Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records - Black and Indian Mission Collection Commission for the Catholic Missions among the Colored People and the Indians Historical Note Scope and Content - Archives

1884

The U.S. Bishops' held its Third Plenary Council (of Baltimore), which decreed the establishment of a national annual special collection on the first Sunday of Lent for the benefit of African-American and Native American missions. This collection was administered by a commission of three bishops without Indians in their dioceses. It was incorporated as the Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians and is now known as the Black and Indian Mission Office.

1887-[ongoing]

The Black & Indian Mission collection was established with modest initial responses. It collected funds from 66 of the 84 dioceses and dispersed funds to 34 dioceses and organizations supporting missions. Notable contributing Arch/Dioceses included: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn and notable receiving Arch/Dioceses included: Charleston, Jackson/Natchez, Mobile, New Orleans, and St. Joseph's Seminary for African American missions; and Alaska and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions for Native American missions.

1887-1916 The Diocese of Corpus Christi received Black & Indian Mission collection funding for Hispanic American missions in south Texas, which were regarded as Native American missions.

1887-1926 African American missions in the Bahamas (attached to the Archdiocese of New York), 1887-1916, and Haiti (Diocese of Cap-Haitien), 1920-1926, received Black & Indian Mission collection funding and were regarded as African American missions.

1891 Katharine Drexel founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to staff Catholic schools for Native and African Americans.

1900

There were 101,000 Native American Catholics and 144,000 African American Catholics in the United States. The Native Americans were served in at least 154 churches and 68 schools and the African Americans were served in 45 churches and 109 schools.

1905-

The Catholic Church Extension Society was established in Chicago to aid in the building and supplying of churches and schools in needy areas throughout the United States.

1905-1927, 1977 The Dioceses of Aguña/ Guam received Black & Indian Mission collection funding for its mission among indigenous Pacific Islanders, which the collection regarded as Indian missions.

1906-1944

The Mountain Province/Nueva Segovia of the Philippines, then a territory of the United States, received Black & Indian Mission collection funding for missions among the Igorot People, which the collection regarded as Indian missions.

1910

The Diocese of Tucson received Black & Indian Mission collection funding for missions serving Yaqui Indians, which the collection regarded as Indian missions. Most Yaqui Indians were immigrants from Mexico since 1780. Tucson became the first diocese to received Black & Indian Mission collection funding for missions to immigrants from Latin America.

1923-[ongoing] The National Catholic Welfare Conference, later renamed the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, assumed a support role for African American and Native American missions.

1930-[ongoing]
The narrative quality of correspondence diminished as the telephone replaced correspondence as the primary communications tool throughout the United States.

1930-[ongoing] The quantity, quality, and diversity of photographs grew as technology improved photography and as more rural stores served the amateur photography market throughout the United States.

1952

The Black & Indian Mission collection exceeded $1 million for the first time. It received funds from 117 out of 131 dioceses and dispersed funds to 79 diocese and 9 other Catholic agencies. Notable contributing Arch/Diocese included: Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Paul, and Springfield. Notable recipients included: Charleston, Jackson/Natchez, Lafayette, Mobile, New Orleans, the Josephites, and Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for African American missions; and Alaska, Gallup, Tucson, the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Native American missions.

1950s-[ongoing] Immigration from various Latin American countries expanded the number, size, and cultural diversity of African, Hispanic, and Native American communities.

1977-[ongoing] The Black & Indian Mission collection began to support the Tekakwitha Conference by providing direct funding of the Conference's National Office and aid through diocesan appropriations for Native Americans to attend annual Conference meetings.

1977-1981

The United States Catholic Conference Ad-Hoc Committee on National Collections attempted to fold the national Black & Indian Mission collection into a consolidated program of national Catholic collections. By successfully opposing this attempt, Monsignor Paul A. Lenz preserved the independence of the Lenten collection and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, which depended on this funding.

1977 Marquette University began to preserve the archival records of the Lenten collection.

1985

The Black & Indian Mission collection exceeded $5 million for the first time. It received funds from 168 of 186 dioceses and disbursed funds to 121 dioceses and 14 other Catholics agencies. Notable contributing Arch/Dioceses included: Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia, Rockville Center, and St. Louis. Notable recipients included: Charleston, Jackson/Natchez, Lafayette, Mobile, New Orleans, Josephites, and Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for African American missions; and Fairbanks, Gallup, Tucson, the BCIM, and Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Native American missions.

1988
Mother Katharine Drexel, S.B.S., was beatified.

1988 The Black & Indian Mission collection began to support the National Black Catholic Congress.

1990

Because demands greatly outpaced income, the Black & Indian Mission collection narrowed the scope of its funding for Black and Native American evangelization. It no longer granted funds to dioceses for evangelizing Blacks and Indians who had entered the United States since the mid-20^th century, e.g. ministries to Haitians and Mayan Indians from Central America. Also, it no longer granted funds to dioceses to evangelize people of Indian ancestry who lacked tribal identities, e.g. Hispanics, Mestizos, Métis.

2000 Mother Katharine Drexel, S.B.S., was declared Saint Katharine Drexel.

2005 The Black & Indian Mission collection exceeded $9 million for the first time.

2009 The Black & Indian Mission Office established the National Advisory Council on Catholic Missions among Black and Native American Peoples, a board comprised of lay Catholics.

Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians (Black & Indian Mission Collection), Series 1 General Correspondence: The correspondence is arranged either alphabetically or by year and there under alphabetically. Geographical access can be achieved through the author index via the names of prospective local correspondents, e.g. bishops, pastors. Researchers unfamiliar with diocesan ecclesiastical history, and the names of past bishops and pastors, may wish to consult sources such as: the diocesan entries in Guides to Catholic-Related Records about Native Americans in the United States; Catholic-Hierarchy, The Official Catholic Directory, and Index to the Catholic Directories for the United States with Appended Countries, 1817, 1822, 1833-.

Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians (Black & Indian Mission Collection), Series 1 Index of Correspondence: The index is complete through 1980 and includes all correspondents with the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions and the Commission for Catholic Missions among the Colored People and the Indians, except the directors while in office, i.e. Reverend Tennelley, 1935-1976, and Monsignor Lenz, 1976-1980. The names are alphabetized by surnames, if known or forenames when surnames are not given, along with titles and initials designating religious order affiliations, e.g. example1, Sister Mary, O.S.F. Places of residence are also included, if known. Persons with name variations are cross-indexed. Native American ethnicity is included, if known. In some instances, native ethnicity was confirmed through cross-referencing with Series 2-1 Bureau School Records and other sources that confirmed affinities between specific surnames and ethnic groups.

Between 1977-1980 and in 1997, Marquette University microfilmed Series 1 through 1975 with the exception of scant amounts of oversight correspondence, 1953-1975. Other series within the records of the Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians and other Marquette University collections also contain documentation relating to this series.

The Series 1 Index of Correspondence exists in card form only. The Marquette Archives welcomes queries and will provide pertinent excerpts upon request.

Restrictions: Researchers assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of these records. The records after 1975 have not been processed for research and are restricted for 25 years after their date of creation. Consult an archivist for further information.

Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians (Black & Indian Mission Collection), Series 5, Diocesan Correspondence and Aid Applications and Reports: Correspondence aid applications, and accountability reports from dioceses throughout the United States plus other organizations that received funding from the Black & Indian Mission Collection. The applications describe evangelization needs for funding and the reports describe how the current year's funds have been used and the results that have been realized. This series has been microfilmed through 1976 and is restricted after 1985. To 1976, most correspondence pertaining to a specific Native American mission, parish, or school was interfiled in the Series 1-1 Correspondence of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions. All other commission correspondence was interfiled as noted above in Series 1-1 Correspondence of the Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians. Other series within the records of the Commission for Catholic Missions among the Colored People and the Indians and other Marquette University collections also contain documentation relating to this series.

Throughout their history, diocesan jurisdiction over a given parish, mission, or school may have changed one or more times. As this occurred, responsibilities regarding this institution would change dioceses (ordinaries) accordingly. A bishop's orrespondence to/from the Bureau may be filed among the correspondence of a specific institution, if it pertains to that one institution, or it may be filed under the general correspondence of a state, if it pertains to two or more institutions. Researchers unfamiliar with diocesan ecclesiastical history, and the names of past bishops and pastors, may wish to consult sources such as: the diocesan entries in Guides to Catholic-Related Records about Native Americans in the United States; Catholic-Hierarchy, The Official Catholic Directory, and Index to the Catholic Directories for the United States with Appended Countries, 1817, 1822, 1833-.

On occasion, the Commission funded limited evangelization beyond the scope of Native and African American evangelization in the United States, which is detailed in the chronology above. Non-Indian evangelization in Texas, the Philippines (Mountain Province), and the U.S. Pacific territories was funded as Native American evangelization, whereas non-Black-American evangelization in the Bahamas and Haiti was funded as African American evangelization with the records filed accordingly in Series 5-1 and 5-2. Some dioceses combined their Native American and African American applications and reports, e.g. New Orleans, which are listed within Series 5-2.

Restrictions: Researchers assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of these records. These records are restricted for 25 years after their date of creation. Consult an archivist for further information.

Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians (Black & Indian Mission Collection), Series 6, Financial Records: Comprised of cash books, financial statements and compilations, and balance sheets, which are arranged by type of record and there under chronologically. The records have been microfilmed through 1952. Other series within the records of the Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians and other Marquette University collections also contain documentation relating to this series.

Restrictions: Researchers assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of these records. Consult an archivist for further information.

Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians (Black & Indian Mission Collection), Series 7, Publications: The publications are divided into published annual reports and general publications. The reports include five titles, which succeed each other:

The general publications consist of appeal letters and posters. Other series within the records of the Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians and other Marquette University collections also contain documentation relating to this series.

Work in-progress: The Marquette University Libraries are developing bibliographic records for the publications in this collection. This includes all books, pamphlets, magazines, newsletters, prayer cards, published maps, published sound and video recordings, etc., and excludes clipping files and reprints of articles. As they are created, the bibliographic records will appear in Marqcat, the Marquette University online catalog. Furthermore, as an interim and supplemental search tool, most titles to publications in this and related collections appear in the Index to Publications in Native America Collections.

Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians (Black & Indian Mission Collection), Series 9, Photography: Prints collected pertaining to African Americans in the United States with the photography divided into sub-series by format, i.e. Black & White and Color Prints. The prints for both series are contained in folders arranged alphabetically by U.S. states and the District of Columbia, followed by foreign countries and there under by communities and Catholic institutions. Other series within the records of the Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians and other Marquette University collections also contain documentation relating to this series.

Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians (Black & Indian Mission Collection), Series 13, Maps: This series included the U.S. map, Catholic Percent of Black Population, 1982.

Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians (Black & Indian Mission Collection), Series 14-2, General Publications: Monograph and serial publications on Catholic evangelization of African Americans, which were collected by the Commission. Some items include contributions by Commission personnel or research conducted with Commission documentation. The arrangement is alphabetical by key word. Other series within the records of the Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians and other Marquette University collections also contain documentation relating to this series.

Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians (Black & Indian Mission Collection), Series 16, Government Publications: The other U.S. Department of the Interior documents (Series 16-1-4) include Black Education, 1928, 1930-1931, which pertains to African Americans. All other U.S. Government documents in this series pertain to Native Americans. Other series within the records of the Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians and other Marquette University collections also contain documentation relating to this series.

Be part of history! Please send copies of your bulletins and newsletters, prayer books, and hymnals, and song recordings to Marquette University where they will be preserved and made available for research together the records of the Black and Indian Mission Office and other organizations. We also welcome your research requests. We have substantial 19-20th century documentation from native Catholic missions, parishes, and schools in the United States, which can be useful in writing family, parish, and tribal histories and other purposes. Contact us for more information:

Reverend John P. Raynor, S.J., Library, R360
1355 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233

1884-1925	Reverend Edward R. Dyer, S.S. (1854-1925)
1925-1976	Reverend John B. Tennelly, S.S. (1890-1981)
1976-2007	Monsignor Paul A. Lenz (1925-)
2007-present	Reverend Wayne C. Paysse

1884-1921	Cardinal James Gibbons (1834-1921), Archbishop of Baltimore
1921-1951	Cardinal Denis J. Dougherty (1865-1951), Archbishop of Philadelphia
1951-1967	Cardinal Francis J. Spellman (1889-1967), Archbishop of New York
1967-1974	Cardinal Lawrence Shehan (1898-1984), Archbishop of Baltimore
1974-1988	Cardinal John J. Kroll (1910-1996), Archbishop of Philadelphia
1988-2000	Archbishop William D. Borders (1913-), Archbishop of Baltimore
2000-2003	Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua (1923-), Archbishop of Philadelphia
2003-2007	Cardinal William H. Keeler (1931-), Archbishop of Baltimore
2007-present	Cardinal Edward Egan (1932-), Retired Archbishop of New York

1884		The U.S. Bishops' held its Third Plenary Council (of Baltimore), which decreed the establishment of a national annual special collection on the first Sunday of Lent for the benefit of African-American and Native American missions. This collection was administered by a commission of three bishops without Indians in their dioceses. It was incorporated as the Commission for Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians and is now known as the Black and Indian Mission Office.
1887-[ongoing]		The Black & Indian Mission collection was established with modest initial responses. It collected funds from 66 of the 84 dioceses and dispersed funds to 34 dioceses and organizations supporting missions. Notable contributing Arch/Dioceses included: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn and notable receiving Arch/Dioceses included: Charleston, Jackson/Natchez, Mobile, New Orleans, and St. Joseph's Seminary for African American missions; and Alaska and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions for Native American missions.
1887-1916		The Diocese of Corpus Christi received Black & Indian Mission collection funding for Hispanic American missions in south Texas, which were regarded as Native American missions.
1887-1926		African American missions in the Bahamas (attached to the Archdiocese of New York), 1887-1916, and Haiti (Diocese of Cap-Haitien), 1920-1926, received Black & Indian Mission collection funding and were regarded as African American missions.
1891		Katharine Drexel founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to staff Catholic schools for Native and African Americans.
1900		There were 101,000 Native American Catholics and 144,000 African American Catholics in the United States. The Native Americans were served in at least 154 churches and 68 schools and the African Americans were served in 45 churches and 109 schools.
1905-		The Catholic Church Extension Society was established in Chicago to aid in the building and supplying of churches and schools in needy areas throughout the United States.
1905-1927, 1977		The Dioceses of Aguña/ Guam received Black & Indian Mission collection funding for its mission among indigenous Pacific Islanders, which the collection regarded as Indian missions.
1906-1944		The Mountain Province/Nueva Segovia of the Philippines, then a territory of the United States, received Black & Indian Mission collection funding for missions among the Igorot People, which the collection regarded as Indian missions.
1910		The Diocese of Tucson received Black & Indian Mission collection funding for missions serving Yaqui Indians, which the collection regarded as Indian missions. Most Yaqui Indians were immigrants from Mexico since 1780. Tucson became the first diocese to received Black & Indian Mission collection funding for missions to immigrants from Latin America.
1923-[ongoing]		The National Catholic Welfare Conference, later renamed the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, assumed a support role for African American and Native American missions.
1930-[ongoing]		The narrative quality of correspondence diminished as the telephone replaced correspondence as the primary communications tool throughout the United States.
1930-[ongoing]		The quantity, quality, and diversity of photographs grew as technology improved photography and as more rural stores served the amateur photography market throughout the United States.
1952		The Black & Indian Mission collection exceeded $1 million for the first time. It received funds from 117 out of 131 dioceses and dispersed funds to 79 diocese and 9 other Catholic agencies. Notable contributing Arch/Diocese included: Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Paul, and Springfield. Notable recipients included: Charleston, Jackson/Natchez, Lafayette, Mobile, New Orleans, the Josephites, and Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for African American missions; and Alaska, Gallup, Tucson, the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Native American missions.
1950s-[ongoing]		Immigration from various Latin American countries expanded the number, size, and cultural diversity of African, Hispanic, and Native American communities.
1977-[ongoing]		The Black & Indian Mission collection began to support the Tekakwitha Conference by providing direct funding of the Conference's National Office and aid through diocesan appropriations for Native Americans to attend annual Conference meetings.
1977-1981		The United States Catholic Conference Ad-Hoc Committee on National Collections attempted to fold the national Black & Indian Mission collection into a consolidated program of national Catholic collections. By successfully opposing this attempt, Monsignor Paul A. Lenz preserved the independence of the Lenten collection and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, which depended on this funding.
1977		Marquette University began to preserve the archival records of the Lenten collection.
1985		The Black & Indian Mission collection exceeded $5 million for the first time. It received funds from 168 of 186 dioceses and disbursed funds to 121 dioceses and 14 other Catholics agencies. Notable contributing Arch/Dioceses included: Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia, Rockville Center, and St. Louis. Notable recipients included: Charleston, Jackson/Natchez, Lafayette, Mobile, New Orleans, Josephites, and Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for African American missions; and Fairbanks, Gallup, Tucson, the BCIM, and Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Native American missions.
1988		Mother Katharine Drexel, S.B.S., was beatified.
1988		The Black & Indian Mission collection began to support the National Black Catholic Congress.
1990		Because demands greatly outpaced income, the Black & Indian Mission collection narrowed the scope of its funding for Black and Native American evangelization. It no longer granted funds to dioceses for evangelizing Blacks and Indians who had entered the United States since the mid-20^th century, e.g. ministries to Haitians and Mayan Indians from Central America. Also, it no longer granted funds to dioceses to evangelize people of Indian ancestry who lacked tribal identities, e.g. Hispanics, Mestizos, Métis.
2000		Mother Katharine Drexel, S.B.S., was declared Saint Katharine Drexel.
2005		The Black & Indian Mission collection exceeded $9 million for the first time.
2009		The Black & Indian Mission Office established the National Advisory Council on Catholic Missions among Black and Native American Peoples, a board comprised of lay Catholics.

2009-present	Joseph F. Fernandez