GUIDE TO CATHOLIC RECORDS ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE U.S.
Volume 1: Eastern United States
District of Columbia: DC-2

Catholic Church. Archdiocese for the Military Services, U.S.A. Chancery
1025 Michigan Avenue, Northeast (physical address)
Washington, DC 20017
P.O. Box 4469 (postal address)
Washington, DC 20017-4469

Phone: 202-719-3600 (chancery)
Phone: 202-719-3605 (sacramental records)
Email: See website

 

Hours: See website

Access: See website (e.g. request form for sacramental records)

Copying facilities: Yes

 

History: Since 1917, a military vicar administered Catholic chaplains in the U.S. Armed Forces. In 1957, the Military Ordinate of the United States was erected, which in 1985, was elevated as the Archdiocese for the Military Services, U.S.A. (Washington, District of Columbia). It is believed that Native American Catholic men had served in the Armed Forces since the Revolutionary War.  Officially, Native American Catholic women had served since the Spanish American War, beginning with religious sisters serving as nurses.

 

History of the Congregation of American Sisters, Camp Columbia Hospital, Havana, Cuba:

1898-1900

Sister M. Joseph, C.A.S. [Josephine Two Bears] (Hunkpapa), Sister M. Gertrude, C.A.S. [Ella Clark] (Hunkpapa), Sister M. Bridget, C.A.S. [Anna Pleets] (Hunkpapa), and Sister M. Anthony, C.A.S. [Susan Bordeaux] (Hunkpapa), of the Congregation of American Sisters, served as U.S. Army nurses who also administered the hospital. They were the first Native American women to officially serve in the U.S. Armed Forces

 

Major U.S. military facilities served by Catholic chaplains:

1802-present	U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York
1845-present	U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland
1865-1994   (closed)	Fort Ord U.S. Army Base, Monterey Bay Peninsula, California
1891-present	Puget Sound U.S. Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington
1894-present	Fort Offutt/ Crook, U.S. Air Force Base, Sarpy, Nebraska
1908-present	Pearl Harbor U.S. Naval Station, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
1911-present	Great Lakes U.S. Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois
1917-present	Fort Lewis U.S. Army Base, Fort Lewis, Washington
1933-present	Edwards U.S. Air Force Base, Edwards, California
1940-present	Fort Irwin U.S. Army Base, Barstow, California
1940-present	Fort Leonard Wood School, U.S. Army, Pulaski County, Missouri
1942-present	Camp Pendleton U.S. Base, near San Luis Rey, California
1942-present	Fort Hood U.S. Army Base, Killeen, Texas
1942-present	NAS Whidbey Island, U.S. Naval Base, Oak Harbor, Washington
1942-present	Whiteman Air Force Base, near Warrensburg, Missouri
1943-present	Coronado U.S. Naval Base, San Diego, California
1943-1997   (closed)	Long Beach U.S. Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, California
1951-present	Mountain Warfare U.S. Marines Training Center, Bridgeport, California
1954-present	U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado

 

Holdings of Catholic records about Native Americans:

Inclusive dates: 1917-present

Volume: Over 10,000 sacramental records (estimate); less than 1 cubic foot

Description: Sacramental records of Archdiocese for the Military Services, U.S.A.

 

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.

new2006/rev2017