One of Allison Spies’ favorite items in the archdiocese’s Archives and Records collections is “this beautiful petition” from 1846 she first reviewed more than 10 years ago that was written by the chiefs of the Winnebago Nation in Minnesota to a U.S. government agent about their rights. “It’s incredibly poetic and poignant,” Spiess said. “It’s still, to this day, one of the most moving documents here in the archives. It’s a real pleasure to be able to give that a permanent home here in the archives.”
The document was in the papers of Bishop Joseph Cretin, the first bishop of the Diocese of St. Paul.
Allison Spies
Another archived item is an 1856 decree from Rome warning about the dangers of mesmerism, commonly known as hypnotism. Spies said some concerns existed about whether people under the sway of mesmeric healing might get into some trouble, “and that actually recurred even into the 20th century.
“We see it a lot in dentistry,” Spies said. “People were using hypnosis as an anesthetic, and there were permission letters granted by the archbishop to use hypnosis in dentistry.”
Spies recently joined “Practicing Catholic” host Patrick Conley to discuss some of the more interesting items in the archives and to give tips to people who may be considering making a donation.
Spies said her staff constantly receives materials for archival keeping. She said the primary purpose of maintaining archives, mandated by Canon law, is as a repository for the official records of the archdiocese, as an institution, and serving the administrative needs of the archdiocese. “It really functions more like a corporate archives than a public historical collection,” she said. “So almost all of the materials that we get are generated internally” — letters to the archbishops and bishops, policies generated, operating documents and reports from offices,” which she said arrive almost daily.
Less frequently, historical materials are sent from outside sources, other diocesan archives, parish archives and other Catholic institutions. And every so often, individuals send donations. Determining whether a donation gets archived often is based on “How does this material represent the official work of the archdiocese as an institution? What kind of use would it get in our archives? Are we the right audience? How difficult would it be to preserve?”
After an article in The Catholic Spirit mentioned souvenir medallions from the 1941 Eucharistic Congress in St. Paul, an individual contacted Archives staff and asked if they would like one. The answer was “yes.” Other recent donations have included minutes of early Catholic womens’ organizations, and an educational strategic plan from 1955 for Catholic schools.
Spies said individuals can contact her about a potential donation using the telephone number for Archives and Records on the archspm.org website. Sometimes, an in-person appointment for review is preferred to get a better sense of the materials.
To learn more about the contents of the archdiocese’s archives and records, and to hear the full interview, listen to this episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show. It airs at 9 p.m. Aug. 20, 1 p.m. Aug. 21 and 2 p.m. Aug. 22 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who encourages archdiocesan faithful to participate in parish small groups this fall to discuss three pastoral priorities of the local Church as part of the Archdiocesan Synod process, and Father Joseph Bambenek, who discusses the power of prayer and what it has meant for the Synod.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired at:
soundcloud.com/PracticingCatholic
tinyurl.com/PracticingCatholic (Spotify)
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