GUIDE TO CATHOLIC RECORDS ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE U.S.
Volume 2: Midwest United States
South Dakota: SD-17
Oblate Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
St. Sylvester’s Convent
103 Church Drive
Marty (rural Wagoner), SD 57380
P.O. Box 204
Marty, SD 57361
Phone: 605-384-3305
Email: See website (Contact Us)
History:
|
1935 |
With guidance from Rev. Sylvester Eisenman, O.S.B. [Benedictines] (Archives: St. Meinrad, Indiana), and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (Archives: Wynnewood, Pennsylvania), seven former students from St. Paul School (Yankton), Marty, became postulants and founded the Oblate Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament based at Marty, Yankton Reservation |
|
1935-1950 |
Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament provided guidance to the Oblate Sisters |
|
1940 |
Oblate Sisters comprised 22 professed sisters |
|
1954 |
Oblate Sisters received their first non-Native American postulant |
|
1980s-present |
Oblate Sisters organized and have collaborated with the Okodakiciye Mission Association (allied laity) |
Oblate Sisters have served in the following ministries among Native Americans in South Dakota:
|
1930s-1970s |
St. Paul School (Yankton), Marty [teaching, religious education] |
|
1965-1980s |
St. Joseph Church (Hunkpapa), Mobridge [religious education] |
|
1966-1980s |
Catechetical Center (Sans Arc), Eagle Butte, Cheyenne River Reservation [religious education] |
|
1968-1973 |
St. Catherine Mission (Sisseton-Wahpeton), Sisseton [religious education] |
|
1974-1976 |
St. Joseph’s Indian School (Brulé, Santee, Sisseton-Wahpeton), Chamberlain [teaching, religious education] |
|
1981-1980s |
Kateri Indian Center (Sisseton-Wahpeton, Yankton), Sioux Falls [religious education, community outreach/ welfare services, health care] |
|
1981-2008 (Kateri Convent closed) |
St. Issac Jogues Church (Brule, Hunkpapa, Oglala, Sans Arc), Rapid City and Rapid City Diocese (Brulé, Hunkpapa, Oglala, Sans Arc) via its Kateri Convent, Rapid City [religious education, community outreach/ welfare services, health care] |
|
1983-1995 |
St. Paul Church (Yankton), Marty, Yankton Reservation [parish administration] |
|
1980s-present |
Yankton Reservation [religious education, community outreach/ welfare services, health care with Okodakiciye Mission Association] |
Holdings of Catholic records about Native Americans:
Inclusive dates: ca. 1920-present, undated
Volume: At least 1 cubic foot
Description: The records at St. Sylvester's Convent had not been processed when reviewed by a Marquette University archivist, 1984. Consequently, the following dates and volumes are approximations or unknown.
/1 Subject files of mother superiors
Inclusive dates: ca. 1935-ongoing
Volume: Unknown
Description: Contain most prominent correspondence between the mother superiors, the sisters and priests at the missions and schools, the Sioux Falls Chancery Office, and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People, Bensalem, Pennsylvania; minutes of Community meetings; and annual financial reports for St. Sylvester's Convent
/2 Chronicle of St. Sylvester's Convent
Inclusive dates: 1981-ongoing
Volume: 1 volume
/3 Personnel files
Inclusive dates: 1935-ongoing
Volume: Unknown
/4 Audiotapes
Inclusive dates: 1978, undated
Volume: Several tapes
Description: Interviews with Sister Anthony Davis (Ojibwa), O.S.B.S., and Rev. Sylvester Eisenman, O.S.B.; and Dakota Indian hymns sung by the Oblate Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
/5 Mission and Community publications
Inclusive dates: 1924-ongoing
Volume: At least .3 cubic foot
Description:
A. The Little Bronzed Angel, 1924-1972: publication of St. Paul Mission
B. Echoes, 1957-ongoing: publication of the Oblate Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
C. Community Newsletter, 1976-1977: publication of the Oblate Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
D. Okodakiciye Newsletter, 1980s-ongoing: publication of the Okodakiciye Mission Association
/6 Photography
Inclusive dates: ca. 1920-ongoing
Volume: At least 500 photographic prints
/7 Historical writings and notes by Rev. Sylvester Eisenman, O.S.B.
Inclusive dates: Unknown (Between 1935-1948)
Volume: 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.
New1984/rev2003-2020
