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).
Eight Benedictine Sisters in rounded habits stand in front of a Queen Anne-style convent. They are all facing the same direction, but their gaze is cast slightly downwards. They are all holding their rosaries. The house has 10 steps leading from street level to porch. There are lace curtains in the window. A tall industrial building looms in the background. They were once presumed to be sisters of Notre Dame.
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).
An 1878 photograph of Sister Scholastica Kerst in the St. Benedict's convent habit. Catherine (Sister, later Mother Scholastica) Kerst (1847-1911) was born in Meuringen, Prussia, and came to St. Paul, MN, in 1852 with her parents. She entered the Benedictine community of St. Gertrude in Shakopee, MN, in 1862 and in 1877 transferred to St. Benedict's Convent in St. Joseph, MN. She was prioress there from 1880-1889. In 1892, she led the foundation of what is now St. Scholastica Monastery and was prioress there until her death in 1911.
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]
Early ventures in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1880-1890). In the early years, an academy was geared to primary school education and only gradually developed into a secondary school. This photo shows the wide age-range of students attending St. Benedict's Academy before the 1900s. This range of ages may account for the family (community) spirit that developed in the school. It was customary to refer to the younger girls as "minims." The prefect with this group is Sister Ernesta Kranz; the child in the sailor suit is identified as Alice O'Niel (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
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).
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]
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).
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).
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).
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909); St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. Academy class of 1883-1884, front row sitting left to right: Neville Ensor, Mary Schwartz, Elizabeth Spies, Tillie Keppers, Barbara Venne, Margaret Sanz, Ursula Glatzmeier, Anna Herron, Bertha Linnemann, Carrie Smith, Alta Letson, Frances Pfannenstein, Lena Bernick, Mary Rhodes, Lucretia Mutschlechner. Second row sitting: Rose Black, Mary Merten, Anna Brockmann, Theresa Schreiner, Margaret Klein, Stella LaComb, Margaret Kerst, Josephine Friend, Anna Wagner; (Third row sitting): Anna Kahl, Laura Bosworth, Margaret Lauermann, Magdalen Theisen, Barbara Eich; (First row standing): Eliza Darbelly, Louisa Maurin, Sister Alexia Kerst, Mary Roach, Clara Otto, Mary Kennedy; (Second row standing - next to building): Johanna Madigan, Mary Brockmann, Jennie McLean, Sister Bonaventure Kapsner, Margaret Claesgens, Margaret Farrell, Sarah Farrell, Louise Wall, Mattie Bosworth, Josie Smith, Mary Zimmer, Sarah Kelly, Lavina Huber, Sister Pius Roche, Sister Celestine Marschall, Josie Gerard, Mary Hoffmann. While the sisters rejoiced at the increasing enrollment, they were concerned about maintaining a small enough number to assure a homey atmosphere and a community spirit. In the early 1880s, because many of the students were of grade-school age, there was a built-in family atmosphere in the academy. Gradually, however, the academy drew students of high school age and older; by 1909, the academy was ready to consider offering college classes (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
An 1885 photograph of Sister Alexia (Mary Martha) Kerst (1856-1916), the sister of Mother Scholastica. She was born in St. Paul, MN, and entered St. Benedict's Convent in St. Joseph, MN, in 1878. She was the first administrator of St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck, ND. She came to Duluth with the other foundresses of the Duluth Benedictine community in 1892 and was instrumental in the foundation of St. Mary's Hospital there. When Mother Scholastica died in 1911 she was elected prioress, a position she held until her death in 1916.
Cabinet photograph of three prominent Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in full habit. Sister Seraphine Ireland was the director of the St. Paul Province of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet from 1882-1921. She was responsible for the establishment of numerous schools and hospitals in urban and rural areas of Minnesota and North Dakota. Sister St. John Ireland was responsible for the establishment of Holy Angels Academy from 1877-1897. Sister Celestine Howard, a cousin of the Irelands, was supervisor of schools established by Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet; she later (1884) established St. Agatha's Conservatory of Art and Music. This unique school offered classes in various branches of art and music, as well as in dramatics. It closed in 1969. The Irelands were sisters of John Ireland, the first archbishop of St. Paul.
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).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Moorhead developed into one of the larger cities of Minnesota because it was a natural terminus for most forms of transportation: the early routes of the Red River ox carts, a steamboat landing for the Hudson Bay Company, and connections to Duluth by railroad and highway. By 1882, Moorhead had 14 hotels and restaurants and the Catholic community had established its church and school. In 1879, St. Joseph's Parish in Moorhead opened a school for 50-60 pupils. This photograph of Sister Ethelburga Farrell's class and Father Augustine Brockmyer, pastor of St. Joseph's Parish, was taken in 1887. By 1892 a new school was built. The enrollment continued to increase so that, within the next 20 years, six sisters were teaching 200 students resulting in the building of another new school (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; Olsenius, page 129).
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).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). In 1887, Sisters Clara Billig and Appolonia Jensen began teaching in this one-room parish/district school and convent in Buckman. A combination parochial-district school continued there without opposition for at least another 50 years (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in St. Cloud (1869-1909). The sister-faculty of Holy Angels Grade School in St. Cloud at the turn of the century are identified as follows: (seated left to right): Sisters Ignatia Huntsinger, Eleanor Irving, Ursula Hoffmann, Pauline Heller, Sybilla Vogel; (standing): Sisters Edwina Noessen, Basilia Cosgrove, Sophia Zimmer, Louise Walz. The parish records of the monthly tuition payments for the year 1897-98 list the following number of pupils for each teacher: (listed by room number; the word "grade" is not used; at first there were simply the upper and lower levels): Room 1, Sister Sybilla Vogel, 122; Room 2, Sister Pauline Heller, 78; Room 3, Sister Bonaventure Theisen, 77; Room 4, Sister Sophia Zimmer, 73; Room 5, Sister Louise Walz, 65; Room 6, Sister Eleanor Irving, 58; Room 7, Sister Ursula Hoffmann, 31; Room 8 (George Stelzle), 33. Judging by this record of the size of classes, one can surmise that the lower-level classes had half-day sessions and that in those early years, less than half of the students went beyond a sixth grade education (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives ; McDonald, page 116; Voigt, page 39).
St. Mary's Mission, Red Lake Indian Reservation (Red Lake Nation). Sisters and students pose on the porch of the convent/school. In 1889, with a donation received from the Drexel sisters, a convent/boarding school was built. Upstairs were sleeping quarters for the sisters and girls; downstairs contained the kitchen, recreation room, and refectory for serving meals. At the time there were five sisters, 35 boarding students of ages six to eighteen, and 25 day students. It proved to be so successful that it had to be enlarged within two years. A house was purchased to be the dormitory for boys and the temporary church (built in 1891) served as the dormitory for boys after a new church was completed in 1893. [SBMA; Lindblad, pp. 41-43]
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Melrose was settled at a ford in the river on the stagecoach trail between the Red River Valley and St. Cloud. It got its spurt of growth in 1871 as the terminus of the west-bound railroad, making it a marketing center. Melrose (named after Melissa Rose, the daughter of one of the early settlers) soon developed into a strong Catholic community eager to establish its own parish. In 1880, St. Boniface School (parish/district) was built and the Benedictine sisters responded to the pastor's invitation to teach there. By 1894, four sisters were teaching 170 pupils, despite the fact that at first they suffered from the usual prejudice of German communities regarding public versus parochial schools. In subsequent years, the enrollment peaked at 325 pupils even though the Irish parishioners established their own grade/high school and enrolled as many as 166 pupils. When St. Boniface and St. Patrick parishes merged in 1958, the parish and school were renamed St. Mary's School which reached a peak enrollment of 481 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). In 1886, St. Benedict's Convent built a small residence for sisters teaching at St. Mary's School in St. Augusta and by 1903, it required an addition. Fifty years later the parish voted to change the district school to a parochial school, but it took another 10 years before a new parochial school was built. Sisters still serve in the St. Mary's School and parish, having given this settlement over 120 years of service (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
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).
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). About 85 boarding students and six sisters posed in the inner court of St. St. Benedict's Mission School in the early 1890s. Record keeping for this large a group of children was not simple. While the churches constructed and operated the schools on the reservations, government policy allowed the schools an annual appropriation of a flat rate for tuition, board and clothing annually; the amount varied from $100 to $150 per pupil. This policy required careful quarterly reports to be sent to Washington. All expenditures had to be accounted for - the number of pounds of meat, sacks of flour, bushels of beans and potatoes, barrels of sugar, pounds of rice, and gallons of syrup and soap These accounts show the frugality of the mission school's fare. For example, the 1886 end-of-year record shows $2.00 for candy and $2.50 for a pair of geese. [SBMA, McDonald, pp. 240-241]
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). The original group of three Benedictine sisters who opened St. Bernard's School: Sisters Eugenia ONeill (seated), Secunda Hansen (right), Auxilia Kapsner (left). The number of sisters at St. Bernard's Parish increased in subsequent years to thirty sisters serving on the faculty of St. Bernard's School (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
In 1892, the first ceremonies were held accepting new members into the Duluth Benedictine community. Back row, reception of novices, left to right, back row: Sister Benedict Mlynek, Sister Margaret Mary Borsch, Sister James Roche. Front row, Sister Leonissa Sauber, perpetual vows, Sister Jeremia Cannon, first vows.
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). Many class groups of students posed on the steps of this church, the pride of St. Joseph's Parish in Minneapolis. The twin steeples of St. Joseph's Church graced the city's landscape for about 100 years before the parish complex was razed by the city's highway system and the entire area was re-surfaced for inner city transportation (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). In 1892, two sisters (Adela Eich and Casimir Pietron) and a candidate (Miss Rose Carlin - later Sister Josephine) opened a mission in St. Joseph's Parish in Browerville. The parish had built a parochial school, named Holy Angels, consisting of three classrooms and living quarters for sisters. When dissension arose between the Polish and German parishioners that resulted in the establishment of a German parish (St. Peter's), a sister from Holy Angels School taught the German pupils in a rented store. In 1902, when the Germans built their own church, St. Peter's, the school was moved to the church basement. Both schools expanded and prospered, but were eventually consolidated and named Browerville Parochial School, later renamed Christ the King (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
The Kerst sisters, Mother Scholastica (1847-1911) and Sister Alexia (1856-1915) were among the group of Benedictine sisters to come from St. Benedict's Convent in St. Joseph, Minnesota, to found the new Benedictine community in Duluth in 1892.
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). Sister Lioba Braun, at the organ, leads the sisters at St. Benedict's Mission in song. Sister Lioba, one of the first sisters to help establish St. Benedict's Mission at White Earth, brought her gift of music and singing and soon had a choir that was able to sing at the religious services. The sister to the immediate right of Sister Lioba is identified as Sister Meinrad Burrell and the sister to Sister Meinrad's right as Sister Basilia Cosgrove. [SBMA]
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). As early as 1880, three sisters took charge of the parish school in Long Prairie, but within four years the sisters withdrew because of misunderstandings with the pastor. Ten years later, the sisters re-opened the mission and the school's subsequent enrollments grew to 280. Pictured are S. Demetria Keller (on left) and Catherine Siefner (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
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.
A group of Duluth Benedictine sisters enjoy a picnic outing in 1900 while inspecting work on St. Anthony's Hospital in Bemidji. Left to right, unidentified sister with picnic basket, Sister Benedict Mlynek, Mother Scholastica Kerst in hammock, Sister Christina Johnson with key, Sister Alexia Kerst . The dog is a local visitor.
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).
In 1900, several Duluth Benedictine Sisters host a tea party for a guest at the original St. Ann's Home. When the original St. Mary's Hospital moved to east Duluth in 1898, the building was converted to first an orphanage and then a rest home. Left to right, Sister Camillus Gretsch, Sister Caroline Scheffold, Sister Madeline Heinen and guest.
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). The carriage used by the sisters around 1900 was very likely the vehicle that met students and candidates at the St. Joseph train depot. It had first belonged to the administrator of the St. Cloud Diocese and is still preserved in St. Benedict's Monastery Museum (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
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).
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). In 1900, two sisters and a candidate opened a school in the German parish (Assumption) in Richfield (originally Bloomfield). In spite of the fact that two other parishes had been established in Richfield, the Assumption School could boast of an enrollment of 202 students and 6 sisters teaching in subsequent years. By 1909, the Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph, MN, had staffed 20 schools in the Twin Cities and south-central Minnesota -- mainly in the German communities but also in the Montgomery-New Prague area, a stronghold of Czechoslovakian culture and heritage. For most of these 20 schools, St. Benedict's Monastery archives has no early photographs (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Sister Hyacinth Werden, an excellent educator was the first principal at Derham Hall. In January 1905, 70 boarding students from St. Joseph's Academy, St. Paul, moved out to a developing area in the southwestern part of the city, where the new school was located. This was the official opening of the College of St. Catherine. In addition to the high school boarding students there were "young ladies of uncertain age who were grouped together as 'specials.' "
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). The first settler, John Schwinghammer, came to this oak and maple-wooded area in 1862. When the St. Paul-Minneapolis-Manitoba line was constructed in 1871, a railroad station and hotel were quickly built and the town of Albany began to grow. The Catholic community invited two sisters to teach in the Albany District School #111 in 1884 but the public versus parochial school controversy soon relegated them to the church sacristy. Because the sacristy could only accommodate 15-20 pupils and because the resident pastor was recalled from Albany, the sisters withdrew in 1888. In 1904 the sisters returned to re-open the school in the old church. In subsequent years, a new school, Holy Family, was built and enrollment peaked at 325 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
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.
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). In 1882, the new German parish in Stillwater, MN, invited Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph, MN, to teach in their school, St. Mary's. Because there was another parochial school, conducted by the Sisters of St. Joseph in the older English-speaking parish, the German parish school had only 85-100 pupils. In the subsequent 66 years of service given by the Benedictine sisters at St. Mary's School, the enrollment of this grade school remained steady between 100 and 125 and, for some time, high school classes were included for a small number of students (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 108-109).
Young women were recruited from Ireland and Canada in the late 1800s and early 1900s to join the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. (Some considered this increase in membership an unnatural growth.) By the turn of the century there were 428 Sisters of St. Joseph in the St. Paul Province to help administer and staff the schools and hospitals in the care of the community. Pictured here, according to note attached to photograph, back row (left to right): Sisters Matthew, Cuthberta, Peter, Blanda. Middle row (left to right) Sisters Oswina, Odelia, Jarleth, Illirius, Salome, Candida, Placidia, Pius. Front row (left to right) Sisters Honorata, Michael, Celsus, Lucy, St. Kevin, Victor, Erma.
Before construction began on the Kenwood site, Duluth Benedictine sisters enjoyed outings to the farm. The young women in black dresses and veiled bonnets are postulants.
Duluth Benedictine Sisters at their school mission in Red Lake Falls, MN in 1905. While posing for a formal portrait, they were not above interjecting a note of humor. Back row, left to right, Sister Willibauld Schmitt, unidentified, Sister Adelgundis Beyenka, Sister Patricia Murtaugh, Sister Winnibauld Geres. Front row: unidentified, Sister Joan, Sr. Hedwig Cismowski. Several of these sisters became founding members of the Crookston Benedictine community.
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).
Four students are shown sitting on the front steps of Derham Hall with an unidentified Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Another student and Sister are visible on a sidewalk on the north lawn of campus.
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909); St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. Known for its bee-keeping industry, St. Bonifacius became a typical small town German settlement with its own church and school. In 1885, sisters opened a school there which in time reached an enrollment of 180 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, Richard Olsenius, Minnesota Travel Companio, A Guide to the History Along Minnesota's Highways, page 154).
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). The German community of Hastings, the second oldest settlement in Minnesota, at first had the Sisters of St. Joseph as their teachers. In 1890, four Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph, MN, replaced the Sisters of St. Joseph teaching the 140 students in the parochial school provided by the German parish. This was due, perhaps, to the fact that the Benedictines were primarily a German community. In subsequent years the enrollment increased to 335 students. Though the photograph shows only boys, girls were also enrolled (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, Shifra Stein's Day Trips: Gas-saving Getaways Less Than Two Hours from Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul, page 149).
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).
Schools in St. Cloud (1869-1909). The twenty-five eighth grade graduates of St. Mary's School, St. Cloud, MN, in 1909 are identified as follows: (Top row): Martha Franke, Hyacinth Libert, Eleanor Hall, Olivia Peffer, Victoria Majerus, Veronica Heitzmann, Isabelle Kuck, Mary Zierden, Sybilla Dietrich; (Middle row): Leo Schmidt, Carl Rosenberger, John Hiemenz, Walter Schmidt, Anthony Hunstiger, Floyd McConnell, Leo Heinen, Gretsch, Bernard Schepers; (Bottom row): Appolonia Huf, Rose Danzl, Mary Nickols, Alma Bernauer, Father Alfred Mayer, O.S.B., Hilda Wampach, Hilda Knopp, Magdalen Braun, Sister Chrysostom Sanz, O.S.B. (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Though St. Ann's parish in Wadena was slow in establishing a parochial school, the communion class of 1909 attests to its later rapid growth. In the late 1850s, Wadena began as a trading post with a population around 100. When the Northern Pacific railroad crossed the county in 1872, a town was established 15 miles west of the old trading post. It was named Wadena, meaning "little rounded hill" in Ojibwe. It took until 1903 before the Catholic community in Wadena managed to build a school of its own, St. Ann's School. Three Benedictine sisters accepted the invitation to teach 80 pupils there. In subsequent years, the enrollment peaked at 466 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, Olsenius, page 104).
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).
Benedictine Sisters of Duluth picking berries on the western 80-acre parcel of their Kenwood property. At the far left is Sister Amata Mackett, the farm manager.
Housing for sisters suffering from tuberculosis in 1910. In the early 20th Century, tuberculosis was rife in religious communities, and accounted for the deaths of many young sisters. Fresh air was regarded as the primary treatment. Duluth Benedictine sisters suffering from the disease lived in screened caravans on the grounds of the Kenwood property.
1914 procession in the sisters' cemetery at Villa Sancta Scholastica. On the feast of Corpus Christi (the Thursday following Trinity Sunday) the faculty and students of Villa Sancta Scholastica went in procession to the outdoor chapel in the sisters' cemetery. Here, the elementary school students in their First Communion dresses, carrying baskets of flowers are followed by the sisters and finally the chaplain with his altar boy assistants.
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).
First 50 years of the College of Saint Benedict (CSB). The academic dean, registrar, heads of departments and other faculty members advise students concerning their courses, academic progress and future plans. (Gable, OSB; Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Sister Antonia McHugh had experience at three educational levels: elementary, secondary, and college. She was among the first faculty appointed to Derham Hall / College of St. Catherine in 1905. From 1914-1917 she served as the first dean of the college; from 1917-1937 she served as the first president of the college. Her work brought national and international recognition of the scholastic curriculum and faculty at the college.
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.
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."
First 50 years of the College of Saint Benedict (CSB). Sister Olivia Egan entered St. Benedict's community in 1886, graduated from St. Benedict's Academy, taught in the Industrial School and then became librarian and teacher at the academy and the college. In the college, she served as librarian from 1916-1930. Because of her vital interest in the establishment of the college, Sister Mariella Gable cited her as one of its prime promoters.
A 1924 photo of Sister Chrysostom (Margaret) Doran (1875-1959, fourth prioress of the Duluth Benedictine Sisters . She was born in New London. WI and started teaching at age 17 and entered the Duluth Benedictines in 1906. In 1919, Bishop McNicholas appointed her Prioress of the community. She embarked on an ambitious building project: added a tower and wing extension to Villa Sancta Scholastica, a gymnasium for the college and an extension to St. Mary's Hospital. She had the old Sacred Heart Institute converted to a residence for nursing students , and oversaw the foundation of an independent Benedictine community in Crookston. She was Prioress from 1919 to 1924.
A 1930 photo of Sister Agnes (Catherine) Somers. Born in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, in 1875, she entered the Duluth Benedictines in 1900 at the suggestion of her cousin, Sr. Celestine Sullivan. She was instrumental in the creation of the College of St. Scholastica in 1912. She was prioress of the Duluth community from 1924-1942, and under her administration the College became a four-year institution in 1924, Tower Hall was completed in 1928, Stanbrook Hall and the College library and chapel were constructed in 1938. In her retirement, she wrote an (unpublished) history of the community to 1924, and a description of the architectural and artistic holdings of the College, All Her Ways.
As early as 1923, there are records showing that Sisters were involved with bee culture. Left to right are Sister Annina Zierden, Sister Juliana Venne, Sister Crescentia Eich and Sister Amalia Eich.
The Board of lay advisors includes (left to right:) Mother Rosamond Pratschner, Mrs. Rose Reilly, Ed Callahan, Dr. Joseph B. Gaida, Sister Claire Lynch, Joseph Matt, Dr. R. N. Jones, Francis Gross and Mrs. Robert Burns. It advised that the college to develop a 100-year plan which initiated the concept of a CSB building program.