GUIDE TO CATHOLIC RECORDS ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE U.S.
Volume 2: Midwest United States
North Dakota: ND-14

Benedictine Sisters. Sacred Heart Monastery. Archives
P.O. Box 364 (postal address)
Richardton, ND 58652

Phone 701-974-2121

 

Open: By appointment only

Access: No restrictions

Copying facilities: Yes

 

History: The Benedictine Sisters self-identify with the post-nominal initials, "O.S.B." The Benedictine Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery taught at Sacred Heart Mission School (Arikara, Hidatsa, Mandan), Elbowoods, Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota, 1910-1936.

 

Holdings of Catholic records about Native Americans:

Inclusive dates: 1887-1975, undated

Volume: .4 cubic foot

Description: 6 series include Native Catholic records: 

 

/1 "Houses of Origins - Elbowoods"

Inclusive dates: 1887-1967, undated 

Volume: .2 cubic foot Description: The records are divided into 8 sub-series. Most are copies, primarily from the Assumption Abbey Archives, Richardton, North Dakota.

 

/2 "Histories of Sacred Heart Priory" 

Inclusive dates: 1955, undated

Volume: 4 items comprising 40 pages 

Description:

 

/3 "Administration and Government" 

Inclusive dates: 1919, undated 

Volume: 2 folders

Description: Most of the records of the prioresses had not been transferred to the archives by 1980 when they were inspected by a Marquette University archivist. The records then were then stored in a vault in the prioress' office. Records within the vault include correspondence between the prioresses, the bishops, and the priests; visitation reports; personal files of sisters; minutes of chapter meetings; and legal papers. In 1982, only 10 folders from the prioress' office were in the archives. Of these records, only a few items related to Sacred Heart Mission School. 

 

/4 "Education - Schools"

Inclusive dates: 1910, 1916-1936, 1941-1950, 1953, 1958, 1965-1969, 1975

Volume: 100-150 letters

Description: Correspondence (copies) from the Archives of the Diocese of Bismarck, re: Sacred Heart Mission and School. Major correspondents include Mothers Pia, O.S.B., Sister Cecelia Bauer, O.S.B., Sister Benedict Beehler, O.S.B., Sister Mary Anita Soukup, O.S.B., Bishop Vincent Wehrle, Bishop Vincent J. Ryan, Bishop Hilary B. Hacker, and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions.

 

/5 "Indian Missions"

Inclusive dates: 1918-1926, 1939, undated 

Volume: 2 folders

Description: Historical notes and publications about Sacred Heart Mission.

 

/6 Photographs

Inclusive dates: 1911, 1920s-1960s 

Volume: 144 prints 

Description: Sacred Heart Mission and School, Elbowoods, St. Joseph Mission, Twin Buttes, and Holy Family Mission, Shell Creek.

 

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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