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.
In 1900, the Duluth Benedictine sisters purchased the first 80 acres of what would be their Kenwood campus. This parcel had been used as a farm for a number of years, and the sisters continued to farm the location with hired laborers. Mrs. Beyenka, wife of the farm overseer, feeds the chickens here. The white structure is a house for the farm laborers built in 1902, and later moved up the hill to become the College post office.
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.
In 1900, the Duluth Benedictine sisters purchased the first 80 acres of what would be their Kenwood campus. This location operated as a farm into the 1930s, supplying dairy products and vegetables to the sisters and their students. Here, hay is being cut to feed the livestock. Looking east, Kenwood Avenue is in the background.
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.
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.
The building which was the first St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth, as it appeared in 1945. In the mid-1880s, Abbot Alexius Edelbrock of St. John's Abbey considered creating an independent foundation of Benedictine monks in Duluth. In 1887 three buildings were constructed in Duluth's west end: a church, a parish house and a school and residence using bricks manufactured at St. John's. Plans for the new foundation did not materialize, but Abbot Alexius convinced Mother Scholastica Kerst that the large building could be converted into a hospital. The Benedictine sisters did exactly this, opening the first St. Mary's Hospital at 20th Ave. East and 3rd Street on February 29, 1888.
In 1921, an addition was made to the 1909 building: the tower from the original plan was constructed, the north lateral wing was extended and a gymnasium was built. Thomas Ellerbe of St. Paul was the architect. This view from the northeast shows the gymnasium, often mistaken for a chapel, and what was still the main entrance to Tower Hall.
1912 elementary school dormitory, Villa Sancta Scholastica. Elementary school boarding students at Villa Sancta Scholastica slept in 12-bed dormitories. Each cubicle held a bed with privacy curtains, and a dresser-washstand. Closets were communal. The girls were supervised by a sister "prefect" in an adjacent private room.
Exterior view of the Mortuary Chapel in the sisters' cemetery in 1916. In Gethsemane Cemetery of the Duluth Benedictine sisters, a cistern for water collection was built on the highest hill and to screen it from view, a stone chapel was constructed. This was the location of many summertime outdoor pilgrimages and ceremonies. Maude, the sister of Sister Milburga and Sister Adelinus Bolin, is pictured with her daughter.
When the Benedictine Sisters came to Duluth to establish and independent foundation in 1892, they rented the two westernmost townhouses in the newly-completed Munger Terrace. They occupied one of the two units and their school, Sacred Heart Academy, occupied the other. Bishop McGolrick of Duluth rented the adjacent unit, his residence having been destroyed by fire.
1938 panorama of Duluth Benedictine Sisters property. In 1937, Mother Agnes Somers hired the St. Louis architectural firm of O'Meara, Hills and Quick to plan two new buildings for the Villa Scholastica campus. Due north of Stanbrook Hall, and connected to Stanbrook and Tower Halls by cloister walks is the combined Chapel of our Lady Queen of Peace and the College library.
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.
In 1921, an addition was made to the 1909 building: the tower from the original plan was constructed, the north lateral wing was extended and a gymnasium was built. Thomas Ellerbe of St. Paul was the architect. This view from the west shows the rear of the gymnasium, and the north wing extension, with a "bump out" to accommodate the altar of the new third-floor chapel.
In 1955, Sister Leona Michlitch and Sister Anselma Mahowald, both former officials of the Duluth Benedictine community, take a summer walk to the cemetery.
A 1938 photo of Stanbrook Hall. In 1937, Mother Agnes Somers hired the St. Louis architectural firm of O'Meara, Hills and Quick to plan two new buildings for the Villa Scholastica campus. This is the new high school, Stanbrook Hall, which was completed in 1938. Stanbrook Hall High School operated until 1967, after which the building was converted to the administrative offices of St. Scholastica Priory.
The "new" St. Mary's Hospital in 1898. In 1894, the Benedictine sisters of Duluth had plans drawn up for a proposed motherhouse and school to be built on property they owned at 5th Avenue East and Third street. The foundations were laid, but money was short and the project had to be abandoned. In 1897 Bishop McGolrick suggested that a hospital be built on that site. The building was completed in 1898 and the hospital moved from its West End location to the new site of St. Mary's Hospital.