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).
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).
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).
Art and Needlework Department, 1883-1968, Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota
Date Created:
1883 - 1968
Description:
The patterns of the fish, most of which are perforated, were stamped for embroidery onto liturgical vestments and accouterments. Many of the patterns are original designs of members of the Art Needlework Department of the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
Art Needlework Department, 1883-1968, Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota
Date Created:
1883 - 1968
Description:
The patterns of the symbols of passion, most of which are perforated, were stamped for embroidery onto liturgical vestments and accouterments. Many of the patterns are original designs of members of the Art Needlework Department of the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
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).
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).
Begun by Bishop John Joseph Otto Zardetti (1847-1902), and ceased publication when he was transferred to another diocese. It covers the period from January 1891 to April 1894.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University
Begun by Bishop John Joseph Otto Zardetti (1847-1902), and ceased publication when he was transferred to another diocese. It covers the period from January 1891 to April 1894.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University
Begun by Bishop John Joseph Otto Zardetti (1847-1902), and ceased publication when he was transferred to another diocese. It covers the period from January 1891 to April 1894.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University
Begun by Bishop John Joseph Otto Zardetti (1847-1902), and ceased publication when he was transferred to another diocese. It covers the period from January 1891 to April 1894.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University
Begun by Bishop John Joseph Otto Zardetti (1847-1902), and ceased publication when he was transferred to another diocese. It covers the period from January 1891 to April 1894.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University
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).
Begun by Bishop John Joseph Otto Zardetti (1847-1902), and ceased publication when he was transferred to another diocese. It covers the period from January 1891 to April 1894.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University
Begun by Bishop John Joseph Otto Zardetti (1847-1902), and ceased publication when he was transferred to another diocese. It covers the period from January 1891 to April 1894.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University
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).
Begun by Bishop John Joseph Otto Zardetti (1847-1902), and ceased publication when he was transferred to another diocese. It covers the period from January 1891 to April 1894.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University
Begun by Bishop John Joseph Otto Zardetti (1847-1902), and ceased publication when he was transferred to another diocese. It covers the period from January 1891 to April 1894.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1897
Description:
1896-1897 Fifteenth Annual Catalogue was published for the Academy of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, rules of discipline, course studies, fees, general and wardrobe regulations, list of students, daily schedule, list of textbooks and programs. Saint Benedict's Boarding School For Little Boys, known for a time as Bethlehem Boys Academy, operated concurrently with the Academy during the period from 1896-1915.
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).
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1911
Description:
1911-1912 Twenty-Ninth Annual Year-Book was published for St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, course of studies, departments, course fees and wardrobe regulations. Honors, programs, lectures, donations and list of students are provided. Saint Benedict's Boarding School For Little Boys, known for a time as Bethlehem Boys Academy, operated concurrently with the Academy during the period from 1896-1915. Some pages are missing.
Served in the Minnesota Legislature: House 1893-1994 (District 45); House 1903-1904 (District 54); House 1911-1914 (District 54); House 1915-1916 (District 46). For biographical information, see the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library database at: http://www.leg.mn/legdb/fulldetail.asp?ID=14002
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.
First 5O years of the College of Saint Benedict (CSB). At first the college shared the facilities of the academy in Cecilia and Gertrude Halls. Cecilia Hall, built in 1881, is described in the 1926 College Bulletin: "Five dining halls with service rooms occupy the basement floor, five reception rooms the first floor, seventeen music practice rooms and five teacher's studios the second, while the third was remodeled in 1924 into a residence hall with an infirmary area. The private rooms are furnished with vanity dressers, tables and settees; each has a large private wardrobe and hot and cold water. A trained nurse is at all times in charge of the perfectly equipped infirmary. A secluded cottage (infirmary/guest house) on the campus, also in charge of a trained nurse, is used in case of contagious illness." Gertrude Hall, built in 1898, is also lauded in the 1926 College Bulletin: "In the basement is the service room fitted with the most convenient shampooing apparatus, irons, electric attachements, etc.--also cloak rooms, locker rooms, a stationery store, a confectionery store, and a kitchenette fully equipped for the serving of light lunches or 'spreads.' On the first floor are administration offices and the chemical and physical laboratories. . . On the second floor is the botanical laboratory and classrooms, well-lighted and each furnished with a special library open to the use of the students. The third floor provides airy pleasant dormitories for those who do not wish to rent private rooms." However, many of the activities of the college centered in the two new buildings, Teresa Hall and Sacred Heart Chapel, which were as up-to-date as Benedicta Arts Center and Regina Hall seem to us now - perhaps more so. Teresa Hall was the height of luxury! It had a library on 1st floor, an auditorium/study hall on 2nd floor, a rotunda (residence area) on 3rd and 4th floors (where some rooms had private baths and every bedroom had hot and cold water) and a gymnasium on the ground floor. (Gable, OSB) The chapel inspired by new architecture, very moderate baroque with its Carrara statues and Sienna marble pillars from Italy (and majestic, granite pillars from Rockville, MN), was a perfect example of its baroque type -- Newman's favorite. However, the college faculty was concerned about the later interior decorating of the chapel. In 1958, members of the art department, Sisters Johanna Becker and Jacquelyn Dubay as art consultants, helped the community restore some of the chapel's original lightness which had seemed so right in the beginning. (Gable, OSB)
St. Benedict College and Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1914
Description:
1914-1915 Thirty-second Annual Year-Book was published by St. Benedict's College and Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of railway and telephone connections, buildings and grounds, clubs, alumnae association, reports and standings. Departments, courses, recitals and programs, graduate photos, roster of students, regulations for wardrobe and fees are listed. Board and tuition, requisites and list of pupils for Boarding School For Little Boys are included.
St. Cloud Methodist Episcopal Church, founded 1857, was built 1911 and dedicated May 24, 1914. It was located at the corner of Fifth Ave. and Third Street South. Constructed of St. Cloud granite and brick it was called a "20th Century Church" and was 54 feet by 80 feet and cost $24,000 to build. Later named First Methodist it is currently First United Methodist Church. Written on the back: "Wells, Minnesota, Oct. 2, 1915, Mr. Lyman F. Morris, Deloit, Iowa, Crawford Co., Dear Father, We are to move to St. Bend.(?), next week. We are busy packing. P.S. All well. Lovingly Will."
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Annual Conference United Methodist Church
Served in the Minnesota Legislature: House 1893-1894 (District 45); House 1903-1904 (District 54); House 1911-1914 (District 54); House 1915-1916 (District 46). For biographical information, see the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library database at: http://www.leg.mn/legdb/fulldetail.asp?ID=14002
Served in the Minnesota Legislature: Senate 1915-18 (District 46). For biographical information, see the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library database at: http://www.leg.mn/legdb/fulldetail.asp?ID=13332
St. Benedict College and Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1915
Description:
1915-1916 Thirty-third Annual Year-Book was published for St. Benedict's College and Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of railway and telephone connections, buildings and grounds, reports and standings, departments, courses, roster of students and recitals.
Noll, Reverand John F.; Grunenwald, Reverand Charles L., editors
Date Created:
1916-06
Description:
"My Message" was the newsletter of the Diocese of Saint Cloud, published from 1916-1919. It was conceived of by Bishop Joseph F. Busch as an auxiliary to religious participation to include articles on religious subjects of interest to Catholic people, programs for the Holy Name and other societies, official diocesan communications, and a personal message of the bishop.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University
Noll, Reverand John F.; Grunenwald, Reverand Charles L., editors
Date Created:
1916-12
Description:
"My Message" was the newsletter of the Diocese of Saint Cloud, published from 1916-1919. It was conceived of by Bishop Joseph F. Busch as an auxiliary to religious participation to include articles on religious subjects of interest to Catholic people, programs for the Holy Name and other societies, official diocesan communications, and a personal message of the bishop.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University
"My Message" was the newsletter of the Diocese of Saint Cloud, published from 1916-1919. It was conceived of by Bishop Joseph F. Busch as an auxiliary to religious participation to include articles on religious subjects of interest to Catholic people, programs for the Holy Name and other societies, official diocesan communications, and a personal message of the bishop.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University
"My Message" was the newsletter of the Diocese of Saint Cloud, published from 1916-1919. It was conceived of by Bishop Joseph F. Busch as an auxiliary to religious participation to include articles on religious subjects of interest to Catholic people, programs for the Holy Name and other societies, official diocesan communications, and a personal message of the bishop.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University