First steam sterilizer in More hospital in Eveleth; replaced in 1937 with an electric model; framed diagram of this equipment is hanging on the wall of the room
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Exterior view of Bethany Hospital. Five women are grouped on the front porch. Ella Oftedahl Winger is seated in the center of the group in a white dress.
A pen and ink drawing of the new four-story St. Joseph's Hospital on Exchange Street. This hospital replaced the log cabin hospital on Bench Street (now Kellogg Boulevard).
The first location (1887-1890) of St. Mary's Hospital. Previously operated by the Sisters of Mercy, the hospital was in the former Murphy mansion, 2416 South Sixth Street. A new hospital, with later additions, was built at Riverside and 24th. The Sisters of St. Joseph owned and operated the hospital until 1991 when it was sold to the Fairview Health System.
Nineteen Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet standing in front of a St. Joseph's Hospital entrance. The Sisters opened the hospital in 1853 in the log cabin Chapel of St. Paul on Bench Street. This photo is taken at the hospital's third and current site. The hospital joined the HealthEast System in 1987.
Ten Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet served as nurses during the Spanish American War. This photo, which includes hospitalized soldiers, was taken at a military hospital in Matanzas, Cuba.
Fifteen women, all in nurses' uniforms, sit/stand around Sister Thecla Reid, who established the School of Nursing at St. Mary's Hospital. Three women were in the first graduating class in 1903. The school of nursing opened about 1900.
Thirteen people, some from the medical or nursing staffs, work on a patient in surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital. The other people present may be medical interns.
Two nurses and two doctors demonstrate the use of a pulmotor on a patient at St. Joseph's Hospital. The hospital was established by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet during a cholera epidemic in 1853.
Two doctors at St. Mary's Hospital attend a boy whose leg was injured in an accident. St. Mary's was owned and operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet from 1887-1991.
Sister Madeleine Lyons, who served in various positions at four hospitals, was an excellent example of the contributions of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in the health care industry. A the time of her death, one newspaper reported, "Her death symbolized the passing of a true spirit of the service of sisterhood in nursing.Young girls entering the period of hospital training looked to her for guidance and saw the image of sacrifice and loving care they wished to emulate."
Workcrew in front of the second addition (at Riverside and 24th) to St. Mary's Hospital. In succeeding years, up to 1991, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet continued to add buildings to provide professional services to patients and to attract doctors and nurses to its professional staff.
The upper floors of St. Raphael's Hospital II were destroyed by fire in 1905. This was the sisters' third hospital in St. Cloud. With the failure of the hospital site (St. Raphael's I) east of the Mississippi River, the sisters had again faced the burden of financing a hospital; financial aid from the city was not available. In 1900 they had built this hospital of 2+ stories, large enough for 50 patients, next to the site of the first hospital on Ninth Avenue. It was again named St. Raphael's and often referred to as St. Raphael's II. The fire gave the necessary thrust, not only to restore the upper floors, but to expand the hospital. (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, McDonald, pages 257-258).
After the fire in 1905, St. Raphael's Hospital (II) was restored and the 3rd and 4th floors added on; this increased its capacity to 90 beds. The building to the right was then converted from an art/music academy to St. Raphael's Hospital School of Nursing (1908-1928). In 1915 the School of Nursing received state accreditation and in 1928 was moved to the new St. Cloud Hospital. [Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives , McDonald, ppage258-259]
The up-to-date equipment in St. Raphael's Hospital was the pride and joy of the sisters and the medical staff. The operating room was designed for the radically new method of sterilizing everything. Dr. John B. Dunn, who had studied surgery both in Germany and in the eastern U.S., introduced this method in St. Cloud as early as 1893. It had made useless the elaborate surgical equipment for the wet antiseptic or Listerian method used at the first St. Raphael's Hospital I (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, McDonald, pages 257-258).
St. Raphael's Hospital (II) was furnished with latest type of equipment, including dumb waiters, bathrooms and toilets. Rates for health care services were advertised as follows; Accommodation in private room, per week, $9 to $15; Accommodation in double room, per week, $7.00; Accommodation in general ward, per week, $6.00; Beverages, Medicines and Night Watch . . . Extra; Medical Attendance . . . Payments Weekly in Advance. When the illness is likely to be of long duration, a deposit is to be made with the Superioress (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
In 1887, two years after starting a hospital in Bismarck, North Dakota, St. John's Abbey gave the sisters the minor seminary which was part of the monks' St. Clement Priory building complex of church, rectory and school in Duluth. Encouraged by the success of their hospital in St. Cloud, the sisters converted the seminary to a hospital and named it St. Mary's Hospital (2nd building on the right ). The hospital was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Benedictine sisters in Duluth when they branched off from St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, MN, to form an independent convent in Duluth in 1892 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
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).
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).
As early as 1878 while prospecting for a site to establish a college for men in the Dakota Territory, Abbot Alexius Edelbrock, OSB, became aware of the need for a hospital in the still undeveloped area of Mandan and Bismarck. In 1885 he bought the Lamborn Hotel in Bismarck and succeeded in interesting Mother Scholastica Kerst in converting it to a hospital. It was a challenge to change the settlers' prejudice against hospitals as institutions for the wayward and shiftless. However, after five years and with the expertise of Dr. E. pageQuaine in surgery and Sister Boniface Timmers, OSB, in administration, the hospital gained favor and grew from a primitive institution to one of the finest hospitals in the land. With the help of a donation from St. John's Abbey, the Benedictine sisters were able to repay the abbey for the debt incurred by the original purchase and they named the hospital St. Alexius. By 1913, they were able to build a new hospital and to organize a school of nursing there (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 126-137).
In the early 1880s, several attempts were made in St. Cloud to meet the growing need of provisions for medical care. Dr. A.C. Lamothe Ramsay, lately graduated from Rush Medical College in Chicago, began practice in St. Cloud in 1882. He and the sisters petitioned the city council for funds to help them erect a three-story hospital. When these funds for a hospital were not forthcoming, Dr. Ramsay, in 1885, opened one on his own in Joseph Pendel's newly constructed home. Because he soon found that he could not run his own hospital and at the same time take care of his regular practice, Dr. Ramsay persuaded the sisters to take over hospital work. The community, under the leadership of Mother Scholastica Kerst, was quick to take up the challenge. At first they decided to add a third floor and renovate St. Agnes Academy in St. Cloud (which had closed in 1880) to refit it for hospital use. However, in December, 1885, the sisters purchased a newly erected building on Ninth Avenue from John Kropp for $2,000 and by February announced the opening of the hospital under the name of St. Benedict's Hospital (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 251-254).
Sisters were being trained for every aspect of health care, including the distribution of medicine. They served as certified pharmacists in their hospitals in St. Cloud, Duluth and Bismarck, and in the sisters' and students' infirmaries at St. Benedict's Convent/Academy in St, Joseph (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
The homey atmosphere of this room served well as the reception area of the hospital and later as a parlor when St. Raphael's Hospital became a nursing home (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Helen Kramer and Lydia Kost pose for an advertisement of the opening of the School of Nursing at St. Raphael's Hospital (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Building at the far left is the former first hospital (St. Benedict's) converted to the nursing school. In 1928, when St. Raphael's Hospital was no longer adequate, the sisters built their fourth hospital in St. Cloud, named St. Cloud Hospital; the School of Nursing was moved to that new site. St. Raphael's Hospital was then converted to a home for the elderly, known as St. Raphael's Rest Home; later it became a retirement center for the Sisters of St. Benedict. Then in 1999, it was purchased by a private organization to serve as a shelter for the poor and homeless called "Place of Hope" (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Miss Wilma Johnson, a superintendent of nurses from Chicago, was engaged by the Sisters of St. Benedict to serve as the first director of the St. Raphael's School of Nursing in St. Cloud from 1908 to 1910 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, McDonald, page 258).
Image taken looking Northeast. The hospital was financed by Vernon Wright and opened to the public in 1906. The hospital was located on Washington Avenue East.
Image includes two, two horse drawn vehicles and man standing beside bicycle. Mr. Orr near bicycle; Mr. McFadden (hospital farmer); Bert Hoxie and Laura Titus in wagon. Mr. Titus and nursing staff in carriage.
Medical staff of St. Luke's hospital. Gentleman in the middle is Dr. Olaf Sherping [1864-1929]. Dr. Sherping was the first chief of staff and remained so for 26 years, until his death in 1929.
The Institute Building or Community Center of Saint Mary's Parish in downtown St. Cloud served as an emergency hospital during the World War I flu epidemic. The Sisters' aided the nurses in caring for the patients.
Bishop Joseph Busch with Mother Louise Walz, prioress, and Sisters Priscilla Schmidbauer, plant manager, and Ethelburga Farrell, treasurer, are on the podium dedicating the land purchased for the construction of the St. Cloud Hospital which was finally built beginning in 1926 and completed in 1928.
The nursing students of 1921 at St. Raphael's Hospital are shown in this photo with the ten Sister-nurses of the school's staff in row two identified from left to right: Sisters (1) Herberta Klein, (2) Cunegund Kuefler, (3) Borgia Knelleken, (4) Leobina Gliszhinski, (5) Julitta Hoppe, (6) Serena Bold, (8) Elizabeth Von Drehle, (9) Melitta Hoffman and (10) Ladislaus Twardowski.
Men are working on the construction of the Mayo Clinic 1914 Building. The West Hotel (built in 1905) is seen facing north on First Street SW. Also visible is the back of the Zumbro Hotel (built in 1912). The 1914 Building was located on the corner of First Street and Second Avenue SW.
People are pictured walking through the landscaped gardens, flower beds and walkways of the Rochester State Hospital. The hospital, also known as the Second Hospital for the Insane, opened in 1879. Farm fields are visible in the background.
People with horses and buggies are seen in the foreground of the Rochester State Hospital in this exterior photo. The hospital, also known as the Second Hospital for the Insane, opened in 1879.
The Cook Block was built by John Ramsey Cook in 1877. Because of the confusion with the Cook Hotel building, which he built in 1869, he renamed the Cook Block the Ramsey Block (for his mother). This building was located at 20 Second Street SW (formerly Zumbro Street). C. F. Massey Company later moved to this location. In 1883, Dr. William Worrall Mayo rented the first floor for his offices, consulting and operating room. The laboratories were on the second floor. Dr. W. W. Mayo and his two sons, Dr. William J. Mayo and Dr. Charles H. Mayo, operated their medical practice in this building until 1901. This building is the earliest location of what would later become the Mayo Clinic.
A portrait photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Schmidt, Otelia and Henry. Henry Schmidt became a doctor at Westbrook. Westbrook Schmidt Memorial Hospital was named after Henry Schmidt.
Men are working on the construction of the Mayo Clinic 1914 Building, located on the corner of First Street and Second Avenue SW. The Baptist Church is visible in the distance.
Men are working on construction of the Mayo Clinic 1914 Building, located on the corner of First Street and Second Avenue SW. The dark brick building in the background is the West Hotel.
Several patients are recuperating in the 10-bed ward at Saint Marys Hospital. A large spittoon is located in the center of the room surrounded by beds and wooden dressers. A crucifix and religious paintings are hung on the wall. The two nurses are Sister Joseph Dempsey and Sister Constantine Poutal.