $1,100.) 3.) St. Stanislaus - in 1902, the Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph's also staffed this small school but three years later it closed because only 38 students enrolled. However, the pastor reopened it seven years later and the Polish-speaking Felician sisters staffed it for another twenty years (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). In 1892, two sisters (Adela Eich and Casimir Pietron) and a candidate (Miss Rose Carlin - later Sister Josephine) opened a mission in St. Joseph's Parish in Browerville. The parish had built a parochial school, named Holy Angels, consisting of three classrooms and living quarters for sisters. When dissension arose between the Polish and German parishioners that resulted in the establishment of a German parish (St. Peter's), a sister from Holy Angels School taught the German pupils in a rented store. In 1902, when the Germans built their own church, St. Peter's, the school was moved to the church basement. Both schools expanded and prospered, but were eventually consolidated and named Browerville Parochial School, later renamed Christ the King (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
St. Mary's Mission, Red Lake Indian Reservation (Red Lake Nation). Sisters and students pose on the porch of the convent/school. In 1889, with a donation received from the Drexel sisters, a convent/boarding school was built. Upstairs were sleeping quarters for the sisters and girls; downstairs contained the kitchen, recreation room, and refectory for serving meals. At the time there were five sisters, 35 boarding students of ages six to eighteen, and 25 day students. It proved to be so successful that it had to be enlarged within two years. A house was purchased to be the dormitory for boys and the temporary church (built in 1891) served as the dormitory for boys after a new church was completed in 1893. [SBMA; Lindblad, pp. 41-43]
First 50 years of the College of Saint Benedict (CSB). Sister Olivia Egan entered St. Benedict's community in 1886, graduated from St. Benedict's Academy, taught in the Industrial School and then became librarian and teacher at the academy and the college. In the college, she served as librarian from 1916-1930. Because of her vital interest in the establishment of the college, Sister Mariella Gable cited her as one of its prime promoters.
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). Sister Lioba Braun, at the organ, leads the sisters at St. Benedict's Mission in song. Sister Lioba, one of the first sisters to help establish St. Benedict's Mission at White Earth, brought her gift of music and singing and soon had a choir that was able to sing at the religious services. The sister to the immediate right of Sister Lioba is identified as Sister Meinrad Burrell and the sister to Sister Meinrad's right as Sister Basilia Cosgrove. [SBMA]
Sister Laura made inroads into life of reservation by making friends with the Ojibwe children who loved the treats she brought when she visited Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe).
Sister Laura Hesch befriended a 100-year-old Ojibwe woman who lived alone on the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe). It was through such relationships that she won the hearts of the Ojibwe.