Topic: Religion / Type: Still Image / Subject Headings: Orphanages

Date Created:: 1960
Description:: Three boys say night prayers at Boys' Home with Sister Philomene O'Brien.
Contributing Institution:: Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
Type:: Still Image
Format:: Black-and-white photographs

Creator:: Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:: 1887?
Description:: Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). In 1873, Mother Antonia Herman, OSB, arranged to have the Sisters of St. Benedict purchase 10 acres near the church in Pierz intending to begin an independent Benedictine community there. When the new community did not materialize, the building was used for some years as an orphanage for girls because the convents in St. Joseph and St. Cloud were no longer able to house all 63 orphans (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:: Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:: Still Image
Format:: Black-and-white photographs

Creator:: Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:: 1880 - 1884
Description:: Early ventures in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1880-1890). As early as 1875, the sisters had begun to care for orphans in an informal way, but in 1884 the orphanage was incorporated under the laws of the State. Overcrowded conditions forced the sisters to transfer them from St. Cloud to St. Joseph and back again until it was decided to move the girls to the sisters' quarters in Pierz, Minnesota, and the boys were moved back to the old log church and school in St. Joseph. When the fire of 1886 destroyed the orphan home in St. Joseph, the sisters made room for the 23 orphan boys in other buildings on the premises. Finally, at the request of Bishop Otto Zardetti in 1893, the orphans were given to the care of the newly-founded community of Sisters of St. Francis in Little Falls. The Sisters at St. Benedict's, however, retained the familial atmosphere effected by the presence of the orphan children by opening the Bethlehem School for Little Boys as a department of St. Benedict's Academy; little girls,"minims," were housed with the academy students (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 122-123).
Contributing Institution:: Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:: Still Image
Format:: Black-and-white photographs

Date Created:: 1909?
Description:: In 1904, St. Joseph's Home reached its full capacity of 80 residents. By subsequent additions its capacity was increased to 115. It was the sisters' first nursing home, especially attractive to older men because they could be involved with work on the farm and large gardens located on the premises. Later the sisters would own or manage and staff six nursing homes in Minnesota and two in North Dakota (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives, McDonald, pages 261-263).
Contributing Institution:: Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:: Still Image
Format:: Black-and-white photographs

Date Created:: 1900?
Description:: By 1887, the number of orphans increased to 47 boys and 43 girls and a new wing was added to St. Joseph's Orphanage in St. Paul. However, this orphanage quickly outgrew its downtown location and became a problem for Assumption Parish where they were educated. A suitable place was found at the outskirts of the city on Randolph Street. Here a large orphanage, including farm buildings and a shop for the boys, was built in 1900. Through the years, the sisters' salary remained at $10.00 a month. Despite some diocesan aid, the sisters were forced to go begging for funds throughout the state; some went with wagons, soliciting food from hotels and bakeries. Later this orphanage became known as St. Joseph's Home for Children and eventually was merged with Minneapolis Catholic Boys Home and moved to the Minneapolis location (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:: Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:: Still Image
Format:: Black-and-white photographs

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