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1. Tribal leaders with government and business agents at Red Lake Indian Reservation, Minnesota

Date Created:
1900?
Description:
St. Mary's Mission, Red Lake Indian Reservation (Red Lake Band of Chippewa). "Traditionally the governmental structure of the Ojibwe was based on adherence to an hereditary clan chieftainship among the people, and the right to participate in clan decisions was an inherited right" (Lindblad, page 78). They did what they could to keep friendly relations with government agencies, traders, lumbermen and missionaries, while preserving their status of the reservation as a "closed reservation." The people of the Red Lake Indian Reservation themselves insisted on this status to protect their autonomy and food source. It took years for the American people to realize the injustices that were inflicted upon the Americans Indians. The Ojibwe's efforts at revitalizing their culture attest to their dignity and resilience as a people (SBMA Lindlbad, page 78).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

2. Student nurses at St. Raphael's Hospital II, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1907
Description:
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).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

3. 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

4. Sisters Philomena Ketten and Lioba Brown with an orphan girl at White Earth Mission, White Earth, Minnesota

Date Created:
1878?
Description:
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). Survival was the sisters' prime challenge during those first years of exposure to cold and scarcity of food in White Earth. But even so, they took two orphan girls (the younger one only four years old) into their home. The care of orphans was to become an important work for them at St. Benedict's Mission as White Earth developed. Sisters Philomena and Lioba, unlike in temperaments, proved to be well-suited to work together among the Ojibwe. Sister Philomena, young and vivacious, had volunteered for missionary work; Sister Lioba, deliberate and more conservative, was fearful of venturing that far into the northern region. They learned to rely on each other's strengths and persevered through 50 years of mission work at the White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). Records indicate that, when a fire destroyed the school just a few weeks after their arrival, Sister Lioba felt justified in going back home, but Sister Philomena suggested fixing up the barn to serve as the school, which they did at a cost of $35.00. [SBMA, McDonald, pp. 232-237]
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. Sister Dignata Plachta with her music pupils, Melrose, Minnesota

Date Created:
1908?
Description:
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Sister Dignata Plachta taught at St. Boniface School in Melrose from 1905 to 1951 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

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. Niobe Group performs the "Delsarte Tableaux" performed by students of St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Hill, Eugene S.
Date Created:
1893
Description:
Drama held a significant role in the curriculum of the academy. Performances drew large audiences, not only from the surrounding areas, but from as far as Milwaukee, WI. The Delsarle Tableaux performance, honoring Bishop Otto Zardetti, was presented at the Village Hall in St. Joseph on February 10, 1893 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

11. Ms. Wilma Johnson, first Superintendent (Director) of Nurses, St. Raphael's Hospital, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1908?
Description:
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).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

12. 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

13. 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

14. Lillian Barton, first graduate of St. Mary's High School, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1909?
Description:
Schools in St. Cloud (1869-1909). Not to be surpassed by the neighboring new Holy Angels Parish in St. Cloud, which had established a high school in 1902, St. Mary's also conducted a high school from 1907 to 1914. With Sisters Meinrad Winter and Magna Werth as its first teachers, the school opened with seven pupils; only one student, Lillian Bastien, persevered to graduation (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

15. Dramatics at St. Bernard's School, St. Paul, Minnesota

Date Created:
1900?
Description:
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). St. Bernard's Grade School had many activities, such as a Drama Club, much like a high school would have. For a period of time the curriculum also included a 2-year commercial school program (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

16. Century of leadership 1886-1986, St. Cloud Hospital, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1986
Description:
The St. Cloud Hospital administrators at the various locations included: St. Benedict's Hospital on 9th Avenue North: Sister Anselma Billig (January to summer 1886), Sister Placidia Haehn (1886-1900); St. Raphael's Hospital in east St. Cloud : Sister Placidia Haehn (1890 -1900); St. Raphael's Hospital on 9th Avenue North: Sister Placida Haehn (1900-1902), Sister Hyacinthe Simmer (1902-1908), Sister Secunda Hansen (1908-1921), Sister Serena Bold (1921-1923), Sister Julitta Hoppe (1923-1928); St. Cloud Hospital: Sister Julitta Hoppe (1928 - 1929), Sister Ethelbert Krenik (192 9-1938), Sister Rosaria Zenner (1938-1943), Sister Christopher Rassier (1943 - 1948), Sister Francis Xavier Forster (1948-1958), Sister Lorraine Sauer (formerly) Sister Annora (1958-1959); Sister Jameen Mape (1959-1967); Gene S. Bakke (1967-1984) ; John Frobenius (1985-2003).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits
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