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St. Mary of the Quapaws

Quapaw, Oklahoma
Details:

Dates of Operation: 1894–1897; 1904–1927
Current Diocese: Tulsa
Previous Dioceses Involved:
Vicariate Apostolic of Indian Territory, 1894–1905
Oklahoma, 1905–1927
Religious Orders who worked at the Parish / School:
Sisters of St. Joseph, 1894–1897 (see notes)
Congregation of Divine Providence (San Antonio, TX), 1904–1927*
On a Reservation: Quapaw Reservation
On the Department of the Interior List: Yes
Tribal Nations Impacted (as listed in historical documents):
Miami; Osage; Ottawa; Peoria; Quapaw

Notes: The school was established by priests from the Vicariate Apostolic of the Indian Territory and continued operation as a parish school after the formation of the Diocese of Oklahoma in 1905. The school opened in 1894 and closed three years later. It reopened in 1902 with a lay teacher until 1904, when the Sisters of Divine Providence took over the school. They remained there until it closed in 1927.
Note about the Sisters of St. Joseph: In 1893, Sr. Virginia Joyce, formerly a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brooklyn (now Brentwood), left New York for Oklahoma. Along the way, they visited the Sisters of St. Joseph in Concordia, Kansas, and picked up two sisters and a novice, who accompanied them to Muskogee. Once in Muskogee, Sr. Virginia created her own religious community with no connection to the sisters in Brooklyn or Concordia. In 1899, the bishop insisted that the sisters in Muskogee affiliate themselves with a canonically established congregation or leave the vicariate. Four of the women joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in St. Louis, and at least one returned to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, KS. Sr. Virginia and some of the others left for Texas.