Miscellaneous original and transcribed records of various Catholic parishes, orphanages, schools, and cemeteries in Illinois (4 churches and institutions), Indiana (7), Kentucky (more than 50), Michigan (5), Missouri (2), Pennsylvania (1), and Wisconsin (1). There are also records of one Jewish Synagogue (Temple Beth-El, South Bend, Indiana).

Baptismal, confirmation, marriage, and death registers; gravestone inscriptions; membership lists; pew rent account books; censuses; announcement books and weekly announcements and bulletins; histories; scrapbooks; annual reports; minutes; correspondence; financial records and record books; and other similar records.

There are substantial bodies of records for Holy Trinity Church (Chicago, Illinois), Notre Dame High School (Niles, Illinois), Holy Cross Church (South Bend, Indiana), St. Joseph's College (Bardstown, Kentucky), Sacred Heart Church (Louisville, Kentucky), and St. Lawrence Church (New Hamburg, Missouri). For other churches and institutions the records are scattered and consist mainly of register books.

The core of this collection represents the life-long efforts of Francis P. (Frank) Clark; additional items have come from various donors as well as from some of the Archives' older collections. The parishes and institutions are arranged geographically.

Location numbers that incorporate a stroke ("/") indicate a box/ folder number; those that incorporate a period (".") indicate a microfilm reel number and odometer reading. If there is only a reel number and no odometer reading, then the entire reel is described in that one entry.

Descriptions of Common Records and Volumes in this Collection:

Baptismal Register: Usually in chronological order but sometimes alphabetical. A typical record contains name and date of birth of person baptized, date of baptism, name of parents, and name of priest.

Marriage Register: Usually in chronological order but sometimes alphabetical. A typical record contains name of bride and parents, name of groom and parents, date of wedding, and name of priest. Other possible items include date of births of bride and groom, status of bride and groom (regularly-attending Catholic, nominal Catholic, etc.), nationality of bride and groom, etc.

Death Register: Usually in chronological order but sometimes alphabetical. A typical record contains name of deceased, date of birth, date of death, and name of presiding priest. Other possible items include nationality, cemetery, church status, surviving relatives, etc.

Confirmation Register: Typically, this record contains a date followed by a list of persons being confirmed on that day.

Weekly announcements (also called "Announcement book" or "Bulletin"): A document written by the parish priest to be either read aloud or distributed to parishioners at Sunday Mass. A normal record contains announcements concerning deaths, marriages, illnesses, saints days, and a schedule of masses for the upcoming week. Other typical items include letters from the Bishop; special collections; church picnics, music recitals, softball games and other special events; parish news from the previous week; comments from the pastor on wars, decline of public morality, or other national issues; parish school announcements; short sermons of inspiration or admonishment; minutes of meetings of various societies; etc.