Trondhjem-Solor Summer Parochial School at Dagan's Temple. Back Row: ?, ?, ?, ?, Art S.?, Luella E. (Engen?), Esther L.; Middle Back Row: ?, Edwin M. (Magnuson?), ?, Teacher?, Evelina O., Gabriel Larsen; Middle Front Row: ?, Irene Johnson, ?, ?, Martha O., Melvin M. (Magnuson?), ?, Eugene Johnson; Front Row: Walter E. (Engen?), Austin Nelson, Florence M., Asora Nelson, Anna R., Myrtle R.
Episcopal clergy and congregants at the cornerstone placement event for their new Pro-Cathedral building on Superior Street while a photographer stands next to his tripod.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Located at 2010 East Superior Street, Trinity Episcopal church Bishop James D. Morrison, guest clergy and members of the congregation are near the east entrance of the building.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Located at 2010 East Superior Street, Trinity Episcopal church Bishop James D. Morrison, guest clergy and members of the congregation stand across the front of the building.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Located at 2010 East Superior Street, Trinity Episcopal church Bishop James D. Morrison, guest clergy and members of the congregation stand across the front of the building.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Episcopal clergy, Bishop James Dow Morrison, and congregants at the cornerstone placement event for their new Pro-Cathedral building on Superior Street.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Episcopal clergy, Bishop James Dow Morrison, and congregants at the cornerstone placement event for their new Pro-Cathedral building on Superior Street.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Interior view of the old Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Peter in 1932, which was located at 511 South Fifth Street. This building has been replaced with a new structure on the same site.
Professional group portrait of Ladies Aid members outside Trinity Lutheran Church. Names of some members are written on the front of the photograph in pencil - please see photograph for names.
Wedding ceremony at Trinity Lutheran Church. Photograph is from the back of the church showing the wedding group at the altar with painted altar piece and pipe organ. Back labeled, "Wedding of Merton & Irene Strommen; Attendants: Vollie Huglen? and Cordelia Agrimson, sisters of Irene. Luther Strommen, best man. Officiating: Reverend Peter Strommen, left; Reverend Melvin J. Olson. Soloist: Evelyn (Mrs. Paul G.) Sonnack. Pianist and Organist: Sig Skurdarvold.
Tower Hall at Villa Sancta Scholastica was completed in 1927 with the addition of a second tower (not in the original plans) separated from the original tower by an elaborate lobby and main entrance, and the northward extension of the eastward-facing wing. Mother Agnes Somers chose the St. Louis architectural firm of O'Meara and Hills. The original college bus is parked in front of what is now called Tower Hall.
Toni Lee Goldish lighting a homemade menorah on a fireplace mantel. Hanging from the mantel are three large Star of David ornaments. The Goldish family lived on Minneapolis' South Side.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Men and women seated at long tables, set with food and drink. Tifereth B'nai Jacob was referred to as the "Elwood Shul" because of it's location on Elwood Avenue. There was a striking concentration of Jewish community life around the Elwood Shul, including the Emanuel Cohen Community Center and the Jewish Sheltering Home, as well as several other synagogues and a bustling retail center a few blocks away on Plymouth Avenue.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Lager Lechfeld is a small town in Bavaria, Germany. It has been the site of a German military triaining camp since 1864 and a prisoner of war camp since 1870.
Funeral service for Thomas Johnsen at the Norseland Lutheran Church (originally known as Nicollet Lutheran Church). The words on the lower left are the Norwegian saying "Fra Swan Lake Menighed." Herbjorn Gausta's altar painting is visible.
Eight women and men are seated at a table on Passover. Each have a book in front of them. The back of the Photograph reads: "Across the table are (from left) George and Esther Casmir, "Beth" Helperin Oreckovsky (1884, Vilna-1954), Charles D. Oreckovsky (1882, Ukraine-1973) and "Big Joe" Oreckovsky (1876, Ukraine-1952)
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Men and women sit at rows of long tables for anniversary celebration of the Duluth Talmud Torah. The Duluth Jewish community at its height in the 1930s numbered about 4,000. Duluth's profile mirrored that of larger cities to the south, including a mix of German and eastern European settlers. The fact that both groups arrived within the same decade helped prevent some of the same identity-based separation that occurred in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Duluth Talmud Torah is officially named the Ida B. Cook Hebrew school, after the founder and a prominent Duluth citizen.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
50th Anniversary Celebration for Rose and Simon Joseph Weisberg at the home of Dr. Louis and Florence Weisberg. Far left, white shirt, black tie-Dr. Edward Litin. Over his left shoulder is Frank Weisberg, son of Rose and Simon. To his left is Sam Weisberg, son of Rose and Simon.To his left tall with glasses is Arthur Weisberg son of Louis Weisberg and Florence. At his left shoulder is Dr. Louis Weisberg husband of Florence Levine Weisberg. To his left is Lee Krelitz Weisberg married to Frank Weisberg. Just behind her is Donald Litin brother to Dr. Ed and son of Ann and Abe Litinsky. At Lee’s left is Florence Levine Weisberg, wife to Louis Weisberg. To her left is Jean Schlessinger Weisberg married to Nate Weisberg. To her left is Abe Litin (changed from Litinsky) married to Ann Weisberg Litin standing in front of him. To Abe Litin’s left is Nate Weisberg son of Rose and Simon Joseph. Standing to Nate’s left on the far right in dark suit and white shirt is Jack Shink married to Sylvia Litin. To Jack’s right is his mother-in-law, Ann Weisberg Litin and to her right is her daughter, Sylvia who married Jack Shink. Over Sylvia’s right shoulder is Gabriel Borken who married Idelle Weisberg who is standing to his immediate right. She is a daughter of Rose and Simon Joseph as is Ann. In front of Idelle is Sarah Lipshultz Weisberg who married Sam Weisberg a son of Rose and Simon. To Sarah’s right is Morton Weisberg a son of Louis and Florence Weisberg. To Sarah’s right is Burton Weisberg, a son of Frank and Lee Weisberg. To his left in front of Sarah’s left arm is Willard Weisberg son of Louis and Florence Weisberg. In the front row the young boy with the grey sweater is Harold Weisberg, son of Sam and Sara Weisberg. Standing at the left in the front, the elderly man withwhite beard is Simon Joseph Weisberg. The boy with the horizontal stripped shirt is Dr. Martin Weisberg son of Frank and Lee Weisberg.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
A group of Temple of Aaron congregants sing together before a director and KSTP microphone. Directing in front is Arthur Paymar. Holding the sheet music is Cantor Ben Nosowsky. Row 1: Adeline Tenzer Garber Fremland, Sylvia Butwinick, Alice Adelman Gustelle, Marilyn Zipperman Schatzberg, Esther Vitoff Schwartz, unidentified, unidentified, Leah Heffter. Row 2: Harry Gass, unidentified, unidentified, Harry Frishberg, Sidney Berde, Ephraim Vitoff, Helen Paster Greenberg, Vivian Sinykin Geller.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
In Conservative congregations, girls graduating from confirmation classes wore white: in Reform rituals, participants wore secular clothing, suggesting a more "Americanized" approach.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Temple Israel was originally known as Shaari Tov, "The Gates of Goodness." Organized in 1878, it was Minneapolis's first Jewish congregation. The first Shaari Tov building burned, and a second was constructed in 1902. A third building was completed in 1928 to accommodate the greatly expanded membership. Then came the Depression. The congregation had borrowed $150,000 on pledges from members to build their new $225,000 Temple and many could not pay their pledges or dues. And so the "Rigadoo" was born, a weekend carnival where the Men's Club and Sisterhood solicited sale goods and prizes. In five years "Rigadoo" netted $25,000, enough to save the building.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
A photograph of the front exterior of the Temple Israel synagogue. The Temple Israel Congregation was incorporated as Congregation Shaarei Tov in 1879. This building occupied 501-503 10th Street South in Minneapolis.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Teenagers gather outside a bus while attending a Mount Zion Temple synagogue teen outing. At the time, Mount Zion was on the corner of Holly Avenue and Avon Street in St. Paul, Minnesota, which is likely the area this photograph was shot.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Father Francis Pierz invited the Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph to teach in Pierz where he and his parishioners had begun building a school in 1869. The school had not been completed by the time the sisters came in 1871, so they lived with some of the parishioners until the upstairs of the log school house was completed as the sisters' convent. The school on the first floor accommodated 100 pupils. For the sisters, this was a first experience of staffing a rural school and living at such a distance from the motherhouse. However, rural schools mushroomed quickly throughout the Northwest Territory. By 1910, the sisters staffed over 40 such schools outside St. Cloud and the Twin Cities area. Needless to say, the teachers endured many hardships in these rural areas. If they were lucky, equipment consisted of desks and a piece of blackboard. Attendance was variable and classrooms were overcrowded (sometimes 80 in one small room). At times there were no classrooms other than the church, the church basement or sacristy. Cold and hunger prevailed and the ever-present hostile controversy of public versus parochial schools affected school discipline. Salaries were sparse or even non-existent (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives ; McDonald, pages 68-69).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). The first log school, though built by the parishioners, was supported by government funds and was, therefore, also the district school for Pierz. By 1889, the public versus parochial school controversy demanded a clarification of schools. The parishioners then claimed the school they had built as their St. Edward's Parochial School. Later, the second floor of the school was opened as a high school. The school was then renamed St. Joseph's School (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
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).
View showing the front exterior of the Synagogue Kenesseth Israel. Kenesseth Israel was formed sometime in the late 19th century from the combined congregations of Ohel Jacob and Beth Midrash Hagodol on Minneapolis's North Side. The congregation was Orthodox, active, and engaging of newly arrived immigrants, providing them with medical care and free shelter. The culturally and religiously important Minneapolis Talmud Torah grew out of Kenesseth Israel's Hebrew School. The building shown here was located in the middle of the block on 6th Avenue North and Lyndale Avenue North.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Members of the Swedish Christian Mission Church's Sunday school pose in front of the church's stained glass windows on April 21, 1918. Group includes (order unknown): Arthur Anderson, Arnold Carlson, Ray Bjorkbom, Elmer Olson.
Sunday School Picnic at Wrabek's Creek on the corner of Highway #19 and Le Sueur County #164 east of New Prague; Bessie ?, Rose Novotny, Bartosh ?, Mrs. John Barta, Miss Novak - Sunday School teacher, Mary Kopet, Polly Funda (Above), Margie Lockwood, Fred Sckodapole, Otillia Vanasek, Ludy Holicky, Julia Holicky, Lena Holicky - twins, Mrs. Melounek,, Charles Wrabek, Mary Mikiska, Millie Vanasek, Cora Bartosh, Rose Bartosh, Mrs. Funda, George Franek - holding flag, Mrs. Jacob Komarek, Mrs. Joe Bastyr, Mrs. Albert Rynda, Mrs. Dietrich, Mrs. Proshek, Mrs. Kritta, Mrs. Wrabek, Mrs. Lockwood holding Howard.
Sunday school class led by the Reverend James Ansel Sutton, who is in the center of the group. Sutton was an 1888 Hamline University graduate and he served as a Methodist Episcopal minister in Minnesota, Washington, Alaska, and California.
Interior view of the Trondhjem Lutheran Church, with the Sunday School class gathered at the altar. Back row (from left to right): Teachers Olla Halverson, Anna Husby, Andrew Fossum, Bergit Haraldson. Middle row: Sadie Skauge, Marian Fossum, Leah Chesness, Eddie Halverson, Joseph Fossum, Henry Chesness. Front row: Olga Skauge, Laura Fossum, Bertha Paulson, George Chesness, Robert Paulson, Johannes Fossum
View of the Sunday School Bible Wagon with the Reverend Devoe seated in the wagon. Reverend Devoe was the first pastor of the Lanesboro Methodist Episcopal Church.
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). In 1881, the Benedictine sisters began teaching in the parish/district school in Luxemberg, averaging 90-100 pupils for a number of years and increasing to 140 as its peak enrollment. In subsequent years the enrollment stabilized to around 100 pupils. The parish continues to support its Catholic school and the Benedictine sisters who have served there for 124 years (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Origins of St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. From its beginnings in the eleventh century, St. Walburg Convent in
Eichstätt, Bavaria, survived many trials of fire, war, famine, and secularization. "Fortunately for America, when the call came to plant a branch house in the new soil of the New World, the religious spirit of St. Walburg Convent was at its height." (McDonald, page 7). In 1851 St. Walburg Convent, EichstÃtt, Bavaria, was challenged by an invitation from Boniface Wimmer, OSB, (a missionary monk from Bavaria in America as early as 1846) to go to America to teach the children of the German immigrants. On June 18, 1852, Sister Benedicta Riepp with Sisters Walburga Dietrich and Maura Flieger blazed the trail for the Eichstätt sisters to the New World by way of the steamer, "Washington." They reached New York amid the confusion of fire crackers and shooting cannons for the July 4th celebrations. Undaunted, they traveled on to settle in St. Marys, PA. New members soon joined them. With the second group (3 nuns and one candidate) from Eichstätt, they were ready to establish other convents in frontier settlements, among them the Northwest Territory in the area which later became the state of Minnesota. In summary, the origin of St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, MN, can be traced as follows: in 1852, the Bavarian branch of Benedictine Sisters who came to America first settled in St. Joseph's Convent, St. Marys, PA.; in 1857, a small group of sisters from St. Joseph's Convent (PA) ventured to the western frontier -- to St. Mary's Parish, St. Cloud, MN; in 1863, the St. Cloud group of sisters moved to St. Joseph, MN. In St. Joseph, they established St. Benedict's Monastery which became the largest Benedictine monastery in the world. (Early records refer to St. Benedict's Monastery as St. Benedict's Convent.) [St. Benedict's Monastery Archives (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; Sister Grace McDonald, OSB, With Lamps Burning, pages 7-10).
This Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary building was a mansion located at Stevens Avenue and East 24th Street in Minneapolis and was named for the first president of Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary, Joseph Stump. Stump Hall functioned as a single student dormitory and had its own on-site boarding club, in which students shared responsibilities for meals. Back of photograph reads: Stump Hall, Stevens Ave. @ 24th Str., Mpls.
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).
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909); St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. While the sisters stressed simplicity in the matter of dress for St. Benedict's Academy students, school dresses could be of any style or color, but black sateen aprons were worn over them during school hours. On Sunday a plain black uniform (with a brooch for the collar) and earrings were to be worn. These regulations made occasions for dressing up something special (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, page 105)
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).
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).
A photograph of four boys sitting at a desk while a fifth stands behind a podium. Orthodox synagogues on the west side of St. Paul jointly founded the St. Paul Hebrew Institute in 1911.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
A large gathering of students, sit on benched in a hall in Moses Montefiore Hebrew School. The Hebrew School was formally organized in 1905 and incorporated in 1908. The driving force behind the school was Mrs. Ida Cook, a Lithuanian immigrant. The school, according to the articles of incorporation, was to "…furnish persons of Hebrew parentage with religious instruction in harmony with the Hebrew religion; to teach the Hebrew and English languages...and to promote religious principles and devotion." The school later became the Duluth Talmud Torah.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909). Some students of the class of 1908-1909 at St. Benedict's Academy are identified. Top row: 1. Nellie McCarthy, 2. Theresa Kohl, 3. Winnifred Stevens. Second row: 1. Mary Germain, 4. Eleanor Hilger (Sister Inez), 5. Hildegard Heck, 7. Aurelia Oster. Third row: 1. Donalda LaGrandeur, 3. Agnes Kalscheuer, 5. Agnes Engler, 7. Josie McCarthy. Seated: 2. Carola Bernick, 3. Alice Thomas, 4. Nanita Wimmer, 5. Katie Kierserling. Commencement day was always celebrated in great style. For example, the "Annual Catalogue" of 1883-84 and 1889-1900 record that a graduate might wear a "white Swiss, French Lawn, or Nun's veiling dress neatly and plainly made with a high neck and long sleeves . . . black or white boots and white kid gloves." Commencement guests traveled by wagon, carriage, and railroad from many parts of the West; the bishop of St. Cloud, the abbot of St. John's, and as many as twenty clergymen were present for the occasion. The auditorium was decorated with ferns, flowers and wreaths. There were lengthy orations; occasionally the commencement address was given by a prominent layman. For example, in 1884 the speaker was Honorable John Arctander of Willmar, District Attorney and author. The ceremony, together with the distribution of gold medals for excellence in studies and for lady-like conduct (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 105-108).
First 50 years of the College of Saint Benedict (CSB). "All private rooms (in Teresa Hall) are furnished in mahogany and have hot and cold water. If desired, a number of students may have a room with private bath" (College Bulletin, 1926).
1909 photo showing modifications to strengthen ceilings in Tower Hall. When Franklin Ellerbe of St. Paul took over the completion of Villa Sancta Scholastica in 1908 steel support columns were added in all of the rooms below fourth floor, and steel beams were added to shore up the ceilings. These beams were covered with wood, and provided a somewhat Tudor flavor to the decor. This is the high school students' recreation room on first floor of the building.
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). In 1903 the sisters built a separate house to be used as an infirmary for students on St. Benedict's Convent campus. Because of its segregation from other buildings, it was ideal for isolating patients with contagious diseases; hence dubbed the "pest house." A few years after it was built, more than 100 students and candidates were stricken in the diphtheria epidemic. This building still exists today. It was moved closer to Minnesota Street in St. Joseph and renovated for use as the convent guest house (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Though lacking in privacy, the dormitories of 15 or more students per dorm were places for community-bonding and the cultivation of common courtesies. Sister-prefects lived in the dormitories with the students to foster an atmosphere of quiet and respect for others. Moral training was not formally taught in the classroom; it was hoped that it would be absorbed by the atmosphere and tone of the academy as set by teachers, prefects, and older students. There were strict rules about privacy; no student was to enter another student's "cell" (curtained area around each bed and stand) or desk or to borrow or lend clothing. Polite and gentle manners were just as important as intellectual pursuits (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, McDonald, pages 104-105).
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909). Another place for community-bonding and the cultivation of common courtesies in the life of St. Benedict's Academy students was the dining area. Meals were served in home-style fashion at the table. Sister-prefects who dined with the students provided examples of table etiquette, concern for others, and suitable table conversations (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Student being counseled by B'nai B'rith synagogue Vocational Guidance Service at the Hillel Foundation (University of Minnesota). Listed on the back in no particular order, (blank) Wasserman and Gerhard Neuback.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Exterior view of one of the St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Churches that was located at 427 W. Mulberry Street. Behind it was the parochial school. The house to the right was the parsonage. This church was replaced by a new one in 1923.
Construction of this St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church in St. Peter, Minnesota, began in 1869. A new church was constructed on the same site at 427 West Mulberry Street in 1923, and another in 1998 after the destruction of the 1923 church by a tornado in March of 1998.
Exterior view of one of the St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Churches that was located at 427 W. Mulberry Street. It was built in 1923 and was destroyed in the March 1998 tornado that struck St. Peter. The house at right was the parsonage.
This is a photograph of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in St. Peter, also called the German Lutheran Church. This church was dedicated in 1870, and was located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Fifth and Mulberry streets, facing Mulberry. A new church on the same site was dedicated in 1923.
St. Peter and Paul Cememtery in Belle Plaine. Crucifix later moved to the side and finally taken down in the 1980's. Cemetery by iron fence and gate. Barn visible in background. Wheel barrow in cemetery next to gravestones.
Black and white print showing the interior of St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Belle Plaine. Seen are the main and side alters, a small balcony, several pews, banners, Stations of the Cross, and other decorations. Written on the backside of the image is "Decorated 1882/Inside of old Catholic Church Sts Peter and Paul/Belle Plaine, Mn."
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Considered the midpoint between Lake Osakis and Sauk Rapids, Sauk Centre grew around a store built in 1861. Soon railroads linked the town with Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Cloud and Manitoba. The settlers built a new parochial school in 1896. It was one of the largest buildings in Sauk Centre -- a three-story structure with classrooms and a music room on the first two floors, living quarters for three Benedictine sisters on third floor and a full basement for parish meetings and activities. A first communion event (see photo) was always celebrated by the entire parish in German communities (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).