Subseries 11 - Edmonton, 85th Street, Alberta

On January 25, 1925, three Sisters arrived in Edmonton at the request of Archbishop Henry O’Leary of Edmonton. In lieu of sufficient priests, the Sisters were charged with arranging religious instruction for Catholic children in isolated places. Following a few months in rented lodgings, a house was purchased at 11837 85th Street in the city’s downtown, across the street from Redemptorist parish of St. Alphonsus.

After their arrival, the Sisters undertook a census in five city parishes and the town of Beverly, visiting 5,013 homes. They also organized three weekly catechism classes for children attending public schools.

In October 1925, two Sisters spent time in two small centres teaching religion to the children after school and to adults in the evening. To keep in touch with children during the winter, typed religion lessons were mailed to them. With Father Daly’s enthusiastic approval and Archbishop O’Leary’s authorization, the teaching of religion by mail began in January 1926 and became the principal work of the catechetical house for the next 45 years. This work expanded to become a great means of developing the faith of the rural families in Western Canada. Regular courses in religion were developed from Grade 1 to 12. At its peak, the Correspondence School of Religion had an enrolment of 3,000 students. These correspondence courses prepared an excellent foundation for the parish schools. Throughout the year, usually Saturday and/or Sunday, the Sisters continued to teach religion classes in or near the city.

Soon after establishing the correspondence school, the Sisters from the catechetical house started travelling in the summer months to a series of rural settlements. The Sisters held catechetical classes and prepared the students for reception of the sacraments. These religious vacation schools of one or two weeks in each location, flourished from 1926 until 1966 and often the Sisters met their correspondence students. The mission at 85th Street was closed on September 1, 1967.

Subseries consists of administrative and community records from the SOS mission at 85th Street, Edmonton, Alberta. Record types include: newsclippings, reports, correspondence, mission histories, catechetical letters, correspondence school lessons, and community annals.

The SOS had several overlapping missions in Edmonton. Upon transfer to USMC, the records from each of these were arranged as discrete subseries, this distinction has been maintained.

Created by F Rousselle Dec. 11, 2025.
Revised by F Rousselle Dec 16, 2025.

Mission history by SOS archivist, MC Havey, inherited upon transfer to USMC.