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). 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).
St. John's University Photographic Studio, Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1886 - 1889
Description:
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909; St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. Some of St. Benedict's Academy students in this sewing class are identified as follows: (at the sewing machines:) the Chester twins and Agnes Kalscha; (at the end of the table:) Christainson and Dorothy Hoesch. The academy catalogues of the 1880s included sewing, ornamental needlework and needle-point lace, and various handcrafts in vogue at the time, such as making wax fruit, muslim and wax flowers, and hair wreaths (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in North-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Eden Valley was platted in 1886 when the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad Company laid their tracks through the area, Eden Valley developed rather rapidly. By 1901 three Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph went there to teach in temporary classrooms until the new parochial school was completed in 1902. Eventually the enrollment peaked at 310 with 8 sisters teaching at the Assumption School. Watkins The same year, the neighboring town of Watkins was platted along the same railroad. By 1907 the Catholic parish, St. Anthony's, in Watkins was large enough to build its own parochial school. The Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph were invited to teach there and the school soon realized an enrollment of 200 pupils. In subsequent years, the school developed to a peak of 321 students and for some years included high school classes (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, Olsenius, page 137).
Because Sister Borgia was willing to take on any task asked of her, she responded to Dr. Page E. Stangl's (pathologist) request to help him set up a laboratory of animals for research. She called herself the zoo-keeper and worked with this project in her quiet, unassuming way for 39 years--first in crowded conditions among the offices on 6th floor of the hospital and then in the seclusion of the sub-basement.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1904
Description:
1904-1905 Twenty-Third Annual Catalogue was published for St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, fees, regulations, course of studies, departments, textbooks, list of pupils, awards 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.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1907
Description:
1907-1908 Twenty-Sixth Annual Catalogue was published for St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description, fees, wardrobe regulations, departments, course studies, list of pupils, programs and contents. 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.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1908
Description:
1908-1909 Twenty-Seventh Annual Catalogue was published for St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, fees, wardrobe regulations, course studies, departments, list of pupils, programs and contents. 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.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1903
Description:
1903-1904 Twenty-Second Annual Catalogue was published for the academy of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, fees, wardrobe regulations, course of studies, departments, textbooks, religious societies and list of pupils. 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.
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.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1905
Description:
1905-1906 Twenty-Fourth Annual Catalogue was published for St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, fees, wardrobe regulations, course studies, list of textbooks, departments, testimonials, list of pupils 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.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1902
Description:
1902-1903 Twenty-First Annual Catalogue was published for the academy of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include course studies, textbooks, departments, list of pupils 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.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1907
Description:
1907-1908 Twenty-Fifth Annual Catalogue was published for St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, fee, wardrobe regulations, course of studies, departments, list of pupils 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.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1909
Description:
1909-1910 Twenty-Eighth Annual Catalogue was published for St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, fees, wardrobe regulations, course studies, departments, list of pupils, donations, programs and contents. 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.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1901
Description:
1901-1902 Twentieth Annual Catalogue was published for the academy of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, course of studies, fees, regulations for wardrobe, religious societies, departments, list of pupils 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.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1893
Description:
1893-1894 Twelfth Annual Catalogue was published for the Academy of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, rules of discipline, course of studies, fees, general and wardrobe regulations, list of students and awards, list of textbooks and closing exercises.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1895
Description:
1894-1895 Thirteenth Annual Catalogue was published for the Academy of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, rules of discipline, course of studies, fees, general and wardrobe regulations, list of students and awards, daily program, list of textbooks and closing exercises.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1885
Description:
1884-1885 Third Annual Catalogue was published for St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, references and commendations, course of studies, list of pupils, closing exercises and awards.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1891
Description:
1891-1892 Tenth Annual Catalogue was published for the Academy of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, rules of discipline, course of studies, fees, general and wardrobe regulations, clubs, lists of students and awards, and closing programs.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1887
Description:
1887-1888 Sixth Annual Catalogue was published for the Academy of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include calendar, description of institution, references and commendations, course of studies, fees, wardrobe regulations, clubs, lists of students and awards.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1898
Description:
1897-1898 Sixteenth Annual Catalogue was published for the Academy of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, rules of discipline, course of 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.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1888
Description:
1888-1889 Seventh Annual Catalogue was published for the Academy of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include calendar, description of institution, general rules of discipline, course of studies, fees, wardrobe regulations, clubs, lists of students and awards.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1898
Description:
1898-1899 Seventeenth Annual Catalogue was published for the Academy of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, course studies, list of textbooks, fees, regulations for wardrobe, special lectures, religious societies, literary societies, list of students 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.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1884
Description:
1883-1884 Second Annual Catalogue was published for St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, references and commendations, course of studies, list of pupils, closing exercises and awards.
St. Benedict's Academy; Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict
Date Created:
1890
Description:
1890-1891 Ninth Annual Catalogue was published for the Academy of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota. Contents include description of institution, general rules of discipline, course of studies, fees, general and wardrobe regulations, clubs, lists of students and awards, and closing exercises.