Frederic Baraga Papers

Fonds

Identifier: BAR

Staff Only

Scope and Content

Copies of typewritten transcripts of documentation assembled by the Bishop Baraga Association in support of the cause for his canonization as a saint; consisting of correspondence, reports, journal and account-book entries, and invoices.

Also microfilm containing correspondence, 1850s-1860s; an Indian language (Ottawa or Chippewa) catechism; an introduction to Catholicism in North America, in German, possibly written for the Leopoldine Society; and correspondence and records of the Michigan Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, 1825-1850, concerning a conflict between Baptist and Catholic officials over the proceeds coming from the sale of mission lands near Grand Rapids, Michigan, with correspondents including Bishop Peter LeFevre, John Tyler, James Polk, department officials and representatives of the litigants.

Dates

Creation: 1809-1908.

Creator

Baraga, Frederic, 1797-1868 (Person)

Language of Materials

In English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Slovenian, and Ojibwa.

Background

Frederic Baraga worked as a missionary among the Chippewas in Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan (1831-1853). Consecrated a bishop in 1853, he served as Bishop of Sainte-Marie (1857-1865) and of Sault Sainte-Marie and Marquette (1865-1868).

The Bishop Baraga Association collected documents involving Baraga from many archives and manuscript repositories, transcribed them, translated them into English, and prepared typewritten copies. The Archives of the University of Notre Dame cooperated in this effort and received a copy (described below).