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1. St. Walburg Convent, Eichstätt, Bavaria, Germany

Date Created:
1852 - 1864
Description:
Origins of St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. From its beginnings in the eleventh century, St. Walburg Convent in Eichstätt, Bavaria, survived many trials of fire, war, famine, and secularization. "Fortunately for America, when the call came to plant a branch house in the new soil of the New World, the religious spirit of St. Walburg Convent was at its height." (McDonald, page 7). In 1851 St. Walburg Convent, EichstÃtt, Bavaria, was challenged by an invitation from Boniface Wimmer, OSB, (a missionary monk from Bavaria in America as early as 1846) to go to America to teach the children of the German immigrants. On June 18, 1852, Sister Benedicta Riepp with Sisters Walburga Dietrich and Maura Flieger blazed the trail for the Eichstätt sisters to the New World by way of the steamer, "Washington." They reached New York amid the confusion of fire crackers and shooting cannons for the July 4th celebrations. Undaunted, they traveled on to settle in St. Marys, PA. New members soon joined them. With the second group (3 nuns and one candidate) from Eichstätt, they were ready to establish other convents in frontier settlements, among them the Northwest Territory in the area which later became the state of Minnesota. In summary, the origin of St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, MN, can be traced as follows: in 1852, the Bavarian branch of Benedictine Sisters who came to America first settled in St. Joseph's Convent, St. Marys, PA.; in 1857, a small group of sisters from St. Joseph's Convent (PA) ventured to the western frontier -- to St. Mary's Parish, St. Cloud, MN; in 1863, the St. Cloud group of sisters moved to St. Joseph, MN. In St. Joseph, they established St. Benedict's Monastery which became the largest Benedictine monastery in the world. (Early records refer to St. Benedict's Monastery as St. Benedict's Convent.) [St. Benedict's Monastery Archives (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; Sister Grace McDonald, OSB, With Lamps Burning, pages 7-10).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

2. 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

3. St. Mary's Church and St. Mary's School built on the shores of Lake George, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1864 - 1887
Description:
Schools in St. Cloud (1869-1909). By 1860, St. Cloud had expanded from its four homes in 1854 to 1,651 citizens. The 1856 church/school/convent was no longer adequate. In 1864, St. Mary's parishioners built a new church on the shores of Lake George. The large Gothic-style church served the parish for almost 60 years . When it was destroyed by fire, another church, the present St. Mary's Cathedral, was built. St. Mary's Parish eventually solved the school controversy by building its own parochial school. The first one in 1887 was a one-story frame building to accommodate 180 pupils. In 1896, a large parochial school, still in use today, was built next to St. Mary's Church (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives ; Witte, pages 10-11, 17; Dominik, John, J. pages 12-14, 20).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

4. Teachers and pupils at the first school built by Father Francis Pierz, Pierz, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1872?
Description:
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Father Francis Pierz invited the Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph to teach in Pierz where he and his parishioners had begun building a school in 1869. The school had not been completed by the time the sisters came in 1871, so they lived with some of the parishioners until the upstairs of the log school house was completed as the sisters' convent. The school on the first floor accommodated 100 pupils. For the sisters, this was a first experience of staffing a rural school and living at such a distance from the motherhouse. However, rural schools mushroomed quickly throughout the Northwest Territory. By 1910, the sisters staffed over 40 such schools outside St. Cloud and the Twin Cities area. Needless to say, the teachers endured many hardships in these rural areas. If they were lucky, equipment consisted of desks and a piece of blackboard. Attendance was variable and classrooms were overcrowded (sometimes 80 in one small room). At times there were no classrooms other than the church, the church basement or sacristy. Cold and hunger prevailed and the ever-present hostile controversy of public versus parochial schools affected school discipline. Salaries were sparse or even non-existent (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives ; McDonald, pages 68-69).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. Church and sisters' residence, New Munich, Minnesota

Date Created:
1880?
Description:
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). New Munich began with a few small buildings built by two men, Burns and Sutton, in 1855. They also ran a small "wayside" inn for the stagecoach that ran north-south through this part of the county. The town gradually settled around the church built by the German Catholics. In 1879 three sisters came to New Munich to teach in the district school at the request of the pastor. The trustees and the people did not agree with this decision and hired a lay teacher. The pastor then opened a parochial school in the church basement, but attendance was very small and leaders of the antagonism made it almost impossible for the sisters to live there. Despite the set-backs, the sisters won the good will of the people so that the following year the school opened with over 100 children enrolled (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, Olsenius, page 120; Jaakkola and Frericks, page 77).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

10. Gathering of Ojibwe at White Earth Indian Reservation, White Earth, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1880?
Description:
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). The Ojibwe accepted their missionaries, "blackrobes," as they called them. Sister Philomene Ketten, always in the midst of action, is standing among the women near the center tree in this photograph. [SBMA]
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

11. 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

12. Mother Scholastica Kerst, OSB, prioress (1880-1890) at St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Brown, William; Miller; Hill, J.
Date Created:
1880?
Description:
Besides fostering the mission of education, especially the academy, in which the sisters of St. Benedict's Convent were engaged by 1880, Mother Scholastica Kerst is best known for fearlessly launching the community into the new field of health care. Under her leadership, St. Benedict's Convent flourished as did the hospitals in Bismarck, Duluth and St. Cloud. During her administration of nine years, the membership of the community increased from 57 to 164; the number of parochial schools staffed by the sisters had grown from 10 to 28; the orphanages, schools and hospitals became monuments of her enterprise and executive ability. Mother Scholastica had the spirit of the American frontier in her blood. Mother Scholastica (Catherine) Kerst was born in Prussia in 1847 and came to St. Paul, MN, with her parents in her infancy. She entered St. Gertrude's Convent, Shakopee, MN, in 1862, two days after its establishment. Bishop Thomas Grace, O.P., of St. Paul, required that she spend some of her formation period at St. Gertrude's founding motherhouse in St. Marys, PA. This experience in a well-established, older convent and her own flair for leadership and good business, gave her the impetus to request permission to establish a convent in St. Paul with four other sisters. Instead, church authorities advised her to transfer to St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, MN, which she did in 1877. Three years later Abbot Alexius Edelbrock appointed her prioress of St. Benedict's Convent. [Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives ; McDonald, ppage93-95]
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

13. New church, parish house, convent, and school, St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth, Minnesota

Date Created:
1880?
Description:
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). St. Benedict's mission at White Earth thrived; more and more orphans were crowded into the convent quarters and the day school's enrollment increased. With the help of St. John's Abbey, a new church and a convent school were built in 1881-1882. The convent school, called St. Benedict's Girls Orphan School, was built for 30 orphans; classrooms were built in the ground floor of the new church. Though unaware and unprepared for the cultural sensitivity that would have been desirable in undertaking such a venture as the Indian missions, the sisters shared what they best understood -- education and friendship -- with the Ojibwe who were relegated to reservations in the mid 1800s. There, as in the German and Polish settlements which they served, they staffed schools and taught the basic learning skills, music, domestic arts, and religion. Hindsight reveals the injustice of the American government and of the early settlers in land settlements and in the expectation that American Indians must learn to live, talk, believe and look like the whites who took over the country. For example, the sisters were required to use only the English language in school. However, homey exceptions to that occurred in the life on the mission as the sisters lived, worked and played with the Ojibwe children and learned from them the native language, traditions and life values that in turn enriched the sisters. [SBMA]
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

14. Sister Philomena Ketten and Ojibwe at Buffalo River (Callaway) near White Earth Mission, White Earth, Minnesota

Date Created:
1880?
Description:
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). After the missionaries had settled in White Earth and had begun to build a new church and school, the Ojibwe of Buffalo River (Callaway), eight miles away, asked Father Aloysius Hermanutz to send them teachers for their children. Rather than refuse, Father Aloysius promised he would do so if they built a school. He believed that they would be unable to provide a building. However, when they did offer a place for the school, Sister Philomena saved Father Aloysius' embarrassment by offering to ride daily to Buffalo River to teach if Father would lend her his pony. After some mishaps in riding strange horses when Father Aloysius needed his, Sister Philomena begged for a pony of her own which she received. She was also able to convince the bishop to provide her with a saddle. [SBMA, McDonald, pp. 237-238]
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

15. Sisters and pupils at St. Henry's School, Perham, Minnesota

Creator:
Wetzel, Conrad Jr.
Date Created:
1880?
Description:
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).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

16. Teachers and pupils at the church, Pierz, Minnesota

Date Created:
1881?
Description:
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). The first log school, though built by the parishioners, was supported by government funds and was, therefore, also the district school for Pierz. By 1889, the public versus parochial school controversy demanded a clarification of schools. The parishioners then claimed the school they had built as their St. Edward's Parochial School. Later, the second floor of the school was opened as a high school. The school was then renamed St. Joseph's School (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

17. Church, convent and new parish house, Millerville, Minnesota

Date Created:
1882
Description:
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). In 1882, three Benedictine sisters opened a mission in Millerville and began teaching in the district school; 88 pupils were registered. However, after ten years of working in crowded and undesirable conditions, the sisters closed the mission. When the parish school, St. Mary's, was built in 1914, the sisters returned. High school classes were added for some time (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

18. 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

19. St. Joseph's School, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Date Created:
1882
Description:
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). In 1875, St. Joseph's parish, situated in the heart of Minneapolis, opened a small school for 50 pupils under the care of the Sisters of Charity. The following year, because of an expected increase in enrollment, the Benedictine Sisters from St. Joseph, MN, were asked to assume charge of the school. By 1882, a large new parish school was built. Within 30 years, the enrollment increased to 400 with 8 sisters teaching (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

20. 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

21. Ojibwe posing in their traditional festive attire at the mission school at White Earth Indian Reservation, White Earth, Minnesota

Date Created:
1883
Description:
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). The traditional festive attire was an important part of all Indian celebrations at the White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe) (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

22. 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

23. Auditorium and Study Hall, St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1883 - 1909
Description:
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909). As St. Benedict's Academy's enrollment increased, a larger study hall included a stage so that the study hall could serve as an auditorium when needed. The school year was enhanced with performances by the Drama Club, Choral Group, and enriching lectures by guest speakers. One guest speaker, Herman Zschokke, chaplain to the Austrian imperial court and ex-rector of the University of Vienna, later described his visit to Minnesota in a book, "Nach Nordamericka und Canada." As the academy became a college centered on the west campus, a large Benedicta Arts Building/Petters Auditorium was built; it not only serves the college and Benedictine community but also central Minnesota (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 107-108)
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

24. Student Dining rooms, St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1883 - 1909
Description:
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909). Another place for community-bonding and the cultivation of common courtesies in the life of St. Benedict's Academy students was the dining area. Meals were served in home-style fashion at the table. Sister-prefects who dined with the students provided examples of table etiquette, concern for others, and suitable table conversations (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

25. Student Dormitory, St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1883 - 1909
Description:
Though lacking in privacy, the dormitories of 15 or more students per dorm were places for community-bonding and the cultivation of common courtesies. Sister-prefects lived in the dormitories with the students to foster an atmosphere of quiet and respect for others. Moral training was not formally taught in the classroom; it was hoped that it would be absorbed by the atmosphere and tone of the academy as set by teachers, prefects, and older students. There were strict rules about privacy; no student was to enter another student's "cell" (curtained area around each bed and stand) or desk or to borrow or lend clothing. Polite and gentle manners were just as important as intellectual pursuits (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, McDonald, pages 104-105).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs
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