Primarily correspondence plus printed materials and photographic prints pertaining to the lives of Elizabeth Mary Hulsman Eisenman and her four sons, all from Indiana -- Rev. Omer H. Eisenman, Rev. Sylvester Eisenman, O.S.B., Leonard John Eisenman, and Rev. Edward L. Eisenman. Rev. Sylvester Eisenman, O.S.B., served as the principal developer of St. Paul's Mission, Marty, South Dakota, on the Yankton Indian Reservation.

Gift of Helen B. Foster Eisenman, 2013.

Biographical Note

Elizabeth Mary Hulsman Eisenman (1868-1959) and her four sons -- Rev. Omer H. Eisenman (1889-1980), Rev. Sylvester (Norbert) Eisenman (1891-1948), O.S.B., Leonard John Eisenman (1893-1947), and Rev. Edward L. Eisenman (1895-1966) lived primary in Indiana, except for Father Sylvester, who as a Benedictine, served as a missionary in first North Dakota and then South Dakota. To develop St. Paul's Mission (1918-1940s) in Marty, South Dakota, on the Yankton Indian Reservation, Father Sylvester received substantial support from his brothers and other family members. In addition, he was engaged in founding the Oblate Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1935) and the Tekakwitha Conference (1939).

Scope and Content

The correspondence is arranged chronologically, followed by certificates, news clippings, color photographic prints, pamphlets, and Internet printouts no longer available on the web. Oversize certificates are in a separate oversize folder. Most of the correspondence was published in the four volume book, My Dear Sons, 2012, compiled by Helen B. Foster Eisenman, which is in Archives: Books.

 

Eisenman Family Papers, 1906-1973 (Series 1)

 

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