GUIDE TO CATHOLIC RECORDS ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE U.S.
Volume 2: Midwest United States
Missouri: MO-17

Society of the Sacred Heart. United States Province. Archives
4537 West Pine Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63108

Phone: 314-652-1500
Email: See website

 

Hours: See website

Access: Unknown

Copying facilities: Yes

 

History: Founded in France, 1800, the Society of the Sacred Heart made its first U.S. foundation, 1818. Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne (1769-1852), R.S.C.J., and the sisters of the Society of the Sacred Heart self-identified with the post-nominal initials, “R.S.C.J.,” and taught at the following Native American schools: 

1825-1831	Female Indian School (Potawatomi, various), Florissant, Missouri
1841-1848	Sugar Creek Mission School for Indian Girls (Potawatomi), Kansas
1848-1879	St. Mary Mission School (Potawatomi), St. Marys, Kansas
1980	Sister Carol Putnam, R.S.C.J. (and Reverend Frank O’Loughlin) established Hope Rural School (Maya), Indiantown, Florida

 

Holdings of Catholic records about Native Americans:

Inclusive dates: 1841-1879, 1920s-1960s, undated

Volume: .4 cubic foot

Description: 3 series:

 

/1 "The Society in General" 

Inclusive dates: 1841-1879 

Volume: .1 cubic foot 

Description: Contains Catalogs of the Sacred Heart, which list personnel at the Native schools staffed by the congregation.

 

/2 "The Five Provinces - St. Louis" 

Inclusive dates: 1841-1879, 1926, undated 

Volume: .2 cubic foot

Description:

1. Annual letters, 1841-1879, 60 pages: yearly accounts with chronicles and occasional copies of correspondence, personnel lists, and short biographies of deceased religious

2. "Journal of Mother Philippine Duchesne, 1818-1840," undated, 94 pages: abridged, handwritten copy, created by an unidentified individual; in French, with English translations

3. "Journal" of the Sacred Heart Convent, 1841-1879, 71 pages: handwritten in French by various sisters; contains information on the Sugar Creek and St. Mary Mission schools; entries for 1840s and 1870s more detailed than those for 1850s-1860s

4. "Journal of the Foundation of the Mission at Sugar Creek," by Mother Lucile Mathevon, R.S.C.J., undated, 16 handwritten pages

5. Description of the journey to Sugar Creek Mission in 1841 by Mother Lucile Mathevon, R.S.C.J., undated, 4 handwritten pages in French: part of the document is missing

6. "Account of the Foundation among the Potawatomies," undated, 19 handwritten pages in English: author unidentified

7. "Account of St. Marys, Kansas," by Mother Elizabeth Schroeder, R.S.C.J., undated, 17 handwritten pages in English, pertains to 1856-1879

8. "Council Book," 1871-1879, 27 pages: minutes of meetings of the council or governing body at St. Marys, Kansas

9. "Register of the Religious of St. Marys, Kansas," begun in 1877, 10 pages: includes biographical information on mission personnel

10. "Lucile Mathevon," by Celeste Thompson, 1926, 1 volume: M.A. thesis, University of Chicago

 

/3 “Special Collection, Sister Louise Callan”

Inclusive dates: 1920s-1960s

Volume: .1 cubic foot

Description: Primarily correspondence (copies) and notes collected or created by Sister Louise Callan, R.S.C.J., for three projects:

1. History of The Society of the Sacred Heart in North America, published 1937

2. Philippine Duchesne, Frontier Missionary of the Sacred Heart, published 1957

3. Biography of Mother Lucile Mathevon, R.S.C.J., not completed; includes a letter from Mother Ellen Craney, R.S.C.J., who lived at St. Marys, Kansas, as a youth and described her memories of the mission and school.

 

/4 Hope Rural School, Indiantown, Florida: Holdings unknown.

 

Unless otherwise noted, the repository on this page holds (or held) the records described here and they are not held at the Marquette University Archives.

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