Account books, agenda, bibliographies, book orders, brochures, bulletins, calendars, chaplains' manuals, circulars, clippings, compositions, contracts, correspondence, curricula vitae, drafts of booklets, drafts of manuals, essays, examinations, financial papers, interviews, itineraries, lectures, lists, liturgical music, maps, meditations, memoranda, mimeographed handouts, minutes, newsletters, notebooks, notes, outlines, pamphlets, poems, policy manuals, prayers of the faithful, proceedings, programs, promotional publications, proposals, regulations, reports, reprints, resolutions, retreat notes, sermons, songs, statutes, surveys, talks, training courses, tape recordings, and photographs; concerning Hillenbrand's career as a seminarian, rector, pastor, liturgist and chaplain.

I. Seminary

(A) Notebooks from Hillenbrand's student years (1924-1931) at Quigley and St. Mary of the Lake Seminaries for courses in English, German, French, Hebrew, poetry, philosophy, apologetics, scripture, theodicy, psychology, liturgy, precepts, dogma, canon law, homiletics, moral theology, and patrology; notes from classes, notes for talks and sermons, and notes for Hillenbrand's M.A. thesis; examinations, compositions, resolutions, meditations, correspondence, and mimeographed handouts.

(B) Correspondence, book orders, and notes from his year as a teacher of English on the Quigley Seminary faculty (1932-1933). One folder of notes and financial papers from his years on the Diocesan Mission Board (1933-1936).

(C) A notebook of meditation and self-examination (1935-1936); retreat notes and notes for sermons from his years as rector of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary (1936-1944) concerning prayer, salvation, sin, the rosary, birth control, purity, mixed marriages, Catholic Action, Mary, purgatory, the annunciation, Christmas, Easter, the ascension, the Mystical Body, confession, mercy, mortification, the Little Flower, the promises of the Sacred Heart, the Eucharist, and racial discrimination; records of his administration concerning the college charter, management, accreditation, curriculum, Jesuit faculty, sixth-year program, and rules; notes of the course he taught in Liturgy and mimeographed handouts and examinations from his poetry course; bibliographies and book orders; a manuscript sent to Hillenbrand for criticism and correspondence concerning it; and documents concerning the controversy between the Catholic printing firm Gardenvale Press and labor unions raising the question of whether seminary business should be given to a non-union shop.

II. Catholic Action

(A) Records of the Summer School of Social Action for Priests at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary (1938-1940) consisting of financial papers, account books, lists of participants, notebooks, bibliographies and mimeographed textbooks; notes, outlines, correspondence, and mimeographed handouts concerning other schools of Catholic Action including the Waukegan Labor School, Detroit Priest's School of Social Action, San Antonio School of Social Justice, and Cathedral Labor School; with information on Communism, the CIO, Bishop Bernard Sheil, credit unions, labor unions; representing the work of Fr. John F. Cronin, SS, Fr. Daniel A. Lord, SJ, Fr. Gerald Ellard, SJ, Fr. Desmond Schmal, SJ, and Msgr. George G. Higgins. Records of Hillenbrand's work as an arbitrator of labor disputes (1940-1945) and documents showing his interest in organized labor, the National War Labor Board, and fair employment practices (1938- 1948).

(B) Records of Hillenbrand's service as national chaplain of movements of the specialized lay apostolate, consisting of office files from the Chicago headquarters of these organizations:

(1) general lay apostolate files (1939-1976) including bibliographies, songs, essays, reprints, mimeographed notes, bulletins, pamphlets, notes for talks, clippings, programs, minutes, reports, and financial papers; concerning anti communism, Cana conferences and preparation for marriage, affiliation with the Family Life Bureau of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, the Coordinating Committee of Movements, the Executive Committee of CFM, San Miguelito Mission, public schoo1s, interracial justice, the Mystical Body, Catholic Youth Organizations, Friendship House, the Grail, the International Conversation on Apostolic Action, migrant workers, the National Catholic Social Action Conference, the National Council of Catholic Men, the National Council on Catholic Youth Work, world federalism, world justice and peace, conscientious objection, labor unions, the Second Vatican Council and the lay apostolate, and meetings and study weeks for priests, seminarians, and movement leaders; with correspondence from Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Albert Cardinal Meyer, John Cardinal Cody, Francis Cardinal Spellman, A.G. Cardinal Cicognani, Archbishop Joseph T. McGucken, Bishop Victor J. Reed, Bishop Cletus F. O'Donnell, Msgr. Paul F. Tanner, Fr. John Hill, and Kathy Sullivan;

(2) Christian Family Movement files (1952-1979) including newsletters, articles, reports, drafts of manuals, notes for talks, proposals, programs, liturgies, agenda, minutes, memoranda, circulars, and correspondence; concerning area conventions, the chaplain's manual, chaplains' meetings, study weeks, the coordinating committee, the executive committee, the program committee, the Foundation for International Cooperation, Frank Jordan, Msgr. George Kelly, Fr. W. Nerin, and the case of Fr. Edward Kohler;

(3) Young Christian Student files (grade school, high school, and college, 1944-1968) including articles, correspondence, programs, promotional publications, reports, notes for talks, training courses, bulletins, songs and notebooks; concerning executive committee meetings, national advisory committee meetings, conventions, study weeks, chaplains, race relations, liturgy, education, international concern, peace and the lay apostolate, the African and American Student Program, and the Starting Point Program;

(4) Young Christian Worker files (1940-1976) including reports, chaplains' manuals, interviews, bulletins, financial papers drafts of booklets, articles, agenda, minutes, notes taken by Hillenbrand, contracts, statutes and regulations, the YCW manifesto, mimeographed material, programs, clippings, forms, and brochures; concerning conventions, council meetings, study weeks, training courses, the Commission for International Development, recruitment of full-time organizers, planning, appointments, the International Executive Committee, the International Council, organizers' meetings, officers' meetings, pilgrimages to Rome, the planning committee, and the Rural Life Program; with correspondence from Bill and Jo Cosby, Ines Alfonso, Teddy Horn, Adan Londono, S.J., Jean Pew, Caroline Pezzullo and Patrick Keegan.

III. Sacred Heart Parish

Records dating from 1897-1977, chiefly concerning Hillenbrand's years as pastor (1944-1974); consisting of correspondence, notes for talks and sermons, prayers of the faithful, directions for priests, sisters, servers, readers organists and ushers, clippings, book orders, financial papers, calendars, minutes, circulars, liturgical music, lists of parishioners, and school enrollment lists; concerning the welcoming of newcomers, community life, parish furnishings, buildings and grounds; Masses, sacraments, funerals; Christmas, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Founder's Day, Thanksgiving; grace, heaven, the Holy Family, the Divine Office, Dives and Lazarus, humility, Teilhard de Chardin, the lay apostolate, persecutions and heresies, birth control; Christ's use of similes, stories, illustrations, and short sentences; the Overseas Aid Fund, Sunday envelopes, government support for parochial schools, adult education, C.C.D., and Sacred Heart School.

IV. Archdiocese of Chicago

Correspondence and circulars from the Chancery Office (1927- 1973); Hillenbrand's priestly faculties and curriculum vitae; policy manuals and regulations of the Archdiocesan School Board (1969-1973); proposals, reports, memoranda, and surveys from the Archdiocesan Priests' Senate, with circulars from the Association of Chicago Priests and the National Federation of Priests' Councils (1968-1975); notes, minutes, reports and correspondence documenting Hillenbrand's work on the Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission (1959-1974); and material concerning Project Renewal, Cana Conference of Chicago, the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, San Miguelito Mission, and the Archdiocesan Interparish Movement.

V. Liturgical Societies, Schools and Conferences

Notebooks, tuition account books, proceedings, and correspondence from the Liturgical Summer School sponsored by St. Mary of the Lake Seminary (1941-1942), with manuscripts of lectures by Msgr. Martin Hellriegel and Fr. H.A. Reinhold concerning the Liturgical Movement and the Dialogue Mass; correspondence, outlines, resolutions, talks, bulletins, and circulars of the Liturgical Week and Conference (1944-1967); correspondence with the Vernacular Society (1950-1964); notes on art and liturgy, baptism, divine life, the Mass and the social order, tre ore, forty hours, Maurice Lavanoux and the Liturgical Arts Society; with writings by Fr. Gerald Ellard, SJ, Fr. William Busch, and Msgr. Martin Hellriegel.

VI. Other Activities

Articles, reports, bulletins, transcripts of talks by Hillenbrand, notes for talks, retreat notes, maps, itineraries, and poems; concerning racial justice, integration, poverty, freedom of residence, labor, international peace, death, judgment, and hell; documenting Hillenbrand's involvement with the Catholic Interracial Council of Chicago, the North Shore Human Relations Committee, the Glencoe Human Relations Committee, the Winnetka Human Relations Committee, the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, the National Social Welfare Assembly, and the Catholic Association for International Peace; with schemes for new Catholic colleges by Frank O'Hara and Willis Nutting, the constitution of the Holy Ghost Society, Nelson Glueck's Israeli Journal, and other writings sent for Hillenbrand to read.

VII. Correspondence

Correspondence concerning Hillenbrand's seminary years (dating from 1942-1944), Catholic Action (1940-1955), social concern (1948-1953), the lay apostolate (1957-1960), CFM / YCS / YCW (1941-1976), Hillenbrand's hospital stay in Tulsa (1949-1950), Sacred Heart Parish (1948-1972), the Archdiocese of Chicago (1953-1977), and liturgy (1940-1954); personal correspondence (1924-1970) and general correspondence (1930-1978).

VIII. Odd Sizes

Legal-size and other oversize documents; and Index Cards. Arranged in series that parallel those above.

IX. Later Accessions

Sermons, YCW files, and other Catholic Action material; files conerning teacher training schools for priests; parish files; retreat files; and subject files, dating 1942-1967; also material from labor schools and summer schools of social action for priests; with some parish files and folders of handouts concerning English literature; and notebooks, 1920s-1930s.

X. Printed Material

Printed material, some produced by Hillenbrand but most of it collected by him, having to do with Catholic Action, Sacred Heart Parish, liturgical reform, and his other interests.