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Notes for Using this List:
● The Tribal Nations impacted are listed as they appear in historical documents and may not reflect the names used by the Nations today.
● An asterisk next to the name of a religious community means that the community has verified the dates as accurate.
● This list was last updated on May 5, 2023
St. Paul’s Industrial School
Details:
Dates of Operation: 1881–1895
Current Diocese: New Ulm
Previous Diocese Involved:
St. Paul, 1881–1895
Religious Orders who worked at the Parish / School:
Franciscans Brothers of Clontarf, 1881–1895* (see notes)
On a Reservation: No
On the Department of the Interior List: Yes
Tribal Nations Impacted (as listed in historical documents):
Chippewa/Ojibwa; Cree; Sioux
Notes: The school opened as a Catholic industrial school for white immigrant boys in Clontarf after an earlier failed start in St. Paul in 1879. It also struggled financially in the new location. In 1884, the school obtained a federal contract to take in Native American boys from the Dakotas. In part, the school continued to operate as a Native American boarding school until the government cut funding in 1892. The school remained open until 1895 when the government purchased the school for its own uses.
Note about the Franciscan Brothers of Clontarf: The bishop of the Diocese of St. Paul asked the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn to staff the school in Clontarf. When the brothers arrived, they did so under the obedience of the bishop and elected a superior, thus establishing a new congregation (independent of the Brothers in Brooklyn). In 1895, the Brothers in Clontarf moved to Spaulding, Nebraska, where they were under the obedience of the Bishop of Omaha. About 1910, they joined the Franciscan community in Loretto, Pennsylvania, and together they became the Third Order Regular Franciscans.
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