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1. Faculty of St. Mary's School in 1900, St. Cloud, Minnesota
- Date Created:
- 1900
- Description:
- Schools in St. Cloud (1869-1909).The sister-faculty of St. Mary's Parochial School in 1900 are identified as follows: (seated from left to right): Sisters Chrysostom Sanz, Wilhelmina Kahl, Cornelia Berg, Raymond Otto, Dionysia Meinhardt; (Standing): Sisters Carmel Fruth, Cleta Kurth, Evarista Stenzenberger, Loyola Kapsner, Rosebia Sieverding. The following summarizes the background of the sisters' presence in St. Mary's Parish, St. Cloud, MN: 1. Although the sisters left St. Cloud in 1863 because of the public versus parochial school controversy, it is not surprising that they accepted the invitation in 1869 to return to St. Mary's Parish which had been their first home when they came to Minnesota in 1857. This time they were specifically invited to teach in the District/Independent School which was located in the former St. Mary's Church adjacent to the convent. This school served as the parochial school for the growing St. Mary's Parish, but it was becoming inadequate. 2. When in 1875 the state legislature endorsed the concept that both the "District" and "Independent" Schools would be supported by local taxation, influential citizens spearheaded the building of a district school near St. Mary's Church. This new school continued its unique position as the district/parochial school and employed some sisters as teachers; the sisters also continued teaching in the original school adjacent to the convent--it became known as the "sisters' school." 3. However, despite the 1875 legislation, school conflicts continued to rage. So the sisters decided to withdraw from their teaching positions in the district school and put all of their energies into the convent school. Because of the rapid growth of the parish, the sisters could not accommodate all the children who wished to attend the convent school. It was at that point (1886-1887) that St. Mary's parishioners, after 25 years of conflict, built their first real parochial school ([Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives Witte, pages 77-78).
- Contributing Institution:
- Saint Benedict's Monastery
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- Black-and-white photographs
2. 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
3. Mother Aloysia Bath, OSB and nuns at Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis, MNinnesota
- Date Created:
- 1880?
- Description:
- Early years in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1863-1880). Mother Aloysia (Helen) Bath, the first American-born prioress of St. Benedict's Convent, was born in Addison, WI in 1849. Helen entered the community of the Sisters of St. Agnes in Baron, WI, in 1864 and was given the name Sister Agatha. She transferred to the community in St. Joseph, MN in 1871, changed her name to Aloysia, and professed vows there in 1875. Two years later, she was appointed prioress of the community in St. Joseph by Abbot Rupert Seidenbusch, to fill out Mother Antonia Herman's term. Mother Aloysia resigned shortly before her term ended. However, nine years later, she was elected by the community to serve another term as prioress. Though of frail health, Mother Aloysia led the community in beginning the construction of a new convent and academy building in St. Joseph, in accepting four new schools in Minnesota, the American Indian mission in White Earth, MN, and a school in Bismarck. ND. She was an experienced teacher who had been in charge of several schools, including the large school in St. Joseph's Parish in Minneapolis. Mother Aloysia's greatest efforts were spent staffing schools in the face of school controversies and in developing a teacher-training program in the community so that young sisters would be sent out as certified teachers. Her contemplative spirit inspired the sisters to work for a balance in their work and prayer (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 73-78, 89).
- Contributing Institution:
- Saint Benedict's Monastery
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- Stereographs
4. 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
5. 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
6. 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
7. 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
8. Nun posing in front of map of Minnesota, Springfield, Minnesota
- Creator:
- Gmeiner, John Reverand, 1847-1913
- Date Created:
- 1902 - 1910
- Description:
- Nun with a heart pendant posing in front of map of Minnesota and American flag.
- Contributing Institution:
- St. Raphael Catholic Church
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- Negatives (photographic)
9. Orphans at St. Joseph's Orphanage with Sisters Benedicta Klein (left,) and Placida Heine (right), St. Paul, Minnesota
- Date Created:
- 1880?
- Description:
- 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).
- Contributing Institution:
- Saint Benedict's Monastery
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- Studio portraits
10. Portrait of a sister in habit with heart medalleon, Springfield, Minnesota
- Creator:
- Gmeiner, John Reverand, 1847-1913
- Date Created:
- 1902 - 1910
- Description:
- Sister in habit with heart medallion.
- Contributing Institution:
- St. Raphael Catholic Church
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- Negatives (photographic)
11. Portrait of Father A. A. Chillie P. Schaefer and Sister Mary Schaefer, Morton, Minnesota
- Description:
- Portrait of Father Schaefer and Sister Mary Schaefer. Father Schaefer was the priest at St. John's Catholic in Morton from 1939-1956.
- Contributing Institution:
- Renville County Historical Society
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- Black-and-white photographs
12. Sister Dominica Borgerding (one of the prime promoters of the college), first directress of college (1913-1918), St. Joseph, Minnesota
- Creator:
- College of St. Benedict
- Date Created:
- 1914?
- Description:
- 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).
- Contributing Institution:
- Saint Benedict's Monastery
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- Studio portraits
13. Sister Gertrude Flynn, OSB, from St. Gertrude's Convent, Shakopee, Minnesota
- Date Created:
- 1880?
- Description:
- 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).
- Contributing Institution:
- Saint Benedict's Monastery
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- Studio portraits
14. Sister Grace McDonald, author of centennial community history, St. Joseph, Minnesota
- Date Created:
- 1920?
- Description:
- First 50 years of the College of Saint Benedict (CSB). Sister Grace McDonald contributed an immeasurably important service to the community in gathering and researching the materials that led to her publishing the story of the first 100 years of the community. Without her notes and the materials she collected over a period of many years, the archives would not have the records of the community's development that it now enjoys. Though she kept no administrative files as an archivist, she is considered the first community archivist (from 1933 to 1963) because of her role as collector, researcher and writer.
- Contributing Institution:
- Saint Benedict's Monastery
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- Black-and-white photographs
15. Sisters of St. Benedict enrolled in St. Raphael's School of Nursing, St. Cloud, Minnesota
- Creator:
- Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
- Date Created:
- 1909?
- Description:
- 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).
- Contributing Institution:
- Saint Benedict's Monastery
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- Studio portraits
16. Sisters Paula Bechtold, Alphonsa O'Donnell and Euphrasia Hirtenberger, teachers, Moorhead, Minnesota
- Creator:
- Flaten, Ole E.
- Date Created:
- 1890?
- Description:
- Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). The Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph, who were teaching in Moorhead in 1883, are identified as follows (left to right): Sisters Paula Bechtold, Alphonsa O'Donnell, Euphrasia Hirtenberger (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
- Contributing Institution:
- Saint Benedict's Monastery
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- Cabinet photographs
17. Sisters who taught in various schools in Duluth, Minnesota
- Creator:
- Thiel, C.
- Date Created:
- 1885
- Description:
- 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).
- Contributing Institution:
- Saint Benedict's Monastery
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- Studio portraits
18. Three nuns, two women and five children posing in front of windows, Springfield, Minnesota
- Creator:
- Gmeiner, John Reverand, 1847-1913
- Date Created:
- 1902 - 1910
- Description:
- Three nuns, two women, and five children posing in front of windows. One child is African-American. Two girls have their heads shaved.
- Contributing Institution:
- St. Raphael Catholic Church
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- Negatives (photographic)
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